A Harlem Renaissance Retrospective: Connecting Art, Music, Dance, and Poetry

Student Interactives

Calendar Activities

Strategy Guides

 

STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Venn Diagram

This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

 

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CALENDAR ACTIVITIES

Grades   7 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  February 1

Langston Hughes was born in 1902.

Students examine the poem "Dreams" and identify metaphors in each sentence. Groups of students then compose poems with metaphors for dreams.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  April 7

Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday was born in 1915.

Students listen to Holiday's song "Strange Fruit" and identify powerful and descriptive images for a mini-lesson on tone and about the lynchings in the South during this time.

 

Grades   7 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  April 9

In 1939, Marian Anderson was denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall.

Students view Eleanor Roosevelt's resignation letter to the DAR in response to Andersen being denied permission to sing. Students write a letter to a newspaper editor about social injustice.

 

Grades   1 – 8  |  Calendar Activity  |  August 10

The Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846.

After exploring an exhibit online, students use the information they learned to write "A Day in the Life" narratives that tell about a person, animal, or object they saw in the exhibit.

 

Grades   1 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  October 17

Black Poetry Day is celebrated.

Books and webpages are gathered that focus on the work of African American poets and students explore the resources and find a poem to contribute to a poetry reading.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  September 18

Their Eyes Were Watching God was published in 1937.

Students brainstorm the kinds of stories they know and where these stories come from. Students return to these questions as they begin reading Hurston's novel.

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  February 1

Take part in the African American Read-In!

Students come together with family and friends to take part in a read-in of books by African American authors and report their results.

 

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STRATEGY GUIDES

Grades   3 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Using Glogster to Support Multimodal Literacy

Glogster, a Web 2.0 tool, supports development of students’ multimodal literacy skills. This guide outlines techniques for critical evaluation and creation of multimodal texts.

 

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