Today we are going to get a taste of the Gullah people. And since Ms. Younge knows a lot about them, we are going to her class blog to learn more.
Monthly Archive for February, 2008
Our third grade buddies have a class blog now too! You may especially enjoying this post about the collaborative posts you did with them a few weeks ago.
Now that you become such accomplished bloggers we would like to invite you to do a review of a book, movie, television show, restaurant, concert, museum, special event, or something similar (just check with Ms. Edinger first). You may do as many of these as you like in school during our blog times if you have finished the assignment, during lab, or at home.
And best of all, you can always categorize these as “reviews” because we are going to teach you how to make categories today!
Last year’s class was privliged to work with the distinguished poet Natasha Trethewey. After guiding them through a close reading of some of the same Amistad poems we just looked at, she helped us create one of our own.
Inspired by the above description of Margru (one of the original profiles of the Amisated captives in John Barber’s book): we created the following persona poem.
Margru
What I remember of home is this:
green – green mangoes, green snakes, green bananas:
brown – my mother, my father, myself, the tree
trunks, the brown earth, the color of my language,
Mende,
the only language I had
to describe these things.
Often I think of
how I came to be here:
my father pawning me, waving goodbye,
his face crumpled, tightened, looking
away from me.
I felt my captor’s white, cold hand
tighten around my wrist as if
he were a solid ghost taking me away.
Now I wish to see again
the green rice fields,
my father’s brown face,
clouds in the sky —
the only white things,
to hear someone speaking my language,
someone saying
Margru.
*******
Now I want you to create your own poems. Take a look at the Amistad profiles I am going to hand out to you. Perhaps you want to do a persona poem about one of them? Or a found poem like “Other Cargo.” Or something else.
Write your poem as you wish. Revise. Proofread. Show a teacher.
Then create a collage with your poem in it. Here are some from last year’s class to give you an idea where to go. (Of course, I hope yours are completely unique and different!)
Finally, you will scan in your poem, post it on your blog, and I will put all the collages on the bulletin board outside the classroom!
First of all we are going to explore several poems related to the Amistad story.
The oldest poem is by Phillis Wheatley. She was born around 1753 in Africa (one source I’ve read said she was from Gambia and another said Senegal), taken captive and brought to the United States when she was around eight. Her mistress taught her and soon Phillis was writing and publishing poems of her own. Here is one in which she is reflecting on the experience of being taken captive in Africa and brought to America:
On Being Brought from Africa to America
- ‘TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
- Tought me benighted soul to understand
- That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
- Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
- Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
- “Their colour is a diabolic die.”
- Remember, Christians, Negros, black Cain,
- May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.
-
*******
Next is a poem written by African-American poet James Monroe Whitefield and published by him in a collection of poetry several years after the Amistad affair in 1853.
*********
Moving into the twentieth century, here are a few excerpts from a very long poem, “Freedom’s Plow” by Langston Hughes.
… A long time ago, but not too long ago,
Ships came from across the sea
Bringing the Pilgrims and prayer-makers,
Adventurers and booty seekers,
Free men and indentured servants,
Slave men and slave masters, all new-
To a new world, America!
With billowing sails the galleons came
Bringing men and dreams, women and dreams.
In little bands together,
Heart reaching out to heart,
Hand reaching out to hand,
They began to build our land.
Some were free hands
Seeking a greater freedom,
Some were indentured hands
Hoping to find their freedom,
Some were slave hands
Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom,
But the word was there always:
Freedom….
A long time ago,
An enslaved people heading toward freedom
Made up a song:
Keep Your Hand On The Plow! Hold On!
The plow plowed a new furrow
Across the field of history.
Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped.
From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow.
That tree is for everybody,
For all America, for all the world.
May its branches spread and shelter grow
Until all races and all peoples know its shade.
KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW! HOLD ON!
******
Last of all we are going to read several Amistad poems from Elizabeth Alexander’s collection America Sublime. One of them, Other Cargo, is a found poem from this news article.
