"Dear America": More Student Poetry
While I was in Nigeria in April, another assignment I left behind for students was for them to read three poems, and then write their own. All three poems had to do with the poets' views on being American: "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, "I, Too, Sing America" by Julia Alvarez and "I, Too" by Langston Hughes. I got the idea from examples of other student work online, like this . Most of the kids resonated the most with the two "I, Too" poems and chose to write their own version representing a voice in America they feel is not often heard. Here's a few from kids who gave me theirs to publish... Response to I, Too by Isabela F. I, too, sing America I know it's been said before but not in this voice. Of the Sandia and the guayaba of inglés con español Ay sí it's my turn to Oh say what I see I'm going to sing America inside me from the strellas of casta...
