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aya Angelou was born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Today she is one of the most honored women in the world, recognized as a poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker and civil rights activist. She has won three Grammys for her spokenword albums, and in 2011, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for inspiring young people with her words. Maya’s life didn’t have an easy start. After her parents’ divorce,
she was moved from home to home for many years, living in turn with her mother, her grandmother and her father. For a while she was homeless. But she didn’t let the poverty, pain or suffering of her childhood destroy her. In response, she created works of art.
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Maya has published more than 30 bestselling books. She wrote a series of books about her life. To discover the name of her first book, hold this page up to a mirror.
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Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 1
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Maya loved to perform. She started singing and dancing in nightclubs and changed her name to Maya Angelou. Maya came from her brother’s nickname for her, “my-a-sister.” Angelou came from her first husband’s name, Angelos. After Maya was cast in the opera Porgy and Bess, she traveled throughout Europe performing in the show. While on tour, she learned the languages of the countries she visited. Follow the maze to see which launguages she learned.
SPANISH, ITALIAN, ARABIC, FANTI* FRENCH Maya’s first book was an autobiography. Based upon what you know of Maya’s life, what do you think the title means to her?
GERMAN, RUSSIAN, ARABIC, FANTI* GREEK
* A West African language
Standards Links: Comprehension: Respond to questions citing evidence.
As a young woman, Maya was San Francisco’s first African-American female cable car conductor. She worked hard to support herself and her son.
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Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 2
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Complete the circle charts below, one for each day of the week. Each wedge in the charts equals 10 minutes. If you dance for 20 minutes, color in two wedges. If you play basketball for one hour, fill in an entire circle.
Standards Links: Physical Education: Understand how to monitor and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.
Create a Maya Angelou Poster From the newspaper, select images and words that represent Maya Angelou. Use these to make a poster about her. Standards Links: Visual Art: Know a range of subject matter in the arts.
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Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 3
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Maya is one of only three poets in U.S. history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration (the others being Robert Frost and Elizabeth Alexander). The poem Maya read is “On the Pulse of Morning.” Here is the last stanza. Can you replace the missing vowels?
Source: www.america.gov
Complete the grid by using all the letters in the word POETRY in each vertical and horizontal row. Each letter should only be used once in each row. Some spaces have been filled in for you.
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Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 4
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Future Hope
What would you like to happen in your future? Write about it. Is there anything you can be doing now to help you prepare?
Picture Details Good writing includes lots of interesting details. Practice being a detail detective by carefully studying a photograph from the newspaper. Then, make a list of all of the details you observe. Can you list 25 or more? Standards Links: Investigation: Know that understanding comes from detailed investigation.
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Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 5
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Find the words by looking up, down, backwards, forwards, sideways and diagonally. Then see how many of these words you can find in today’s newspaper.
JOURNALIST LANGUAGES CONDUCTOR T S I L A N R U PERFORM W E D I T O R O POVERTY M A X Y T R E V HISTORY POETRY R R S T R I A E EDITOR O E Y R O T S I PULSE F P C A B L E S OPERA R O T C U D N O CAGED E I R P E N I A CABLE TEXT P L A N G U A G PAIN ART www.kidscoop.com • © 2011 Vicki Whiting, Editor • Jeff Schinkel & Eli Smith, Graphics
O J R D O P N C H A P G C E P D E S
Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 6
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Quotes mindbodygreen.com/0-802/7-Inspirational-Quotes-from-Maya-Angelou.html 7 inspirational quotes from Maya Angelou.
Birthday Celebration poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2007/04/happy-birthday-maya-angelou.html Poetry for Children celebrates Maya Angelou’s birthday.
Poetry Curriculum poetryfoundation.org/learning/article/179160 The Poetry Foundation has developed curriculum for teaching essential African American poetry to students of all ages.
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou Presents Maya Angelou’s poem about courage illustrated by the paintings and drawings of JeanMichel Basquiat.
Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well by Maya Angelou This collection of thirty-six poems is, once again, eloquent evidence of Maya Angelou's continuing celebration of life: Here are poems of love and memory; poems of racial confrontation; songs of the street and songs from the heart.
Maya Angelou: Greeting the Morning by Sarah E. King Examines the life of the African-American poet, from her childhood in the segregated South to her rise to prominence as a writer.
There's lots more great information for KIDS, TEACHERS and PARENTS at www.kidscoop.com Discover More on Kid Scoop topics, links to kid-safe websites, interactive quiz, poll for kids, games, word searches, book and web recommendations, jokes, recipes, answers and a whole lot more. www.kidscoop.com • © 2011 Vicki Whiting, Editor • Jeff Schinkel & Eli Smith, Graphics
Vol. 28, No. 8 - Maya Angelou, pg. 7