Now that you’ve read Margu you are ready to write a post about the story. Remember that there may people from all over the world reading your post so make the best it can be!
1. To start, come up with a direction for your post. Here are some ideas, but you may have another one:
Respond to a particular part in the story.
Respond to the literary devices.
Respond to the various images used.
What in Margru’s story surprised you? What did you learn?
Comparison to your oral history? Or your historical fiction book? Someone even mentioned that it has Cinderella elements. Do you want to write about that perhaps?
Is there something more you want to know?
2. Once you have a direction begin with a good topic sentence, some examples, and end with a conclusion.
3. Proofread as always.
4. Have an adult check it.
5. Post!
Yesterday Edinger House went back to the First Program (their “old country”). As they went up the stairs to their 3rd grade buddies’ classroom they commented on how easy it was to walk up to the 4th floor after having to walk up many more flights at Big Dalton. They also commented on how small everything seemed.
After snack and time to visit old teachers, the 3rd and 4th graders went to the computer room. Then the 3rd graders wrote posts about their relationship with a school in New Orleans on their 4th grade buddies’ blog. Do check them out here and comment if you like!
Ms. Nickles and I are delighted with your posts and commenting so far. We are confident that as we make the blogs public that you will continue to write thoughtfully, considerately, and mindful of the need to be cautious. Terrific, terrific work so far!
Today you are going to write about The Tempest, the Middle School musical you saw last Thursday. Try to describe the play and write about what you enjoyed. Think about the characters, costumes, set design, singing, and dancing.
Your blogs might go public after this post, so be sure to proofread carefully (checking for punctuation, sense, capitals, and spelling). Make sure that you have a good topic sentence, some supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence, too.
Since your blogs might be public soon, please include a link to The Dalton School so your readers can learn more about where you saw the play.
To help you remember the musical, here is a list of characters:
- Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan and the story’s protagonist
- Miranda, daughter of Prospero, often called “a wonder”
- Ariel, an airy spirit
- Caliban, deformed slave of Prospero and son of Sycorax
- Alonso, King of Naples
- Sebastian, Alonso’s brother
- Antonio, Prospero’s brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
- Ferdinand, Alonso’s son
- Gonzalo, an honest, optimistic old councilor who gave Prospero food, water, and books.
- Adrian and Francisco, lords
- Trinculo, a jester
- Stephano, a drunken butler (sometimes spelled Stefano)
- Boatswain
- Master
- Sycorax, witch and mother of Caliban (an unseen character)
- Iris, Ceres and Juno, spirits
A few weeks ago, as part of our study of historical fiction, I read aloud Amistad Rising by Veronica Chambers with illustrations by Paul Lee. Now we are going to look at the Amistad story again through the eyes of one of its participants — Sarah Margru Kinson. The Amistad captives were mostly Mende, people who live in a part of Africa that is now in the country of Sierra Leone where I lived many years ago as a teacher for the Peace Corps.
Through Sarah Margru’s story, a story I’ve slightly fictionalized and told here (I will give you the username and password in class to access it), I hope you will have a deeper sense of forced immigration. So, here is what I want you to do:
As you read Margru’s story, write notes and responses in the chapbook I will give you. Divide each page up into three parts (I’ll show you how in class) so that you can take notes on these things:
Literary Stuff Here you can jot down any words or that seem descriptive, poetic, or otherwise give a literary sense.
Historical Stuff
Here you can jot down words, phrases, and titles of images that are clearly from history. (Be sure to include the images as most are primary sources and you may want to use them later in your blog posts and project.)Response
Here you need to write how the part you read made you feel, questions you may have, or anything else you want.
We will be, of course, also talking a lot about Margru’s story. I will be showing you artifacts and photos of Sierra Leone (her homeland) from when I was there. You can also look at another version of her story — one I wrote first as nonfiction — so you can see what is different between writing historical fiction and nonfiction. When you are done reading with all this you will be writing a blog post and also doing a poetry project related to Margru’s story and the Amistad.