Words with Wings
Publication Information
Author:  Rochelle, Belinda ed.	Illustrator:
Title:  Words with Wings	Date:  2001
Publisher:  HarperCollins	City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:  0-688-16415-3	ISBN, hardback:
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:
Family:	Young Adult:
Picture:   Yes
General Information:
Book Type(s):    poetry, symbolic language
HSE Descriptor(s):    language arts - reading
Summary:
This riveting collection of paintings, prints, and sculpture by African-American artists enrich poems by outstanding African-American poets. The book includes a beautifully written introduction about the role of art and poetry and brief biographies of the artists and writers represented.
Teaching Ideas:
These poems must by read aloud. Unlike many anthologies, this book offers consistently excellent selections. Students might want to speculate what guidelines the editor used when she says, "Each was chosen to give wings to your creativity." Ask students to pick a favorite illustrations and write a poem or descriptive paragraph in response to it. The strategy, Bleich's Heuristic works very well in encouraging multiple readings of a poem. Suggested companion books include Starting Home: The Story of Horace Pippin by Mary Lyons, The Great Migration by Jacob Lawrence, and Now Sheba Sings the Song and Life Doesn't Frighten Me, both by Maya Angelou.
Teaching Strategies:
Bleich's Heuristic for Responding to Reading    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/bleichs_heuristic.pdf
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Art and Photography > art Ethnic Groups > African-American Emotions-Personal Issues > personal issues > individual > hopes/dreams Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > imagination Literature and Language > figurative language Literature and Language > literature > American literature Family Literature and Language > poetry

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