Sunday, February 06, 2005
hip-hop cultural literacy
I am teaching a poetry unit.
I started my lesson on diction by playing "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2", from Pink Floyd's iconic album, The Wall. They loved it. But they were curious - who was this Pink Floyd?
"You know", I said. "The Wall."
Nope. They never heard of him.
I was in shock. I thought Pink Floyd transcended time and race. It's music about drugs. My students do a lot of drugs. They are constantly being suspended for smoking pot.
In my stunned disbelief, I almost asked them what they watched when they were stoned if they were not watching The Wall.
Luckily, I caught myself.
After we discussed the song, we read "The Pool Players" by Gwendolyn Brooks. Then, my students had to write their own poem in the style of Brooks' poem. The first line had to be a statement defining today's teens. The middle needed to talk about attitudes and activities common among their peers. The last line had to express a hope for or fear about their generation.
One of my students has published her poem online. She wrote it in fifteen minutes. I think it is brilliant. Read it out loud to really hear the rhythm.
I started my lesson on diction by playing "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2", from Pink Floyd's iconic album, The Wall. They loved it. But they were curious - who was this Pink Floyd?
"You know", I said. "The Wall."
Nope. They never heard of him.
I was in shock. I thought Pink Floyd transcended time and race. It's music about drugs. My students do a lot of drugs. They are constantly being suspended for smoking pot.
In my stunned disbelief, I almost asked them what they watched when they were stoned if they were not watching The Wall.
Luckily, I caught myself.
After we discussed the song, we read "The Pool Players" by Gwendolyn Brooks. Then, my students had to write their own poem in the style of Brooks' poem. The first line had to be a statement defining today's teens. The middle needed to talk about attitudes and activities common among their peers. The last line had to express a hope for or fear about their generation.
One of my students has published her poem online. She wrote it in fifteen minutes. I think it is brilliant. Read it out loud to really hear the rhythm.
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