Langston Hughes: A Poet’s Life

Chapter 5

Learning Goals

In this chapter, you will learn to:

  • Read sight words and functional words
  • Read short and long /i/ word patterns
  • Write some long /i/ words
  • Read simple texts
  • Identify main ideas, characters, and events from a reading
  • Write complete sentences
  • Write a short paragraph

Talk About It

  • Why is it important to be proud of your culture?
  • Make a guess about how Langston and his dad got along.

Picture Dictionary

mexico-518651_640 fear-299679_640 moon-416973_640
Mexico shame night
face-636093_640 https://pixabay.com/en/dartmouth-college-campus-school-292587/ children-studying-670663_640
soul university study
experiment-217201_640 sun-723055_640 sweater-428616_640
science year clothes
room-40308_640 table-295425_640 bee-44520_640
hotel  table  dream
Put the above words in alphabetical order.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter.
Make a sentence using one of the above words.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Ask your instructor to check your work.

Word Skills

Word Patterns

The letters a, e, i, o, and u are vowels. Vowels can make short sounds and long sounds.

The short /i/ says /i/ like in itch.
head-148207_640-2

The long /i/ says /ī/ like in hi.

penguin-150054_640

The long /i/ can be spelled with the letters ie, igh, and i_e.

Practice reading these words.
ie igh i_e
pie fight bike
tie right dime
lie sight five
die tight line
might nine
light time
night white
Match each picture to a word from above. 
clock-359985_640 bicycle-161524_640 businessman-676360_640
1. ________________ 2. ________________ 3. ________________
box-62867_640 https://pixabay.com/en/pumpkin-pie-slice-piece-baked-309650/ pay-634910_640
4. ________________ 5. ________________ 6. ________________
traffic-39501_640 glasses-350173_640 clothes-line-312570_640
7. ________________ 8. ________________ 9. ________________
Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter.
Read each sentence. Then cover it up. Try to write it. Use upper case letters correctly. Use periods and question marks correctly.

a. Do you have the time?
_______________________________________________

b. It is five to nine.
_______________________________________________

c. I might have some pie.
_______________________________________________

d. My bike is white.
_______________________________________________

e. Do you have a dime?
_______________________________________________

You will see these words in the story. They all have the /ī/ sound, like hi.

night life write

Use Your Reading Skills

Listen to Chapter 5. Then read Chapter 5 in BC Reads: Adult Literacy Fundamental English – Reader 2As you read, try to make pictures in your mind of what is happening.


Audio Player

Check Your Understanding

1. How old was Langston when he lived with his dad?

____________________________________________

2. Where did his dad live?

____________________________________________

3. Why was this a sad time for Langston?

____________________________________________

4. Circle the jobs Langston did.

police

cook

clothes washer

busboy

zoo keeper

worker on a ship

Read the poem with a partner. Talk about these questions.

5. The poem says the faces are like the night. What do you think the faces look like?

6. The poem says the eyes are like the stars. What do you think the eyes look like?

Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter.

Writing

Grammar Rule

A sentence is a group of words in an order that makes sense.

I ride my bike to work.  – YES

I ride my work to bike.  – NO

Put these words in an order that makes sense. Use upper case letters, periods, and question marks where needed.

1. really good/this pie/is
_______________________________________________

2. line/get/in
_______________________________________________

3. too tight/is/my/tie
_______________________________________________

4. out/turn/light/the
_______________________________________________

5. has never/she/lie/a/told
_______________________________________________

6. at/do not/i/night/drive
_______________________________________________

7. the dogs/in/got/fight/a
_______________________________________________

8. we/the/have/vote/right/to
_______________________________________________

9. do/a/dime/have/you
_______________________________________________

10. kids/have/i/five
_______________________________________________

Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter.

Writing Task

It can help to talk about your ideas before you write. Find a classmate. Ask each other these questions.
  1. What did you like to do when you were a teenager?
  2. Who was your first teenage crush on?
  3. What was hard about being a teenager?
  4. What did you wish when you were a teenager?
Complete these sentences to make a paragraph about your teen years.
  • When I was a teen, the most important things in my life were…
  • My first teenage crush was on…
  • The hard thing about being a teen was…
  • As a teen, I wished…

Remember:
– Use an upper case letter to begin each sentence.
– Use an upper case letter for the word I.
– Use an upper case letter for the names of people and places.
– End each sentence with a period or question mark.
– You may wish to type your paragraph on a computer.

Answer Key

Picture Dictionary
clothes dream hotel Mexico
night science shame soul
study table university year
Word Skills
QUESTION ANSWER
1 time
2 bike
3 tie
4 fight
5 pie
6 five
7 nine
8 sight
9 line
Check Your Understanding  
QUESTION ANSWER
1 Langston was 17 years old when he lived with his dad.
2 His dad lived in Mexico.
3 This was a sad time for Langston because he did not get along with his dad.
4 Langston did these jobs: cook, clothes washer, busboy, and worker on a ship.
5 The faces are dark.
6 The eyes are bright.
Writing
QUESTION ANSWER
1 This pie is really good.
2 Get in line.
3 My tie is too tight.
4 Turn out the light.
5 She has never told a lie.
6 I do not drive at night.
7 The dogs got in a fight.
8 We have the right to vote.
9 Do you have a dime?
10 I have five kids.

Attributions

See the Attributions page near the end of this book.

License

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BC Reads: Adult Literacy Fundamental English - Course Pack 2 Copyright © 2015 by Shantel Ivits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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