Understanding a poem always requires multiple readings. Let’s practice!

We’ll read Derrick Austin’s “Silver Millennium” and “The Lost Woods as an Elegy for Black Childhood” three times each. Each time, you’ll approach the poem slightly differently.

• The first time, just listen to the poem.
• The second time, choose one line of the poem and annotate it with a short question or comment.
• The third time, the class will “explode”—meaning, you’ll share aloud what you wrote after the line has been spoken.

We’ll then follow up with some small-group questions:

1. What did you hear during the explosion?
2. What surprised you?
3. What patterns did you notice?
4. Which lines drew your attention and why?