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Paired Texts > Dawn

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

1913

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

The Days Have Names

The Days Have Names

JonArno Lawson

In JonArno Lawson's poem "The Days Have Names," a speaker considers why weeks do not have names while other units of time do.

Pair “The Days Have Names” with “Dawn” to explore how things receive their names. Ask students to discuss why humans like to name things. How does it help them make sense of the world? What do students think inspired the men in “Dawn” to name the event in nature that they witnessed?

5th Grade Poem
Fog

Fog

Carl Sandburg

In "Fog," a speaker observes fog settling over Chicago.

Pair “Fog” with “Dawn” to provide students with another poem depicting an event occurring in nature. What kind of language do these poets use to describe natural events? How does word choice in these two poems contribute to their tones?

6th Grade Poem
Painting Hope

Painting Hope

Linda Trice

In "Painting Hope," Linda Trice describes the work of Jacob Lawrence, a famous Black painter.

Pair “Dawn” with “Painting Hope” and have students discuss how both Dunbar and Lawrence create vivid images. How does Dunbar create vivid images in his poem “Dawn”? How does Lawrence create vivid images in his paintings as described in “Painting Hope”? How can art, like poetry and painting, help us see things in a new way?

4th Grade Biography 850L
Juneteenth

Juneteenth

Britannica Kids

In "Juneteenth," Britannica Kids shares about the history of Juneteenth and how it is celebrated.

Pair “Dawn” with “Juneteenth” to have students compare the similar messages of hope in both texts. How does the speaker describe dawn in the poem “Dawn”? How does Juneteenth recognize a new “dawn” or new beginning for formerly enslaved people? How is the celebration of this holiday similar to the message of the poem?

4th Grade Informational Text 1010L