Teach This Poem, though developed with a classroom in mind, can be easily adapted for remote-learning, hybrid-learning models, or in-person classes. Please see our suggestions for how to adapt this lesson for remote or blended learning. We have also noted suggestions when applicable and will continue to add to these suggestions online.
Look closely at this image of a clothing sweatshop circa 1985 from laborarts.org.
The following activities and questions are designed to help your students use their noticing skills to move through the poem and develop their thinking about its meaning with confidence, using what they’ve noticed as evidence for their interpretations. Read more about the framework upon which these activities are based.
- Warm-Up: The poem you will read today is called “Thank God for Hard Feelings.” With a partner or small group, discuss some examples of hard or difficult feelings. Have you heard the idiom “no hard feelings?”
- Before Reading the Poem: Look closely at this image of a clothing sweatshop circa 1985. What do you notice? What does this make you think? How do you think the women in this photo might feel? Look again. What else do you see?
- Reading the Poem: Silently read the poem “Thank God for Hard Feelings” by Haesong Kwon. What do you notice about the poem? Note any words or phrases that stand out to you or any questions you might have.
- Listening to the Poem: (enlist two volunteers to read the poem aloud) Listen as the poem is read aloud twice, and write down any additional words and phrases that stand out to you. Or, opt to listen to the poet read the poem by clicking the audio icon at the top right corner of the poem.
- Small-group Discussion: Share what you noticed about the poem with a small group of students. Based on the details you just shared with your small group and the image from the beginning of class, what do you think of the title “Thank God for Hard Feelings” now?
- Whole-class Discussion: How would you describe the speaker, the mother, and their relationship? Does this poem say anything about gratitude? Discuss who might be feeling gratitude and for what or to whom.
- Extension for Grades 7-8: To learn more about the poem and the poet, read the “About This Poem” statement at the bottom right section of this page. Write a poem that honors someone important to you. If you feel comfortable, share your poem with the class.
- Extension for Grades 9-12: Reread the lines, “You have to be / happy in order to weep, or sob. I can teach you, / she said to me. If you can hold a pencil, I can teach you / how to draw. But I’ve known people who have / no hands. Who have no fingers.” With a partner or small group, discuss what these lines might mean. What might the speaker’s mother have taught him? Share things an adult in your life has taught you.
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Celebrate the rich tradition of Asian American and Pacific Islander poetry, and find poems and lesson plans to read, share, and research with this collection of poems for kids.
Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginnings of words. Read more.