Black+History+Month-February

Celebrating Black History Month in February http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/bhm/0,8805,97217,00.html http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/map.htm http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/multimedia/interactive/the-underground-railroad/?ar_a=1 http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/ http://www.kidskonnect.com/subjectindex/21-categories/people/404-tubman-harriet.html

Jazz Greats-

Dr. King Story from Reading A-Z

Historic Peacemakers from Reading A-Z

Barack Obama from Reading A-Z

Sports Legends (Jackie Robinson vs. Jesse Owens)



By: Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wall Noises down the hail Life doesn’t frighten me at all Bad dogs barking loud Big ghosts in a cloud Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

Mean old Mother Goose Lions on the loose They don’t frighten me at all Dragons breathing flame On my counterpane That doesn’t frighten me at all.

I go boo Make them shoo I make fun Way they run I won’t cry So they fly I just smile They go wild Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

Tough guys in a fight All alone at night Life doesn’t frighten me at all. Panthers in the park Strangers in the dark No, they don’t frighten me at all.

That new classroom where Boys pull all my hair (Kissy little girls With their hair in curls) They don’t frighten me at all.

Don’t show me frogs and snakes And listen for my scream, If I’m afraid at all It’s only in my dreams.

I’ve got a magic charm That I keep up my sleeve, I can walk the ocean floor And never have to breathe.

Life doesn’t frighten me at all Not at all Not at all Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

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 * 1) What kind of stance does the speaker take against her fears in life?
 * 2) How does she deal with them?
 * 3) Do you see her conquering her fears or denying that she is actually afraid of them?
 * 4) If she is in fact not afraid, why do you think this is so?
 * 5) Should she be afraid of the things listed in the poem?
 * 6) Why does she strongly refuse to be afraid of these things in life?
 * 7) What would it make her if she actually was afraid of any of these things. Would she be fitting a stereotype or a gender biased opinion?
 * 8) Do you find it interesting or even surprising that these things do not frighten the speaker? Why or Why not?
 * 9) What is the speaker saying about boys and girls her age in the fifth stanza? - Should they frighten her? Do you think she fits in with them?
 * 10) Besides her saying so repeatedly, what else can you point out as evidence of her fearlessness in the poem?
 * 11) Would anything in this poem frighten you? Be honest.
 * 12) Did Angelou’s apparent fearlessness towards the things in the poem contradict what you think females are generally frightened of? Look at what you wrote down. Can you say exactly why she refuses to fear these things? Why must she let us know?

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