Before Reading Activity #1

Discussion Stations:

This Pre-Reading Activity is great to introduce topics that will be explored in the text as well as the students' preconceived notions about them.

It help taps into their prior-knowledge, while giving students ideas on what the text might be about. 

For this activity, students would be split up into groups of about 4 or 5 depending on class size. Each station has a different focus for discussion. The categories for discussion include argue for or against, explain, describe, or would you rather? Students move from station to station in their groups, picking one task card from the stack to read and discuss.

Here are the task cards we'll be using for Bronx Masquerade:

These cards would be cut and stacked into a pile at each station. While students talk, I would monitor discussions, facilitate deeper thoughts, ask questions to further the conversation, etc. It would also be a great time to assess students prior knowledge on concepts like poetry and the Harlem Renaissance as they're both prominent features of the text.

Possible Answers:

For an idea of what to look for in the students' discussion, here are some possible answers they could give, as well as statements for you to play devil's advocate to encourage a deeper debate:

• "Everyone can achieve their dreams because all it takes is hard work"
• "Everyone cannot always achieve their dreams because some people are more privilege than others. Some may work as hard as they can but because of other circumstances never achieve what they want"
• "Sometimes dreams get sidetracked because of other responsibilities like children or work."
• "Your appearance can affect your self-esteem which might prevent you from being confident enough to make friends or try new things."
• "You can get bullied for your looks which would affect you mentally and emotionally."
• "If people are making fun of your looks, just let it go. Be tough enough where it doesn't affect you at all."
• "I'd rather follow my passion even if I don't make money or am unsure about it"
• "I'd still just stick with something I know I'm good at, you need money to live and if you're good at it, you probably like it"
• "I would get tired of doing something I don't love"
• "Family is everything to me"
• "Family are people that should always have your back, should always love you and be there for you"
• "Sometimes friends are more family to you than blood is, you can definitely choose who's family"
• "Family isn't forever, parents ditch their kids all the time"
• "Your family are the people you choose to love closer than anyone else, whether they be blood, friends, significant others, whatever."

Click Here to see the next Pre-Reading Activity: Intro to Poetry Slams --------->