2. About the Author: Nikki Grimes
Born on October 20th, 1950 in Harlem, New York
Began writing verse at the age of six
Honors:
NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children
2003 Coretta Scott King Author Award
2011 Horace Mann Upstanders Award

3. Grimes on Reading and Writing
“I love language. Language is phenomenal. I have always been fascinated that one word can mean many different things. I love the challenge of painting a story in as few words as possible. I’m also a very direct person and poetry is a no-nonsense genre.”
“Keep in mind that every good writer is a good reader. The quality of your writing will always reflect the quality of your reader.”
“I was bounced around a lot. I didn’t grow up in a home where I had my own books. My reading was dependent on the library. I read ravenously.”
“I love that poetry can make a beeline for the heart.”

4. Bronx Masquerade Setting: Bronx, New York
Nikki Grimes, herself, went to William Howard Taft High School, the setting for Bronx Masquerade

5. Text to World Connections
Langston Hughes
Born: 2/1/1902 in Joplin, Missouri
Died: 5/22/1967 in New York, New York
Who was he?
Hughes was poet, social activist , novelist, playwright and columnist.
Langston Hughes -" I, Too, Sing America"

6. Take a few minutes to paraphrase each stanza within your group.

7. Text to World Connection Part 2
Harlem Renaissance
What is it?
Location: In the New York neighborhood of Manhattan, New York
A time period when the American black community sparked a movement that nurtured a cultural identity through all art forms
When was it?
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s

8. Bronx Masquerade
Grimes states on her website that “Bronx Masquerade is a novel written in 18 voices. It follows a classroom of high school students over the course of a year, exploring who they are behind the masks they wear, and using poetry to do it.”
What types of conflicts do you
predict will occur in the book?

9. Topic Teasers…Do you have a Text to Self Connection?
Acceptance
Stereotyping
Quality of Friendship
Growing Up
Text to World Connection--the line game

10. You have 5 minutes to write a journal entry that answers these three questions on a blank sheet of paper. Be sure to write in pen. DO NOT USE YOUR JOURNAL.
Who do people think you are?
Who are you really?
Why do you hide this?

13. Snowball Activity Rules
Crumble the paper into a ball.
Then, toss the ball into the crate in the middle of the room.
Once finished, pick up a “snowball” from the crate.
Silently read the journal to yourself.
After reading the journal entry, crumble the paper back into a “snowball.”
**Do NOT throw or aim a “snowball” at a person.**

14. Reflect Did anything surprise you?
What did you learn from reading your classmates’ journals?
How did it affect you?
Can you relate?

15. Diego Rivera Mexican painter
Created murals and frescos between the years of that started a movement in Mexico.

16. Zorro
A masked fictional character who is a disguised as a wealthy Spanish man
He is constantly fighting the wealthy tyrants of the society and defending the common people.
Insert zorro video clip

17. Post Secret
What is it?
In January 2004, Frank Warren asked people to “free their secrets and become who they are.”
People then wrote their secrets on postcards and mailed them to his address.
He has compiled numerous books with the secrets.

19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajE Np9nVO_k&feature=related

20. Post Secret
Use the post it provided to write your own “post secret.” Remember that these are completely anonymous; however, if your hand writing is easily identifiable, you may want to disguise it as best as you can.
Once you are finished, please bring it to me. At the start of class tomorrow, I will have these posted for you to read.

21. Ticket Out
Using complete sentences, answer this question on the slip provided:
Why do you think Nikki Grimes named her book Bronx Masquerade?

22. Fan-made Book Trailer