Introduce middle school readers to one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance with Langston Hughes’s poem “Mother to Son.” Students will read the short poem before answering comprehension and analysis questions about the text. Some of the literacy skills learners will practice include identifying the theme or message of a poem, identifying the speaker of the poem, citing text evidence, analyzing word choice, and analyzing the impact of language on the meaning and tone of the poem. Designed for seventh and eighth graders, this worksheet is a thoughtful addition to a unit on poetry, the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, as well as Black History Month.
