Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry

Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef Komunyakaa, "Tapping" by Sonia Sanchez, and "Dream Boogie" by Langston Hughes. The instructional activity includes questions and key ideas to direct your instruction. Finally, writers compose their own poems in the style of the authors they have studied.