About This Lesson
This unit will expose students to the author, Walter Dean Myers, and his work. Students will discover the neighborhood he grew up in and examine its rich history. By exploring WDM’s passions it will hopefully encourage students to become avid readers and writers. Students will use close reading to explore his works and his neighborhood, Harlem. They will examine the writing craft with a look at poetic devices, figurative language and connotations in text. Students will write about what they know and create a story or poem based on WDM Harlem. The goal of this unit is to inspire students to read and write with a passion that WDM wanted to instill in youth and to convey the message that they too have a literary voice.
