A look at technology in teaching Langston Hughes.

1. Langston Hughes’s Poetry
Anthony DiMartino
For Grades 8-9

2. Technology Integration Rationale
❖ Technology has become an important tool for appreciating and understanding art in
new and enriching ways. Poetry is a form of art that shouldn’t be confined to just
looking at the words on the page, and technology allows us to go beyond that. We can
hear, watch, perform, and enjoy poetry differently. The greatest poets, such as
Langston Hughes, are also performers and masters of the stage, capable of using their
words to capture all five senses, and technology is what allows us to show this side of
their art. Incorporating technology in teaching poetry lets us see it as more than just
writing. We can use technology to teach students about poetry through podcasts,
videos, blogs, websites, and images, all of which supplement the writing we see. These
resources will help give students a broader understanding of how unique and
educational poetry can be.
❖ Click here to watch my video recording

3. Internet Content
❖The Internet offers plenty of resources for teachers to use to aid in teaching
poetry; however, it’s important to make sure that these resources are
reputable and don’t misconstrue the facts.
❖As such, all of the websites and resources used in this presentation have been
proven to be reputable and up to date on Langston Hughes’s poetry.
❖Websites will be cited.
❖Click here to access the PowerPoint on Slideshare!

4. YouTube Video
❖ Crash Course (Click here)
➢ Crash Course is a YouTube series
run by two brothers, Hank and John
Green. The videos humorously and
creatively teach and relate books, art,
science, and more to students all over
the world.
➢ In the link above, John Green
introduces Langston Hughes and the
Harlem Renaissance, using plenty of
video clips from the period to show
Hughes’s background and poetry.

5. Internet Blog
❖ The National Endowment for the
Arts is an independent federal
agency that runs a blog where
they occasionally discuss poetry.
❖ Click here to see them discuss the
influence of jazz on Langston
Hughes’s art.

6. Podcast
❖ We can engage students through
audio as well as visual learning.
❖ The Poetry Foundation’s weekly
podcast provides a unique look at
Langston Hughes’s historic
collaboration with Charles
Mingus and Leonard Feather
entitled “When the Blues Met
Jazz.”
➢ Click here for the link

7. Internet Resources
❖The Poetry Foundation is an independent literary organization, and is well-
known for their resources for studying poets, including the podcast linked
earlier. Click here to visit their website on Langston Hughes.
❖Their website includes poet profiles, historical contexts for their poems,
scholarly articles about their work, and audio and podcasts.
➢ All of these resources would be useful for teaching Hughes because of the
variety of content available.

8. Internet Resources
❖ The Poetry Archive is a website
dedicated to providing teachers with
resources and lessons for teaching and
spreading poetry and students with
helpful tools to better understand it.
❖ The Archive stores audio of poets’ own
recordings of their works, which can
help students hear as well as see
Hughes’s poems as they were meant to
be understood.
➢ Click here to see the Poetry
Archive’s profile on Langston
Hughes.

9. Internet Resources
❖ Poets.org is a website created by the
Academy of American Poets, and, like
the Poetry Archive, it strives to help
teachers and students better teach
and understand poetry.
❖ The website discusses author themes
and forms, includes author timelines,
and creates video supplements of
literary critics explaining Hughes’s
poetry in their own words.
➢ Click here to see their site on
Langston Hughes

10. Inspiration Diagram
❖ This diagram seeks to explain
some of the basic details of “I,
Too”, one of Hughes’s most
famous poems.

11. Internet Resources #1
❖ Puzzle Maker
➢ Students of all ages can enjoy doing puzzles. With Puzzle Maker, I can generate word searches,
crosswords, and more puzzles that can help students gain a clearer understanding of key
vocabulary and ideas about Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance.
➢ It can be a fun and creative way to learn essential material.
➢ Click on the picture below to access the website.

12. Internet Resources #2
❖ Literary Graffiti
➢ Literary Graffiti is a great,
interactive computer application
that allows students to create
visual representations of the
images and themes in Hughes’s
poems, and then explain the
significance of what they see.
➢ This can be assigned for
homework after reading a poem
or completed during class
discussion.
Click on the example picture to
check out the application!

13. Internet Resources #3
❖ Personification Practice
➢ A website dedicated to
helping students learn about
personification, a type of
figurative language that is
key to understanding
Langston Hughes’s poetry.
➢ It includes examples, posters,
and practice activities.
➢ Click on the example picture

14. Internet Resources #4
❖ POETRY from The Poetry
Foundation
➢ This is a free, downloadable
application on the App store that
keeps track of poems and
information about poets on the
go!
➢ I would encourage students to
download this app while we
study Hughes, so that they can
always have access to our class
materials, even if they “forget”
Click on the photo for the download link!

15. Subject-Specific Internet-Based Resource
❖ EDSITEment
➢ EDSITEment is a website
where teachers can browse
creative, thought-provoking
lesson plans and resources
designed for teaching the
Humanities.
➢ This example lesson plan on
Langston Hughes provides the
means for a teacher to teach a
class on Hughes, centered
around finding voice.

16. Uses of the Internet: Literary Database
❖ Bartleby.com
➢ Bartleby is a website dedicated
to storing, featuring, and sorting
all kinds of literature for free.
➢ Teachers can access or reference
any story or poem they need
during class on this website.
➢ Students can use the website to
research Hughes and his poetry
for projects.
➢ Click the picture for the link!

17. Uses of the Internet: Educational Resources
❖The Smithsonian Museum sponsors an education-centered website focused on
giving resources to teachers and students for all kinds of different topics.
➢ For students, the website offers activities, games, quizzes, and interactive lessons that can help
teach any topic, including Hughes.
➢ For teachers, the website offers lesson plans, as well as activities you can use in the classroom.
➢ Click the link below to see the website

18. Web 2.0
❖ Google Docs
➢ Google Docs is perhaps one of the
best examples of the power of
collaboration through technology.
Here, students can work on one
document or project together over
the internet, like a collaborative
poetry analysis or essay.
➢ Google Docs is also useful for
students to keep track of their files
across multiple computers.
➢ Click on the picture for a link to