In this informative slideshare, uses drawing to explore the Ballad of Birmingham. This is followed by an interpretation of the poem as created by a student for her AP class. At the conclusion of this slideshare are methods to create blackout newspaper poems and found poems using a newspaper account of the Birmingham Church Bombing from September 1963.

1. Visualizing: Ballad of
Birmingham
Mary Ann Reilly

2. Task
1. Fold your white art paper into eight boxes
and then select a pencil.
2. I will be reading aloud the Dudley Randall’s
poem, “Ballad of Birmingham.”
3. I have divided the poem into eight sections.
As I read each section, you will sketch the
mental picture you see based on each
section of the poem as it is read.
4. By the conclusion of the poem, you will
have made seven sketches.

3. Ballad of Birmingham- 1
“Motherdear,mayIgodowntown
Insteadofouttoplay,
AndmarchthestreetsofBirmingham
InaFreedomMarchtoday?”

4. Ballad of Birmingham- 2
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”

5. Ballad of Birmingham- 3
“But, mother, I won’t be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”

6. Ballad of Birmingham- 4
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children’s choir.”

7. Ballad of Birmingham- 5
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown
hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

8. Ballad of Birmingham- 6
The mother smiled to know her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

9. Ballad of Birmingham- 7
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of
Birmingham Calling for her child.

10. Ballad of Birmingham- 8
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?”

11. Task 2
• Reread the poem and discuss it with your
partner. Show your drawings to one another.
• Examine your eight drawings and create a
final illustration on the new sheet of paper you
have been given that combines all or some of
the stanza-by-stanza pictures into an image
that best represents the meaning of the whole
poem. You may use pencil and/or color to
render this final drawing.
• Post your final image.

12. Ballad of
Birmingham
– Dudley
Randall
“Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”
“But, mother, I won’t be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children’s choir.”
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
(Continued)

13. Ballad of
Birmingham
– Dudley
Randall
The mother smiled to know her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?”

14. Task 3
1. With a partner, take a gallery walk of
the posted images.
2. Discuss what the final drawings
suggest about the poem. What
images are common across the
gallery?
3. In 10 minutes, be ready to discuss
your ideas with the class.

15. Ballad of Birmingham

16. Blackout Poem

17. Create a Poem using
newspaper story about
Birmingham church bombing.
4/1/2014 Six Dead After Church Bombing
Go to special report on
church fires
Go to National section
Six Dead After Church Bombing
Blast Kills Four Children; Riots Follow
Two Youths Slain; State Reinforces
Birmingham Police
United Press International
September 16, 1963
Birmingham, Sept. 15 -- A bomb hurled from a
passing car blasted a crowded Negro church today,
killing four girls in their Sunday school classes and
triggering outbreaks of violence that left two more
persons dead in the streets.
Two Negro youths were killed in outbreaks of
shooting seven hours after the 16th Street Baptist
Church was bombed, and a third was wounded.
As darkness closed over the city hours later, shots
crackled sporadically in the Negro sections. Stones
smashed into cars driven by whites.
Five Fires Reported
Police reported at least five fires in Negro business
establishments tonight. A official said some are being
set, including one at a mop factory touched off by
gasoline thrown on the building. The fires were
brought under control and there were no injuries.

18. Create a Found Poem using 50 to
100 words from newspaper story
about Birmingham church bombing.4/1/2014 Six Dead After Church Bombing
Go to special report on
church fires
Go to National section
Six Dead After Church Bombing
Blast Kills Four Children; Riots Follow
Two Youths Slain; State Reinforces
Birmingham Police
United Press International
September 16, 1963
Birmingham, Sept. 15 -- A bomb hurled from a
passing car blasted a crowded Negro church today,
killing four girls in their Sunday school classes and
triggering outbreaks of violence that left two more
persons dead in the streets.
Two Negro youths were killed in outbreaks of
shooting seven hours after the 16th Street Baptist
Church was bombed, and a third was wounded.
As darkness closed over the city hours later, shots
crackled sporadically in the Negro sections. Stones
smashed into cars driven by whites.
Five Fires Reported
Police reported at least five fires in Negro business
establishments tonight. A official said some are being
set, including one at a mop factory touched off by
gasoline thrown on the building. The fires were
brought under control and there were no injuries.