Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...
Carolina K-12
What Is the American Dream?
How do you describe the American Dream? What motivates others to immigrate to the United States, and why do some groups have trouble attaining the American Dream? Your learners will consider these questions as they explore figurative...
Maryland Department of Education
A Raisin in the Sun and Dreams Deferred
To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences by...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry
Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza.
Curated OER
American Dream and The Great Gatsby
Is the American Dream alive and well or has it dried up and died? As part of a study of The Great Gatsby, class members search for articles on the state of the American Dream, analyze the arguments presented in those articles, and then...
Curated OER
Digital Dreams
High schoolers write a speech. In this dreams lesson, students define the word dreams and list their own dreams. High schoolers read and discuss Langston Hughes work, read and discuss excerpts from speeches by JFK and Martin Luther...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes: Dream Variations
Students examine African-American communal life. In this Langston Hughes lesson, students read poetry by Hughes in order to gain insight into the Harlem community. Students select artwork that represents their community.
Curated OER
A Raisin In The Sun
Tenth graders complete a brief journal entry explaining what they would do with one million dollars. They read and discuss "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. Students finish reading Act I of A Raisin In The Sun and identify the...
Curated OER
Creating an Author Brochure
Students, while in the computer lab, visit a variety of web sites and read about the life and work of Langston Hughes. They create an author's brochure on Mr. Hughes from the data they collect from the various web sites. Each student...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Utopia/Dystopia: The American Dream
America was founded by dreamers, and the American dream still resonates in our country today. Track the American dream from its Puritan beginnings to its optimistic descendants with a instructional activity that focuses on speeches by...
Literacy Design Collaborative
American Dream: Reality, Promise or Illusion?
Dream or nightmare? Class members craft a synthesis essay with textual to determine to what extent the United States has fulfilled the ideas embodied in the America Dream.
Curated OER
Langston Hughes: Voice Among Voices
Pupils study Langston Hughes's poetry, short stories, and his first autobiography. They read and appreciate the candid, honest and powerful creative masterpieces of this black genius and discuss the numerous universal themes and their...
Curated OER
Making Poetry Writing Fun!
Students find a group of words from an unlikely source and turn them into a poem. They discuss the central image in two well-known poems by Langston Hughes and Emily Dickinson. They write their own short poem expressing one central...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Raisin in the Sun: Whose "American Dream"?
How does Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun factor into a discussion of the American dream? High schoolers define the American dream and recognize the historical setting of the play. Additionally, they identify forms of...
Curated OER
Free To Dream Poetry
Students explore the poetry of Langston Hughes and its structure. In groups, they read poems and identify the rhyme, rhythm meter, and alliteration in each poem. Students create and illustrate their own poem, using Langston Hughes methods.
Curated OER
VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx, Lesson 3
Students examine the blues, poetry, the Harlem Renaissance, and the 12-bar blues form. They watch a segment from the video, "VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx," participate in a class discussion, and listen to songs by Ray Charles and a poem by...
Curated OER
Dr. King and His Advice for Dreams Deferred
Young scholars analyze Dr. King's public addresses and Langston Hughes' poetry as a study of the Civil Rights' nonviolent approach to making an impact. In this protesting lesson, students read poetry of Hughes and speeches by Dr. King as...
Curated OER
"Dreaming of Success" Unit
Students recognize the importance of planning for the future. They think about and project themselves into the future. Students become aware that everyone encounters challenges in life and that they can be met and obstacles can be...
Curated OER
Literature Overview: February
Third graders examine the phrase Touch and Go, and analyze the poem, Dream Variation by Langston Hughes. They read an African-American folktale and write interpretive paragraphs about the story.
Curated OER
Activity Analysis #3
Ninth graders, before being introduced to the novel "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry, experience of variety of activities dealing with raisins and dreams. They begin by writing a short essay predicting what they think will...
Curated OER
Using Pre-reading Strategies: Infer
Use this resource to support your class practicing inference with poetry and visual art. The plan calls for an examination of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch and the "Mona Lisa" to promote speculation about artist's intent. From there, it...
Curated OER
Metaphorical Poetry
Twelfth graders read and discuss poems by Jewel., Sylvia Plath, and Langston Hughes They examine poems for examples of metaphors and similes. After discussing Jewel's poem Lost, they write their own poems. They hold a poetry reading in...
Curated OER
Keeping the Dream Alive
Students explore the life and works of black American playwrights to gain insight into how their works reflect and influence the black American experience.