The City by Langston Hughes

Tier 1 The Story Jacob’s Ladder Goals and Objectives Habits of Mind

The City In the morning the city Spreads its wings Making a song In stone that sings In the evening the city Goes to bed Hanging lights About its head.

Students will be able: Ladder C C1 Literary Elements-To identify and explain specific story elements such as character, setting, or poetic-device. C2 Inference-To use textual clues to read between the lines and make judgments about specific textual events, ideas, or character analysis. C3 Theme and Concept-To identify a major idea or theme common throughout the text.

Habits of Mind: Posing Questions Thinking Flexibly Imagining, Innovating, Creating Refer to Jacob’s Ladder Story Table for Ladder C Thinking Questions.

Tier 2 Rigor Discussion High Level Strategies with Ladder C Questions

Discussion Strategies: Think-Pair-Share, Write-around, 3-4 Podcast slides (Pixie, Frames) Choose two of the three. C1--1. Make a list of phrases or words that describe the city.How does the author use those words and phrases to put a picture in your head? What do you “see”? Why? Illustrate your vision of the poem based on the descriptive language used. C2--2. “In the evening the city / goes to bed/ hanging lights / about its head.” What does the author mean by these lines? What can be inferred? Select which answer below best describes the quote. Explain your answer using phrases from the poem. It is a starry night. It is dark except for the streetlights. The author wants to sleep with a nightlight about his head. There are always lights on in the city. C3--3. How does the title give the reader a clue about the main idea of the poem? Explain your answer using words from the poem.

Tier 3 Rigor Discussion High Level Strategies with Additional Questions

Discussion Strategies: Think-Pair-Share, Write-around, 3-4 Podcast slides (Pixie, Frames) Choose two of the three. Additional Discussion Questions: 1.The author uses imagery to express his feelings about the city. Describe the imagery. Share your feeling about a beautiful place using imagery. 2.What does the poet mean when he states “in stone that sings” or the city “spreads its wings.” 3.What is the importance of the time change in the poem,“The City?”

Tier 4 Reflections/Relevance

Choose one of the writing ideas to complete. Be creative! Be creative with either activity you choose to complete. Here are some suggested project strategies: Write a podcast script; create a puppet show; develop a PSA; a PowerPoint presentation; write and be an actor in a skit; write a persuasive speech and give before the class. 1. Create a poem using a variety of words or phrases that describe the city of Omaha using some of the same literary elements used by Langston Hughes. 2. Compare and contrast a city and the country in your own poem that describes both locations in detail.