Gwendolyn Brooks by Rachel Youngberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c Explore her life and words... en-us 2017-02-22 20:02:54 UTC 2017-02-27 21:26:59 UTC hello@padlet.com Poetry Out Loud ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155591454 2017-02-22 20:15:22 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155591454 *We Real Cool cborah https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155591467              The pool players.
             Seven at the Golden Shovel.

We real cool.  We
Left school.  We

Lurk late.  We
Strike straight.  We

Sing sin.  We
Thin gin.  We

Jazz June.  We
Die soon.

*(this is one of Gwendolyn Brooks' most famous poems...we will explore this poem in Ms. Borah's class)

]]> 2017-02-22 20:15:25 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155591467 Listen to 'We Real Cool' ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592093 2017-02-22 20:17:48 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592093 Ms. Borah's ramblings: *Our school was renamed "Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School" when the old building was torn down and this building was created (2001). During construction, the students and teachers were squeezed into half of the building while the other half was being built. *I shared a tiny room with another teacher (imagine one of your classrooms with two teachers inside it...with two sets of students listening to two teachers at the same time). Half the room was hers, while the other half was mine. I faced one way while I taught, and she faced the other. This was all in preparation for the arrival of the first class of sixth graders. *Why tear down a perfectly good building to build a brand new one? Believe it or not, the old building did not have air conditioning. The old building was also not wired for technology in the way that we needed it to be. Back then, we had a "Tech Bus" that helped meet our needs. Even the bathrooms were inadequate: the stalls were more appropriate for young children rather than adolescents. *Our school was called "Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High" back then. Emerson's population consisted of seventh and eighth grade students only. Maybe your parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings went there (maybe I taught them...ha ha). Our current media center kept the name Ralph Waldo Emerson so we could remember our past. *Ralph Waldo Emerson and Gwendolyn Brooks were both poets. Many of our village's schools are named after important people. However, our District 97 schools were mostly named after men. That is why some Emerson Junior High staff members wanted to call the new school Gwendolyn Brooks, so we could have a female represented in our village schools. *Gwendolyn Brooks was an integral part of The Chicago Black Renaissance. Like the Harlem Renaissance, this was a creative movement on the South Side of Chicago during the 1930's and 1940's. cborah https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592551

*Kathy Schroer (former Emerson/Brooks Media Specialist) led the campaign for the name change.  Many of us (teachers) who believed in the cause gathered signatures of support for renaming the school.  However, not everyone agreed on the name change.  In fact, several teachers/staff members (who attended Emerson as young adults) were angry about the name change.  They wanted their Alma Mater to remain Emerson Junior High.  

This caused some conflicts amongst staff.  Signatures were collected and the name change was approved.  Unfortunately, Gwendolyn Brooks passed away before the name change ceremony.  Her daughter attended the event instead.  

Most people were happy about the name change.  In addition to being a gifted poet, Gwendolyn Brooks was an amazingly generous soul who often funded poetry writing contests with her own money.  She was close friends with Langston Hughes (poet).  
Poetry is our next focus in 6th grade Language Arts (all classes).  Enjoy our first Gwendolyn Brooks Day and explore this page to learn about a strong, smart, and intellectually gifted African American woman.]]> 2017-02-22 20:19:23 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592551 Gwendolyn Brooks and the Poetry foundation pgaffney https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592778 2017-02-22 20:20:07 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592778 lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592833 Gwendolyn Brooks - Life and Career]]> 2017-02-22 20:20:20 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155592833 An Interview with Gwendolyn Brooks ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155593126 2017-02-22 20:21:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155593126 Listen to 5 famous poems by Gwendolyn Brooks ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155593345 2017-02-22 20:22:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155593345 lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594069 Questions for Analyzing Poetry

]]> 2017-02-22 20:24:59 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594069 Gwendolyn's bio... pgaffney https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594265 Early years, middle years, and beyond]]> 2017-02-22 20:25:48 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594265 Poem: To Be in Love... ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594376 2017-02-22 20:26:18 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594376 Poem: The Bean Eaters ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594888 2017-02-22 20:28:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155594888 Gwendolyn Brook's famous quotes pgaffney https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155595064 "We are each other's magnitude and bond."
"Exhaust the little moment.  Soon in dies.  And be it gash or gold it will not come Again in this identical guise."
"Art hurts.  Art urges voyages - and it is easier to stay at home.  ]]> 2017-02-22 20:28:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155595064 Flash Writing Prompts lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155595242 TRY ONE OF THESE!

Fictionalizing a true moment: Start a flash piece with a specific memory of your own grounded in the five senses (touch, smell, feel, seeing, hearing) – For example: the feel of an aunt scratching your scalp or the smell of your child’s bedroom. This memory should be specific enough to work into a moment. Find the story from there.

Use pictures, paintings, or music to inspire a flashpoint.

Tell the story backward or play with the idea of memory and nonlinear time in a story.


Think of writing a flash piece as a scene when working on something longer, say a longer short story or as a novel chapter.  Flash is inherently raw with emotion. When wanting to draft a pivotal moment, take the time to draft a flash piece – with a beginning, middle and end — to represent that moment between your characters.  Break down the action to its bare essentials for more impact.


]]> 2017-02-22 20:29:22 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155595242 Mini-Biography ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155595915 2017-02-22 20:31:42 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155595915 Gwendolyn Brooks Reflection ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155597335 2017-02-22 20:36:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155597335 lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155597887 2017-02-22 20:38:29 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155597887 Encyclopedia: Gwendolyn Brooks ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155597937 2017-02-22 20:38:41 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155597937 lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155598805 2017-02-22 20:41:50 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155598805 lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155599054 2017-02-22 20:43:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155599054 lpearson10 https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155599975 2017-02-22 20:46:40 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155599975 Children's Poems by G.Brooks ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155896023 2017-02-23 20:22:31 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155896023 Illinois Poet Laureate ryoungberg https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155896403

]]> 2017-02-23 20:24:04 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/155896403 Who keeps deleting my posts https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/156572750 2017-02-27 21:26:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ryoungberg/s985y1yzdx2c/wish/156572750