African American Poetry: Songs of Protest and Pride
Jean Sutherland
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Since for fourth graders, the month of September and a few weeks in October are devoted to intensive review for and the actual administration of the Connecticut Mastery test in October, poetry examined during this period will not necessarily relate to the themes presented in this unit. About once or twice a week, students will be reading and discussing poems, which are just fun or interesting for children of their age. Hand game rhymes, often used to accompany jump roping, will be read and chanted with appropriate movements. Pieces like "Miss Mary Mack," "I'm a Nut," "Aunt Dinah Died," "Little Sally Walker," and others, including some which students might suggest, are already known by many children having been part of most African Americans' childhood. Students are the teacher's best source. "Peas," by Henry Dumas, (Hudson,
Pass It On
, p. 17) will be their own rhymes. A younger grade, in this case, children from other "team" classrooms, will be invited to join us in performing these rhymes.