Language Tree SB 6

Unit 6 Author Study

Listen up! Listen to your teacher read the first few verses of a rap. 1 Who is the speaker? 2 Who is in Baby-K’s family? 3 What is the mood of these verses? 4 What do you think the rest of the rap will be about? Reading Now read the rest of the rap. Reflect as you read: • How has the mood of the poem changed? • What is Baby-K worried about?

Baby-K Rap Rhyme Wish my rhyme wasn’t hard Wish my rhyme wasn’t rough But sometimes, people You got to be tough

Cause dey hotting up de globe, man Dey hitting down de seals Dey killing off the ellies for dere ivories

Cause dey pumping up de chickens Dey stumping down de trees Dey messing up de ozones Dey messing up de seas

Baby-K say, stop dis – Please, please, please

poop po-doop poop-poop po-doop poop po-doop poop-poop po-doop

Baby-K say, stop dis– please, please, please.

poop po-doop poop-poop po-doop poop po-doop poop-poop po-doop

Dis is my Baby-K rap But it’s a kinda plea What kinda world Dey going to leave fuh me? What kinda world Dey going to leave fuh me?

Now am splashing in de bath With my rubber duck Who don’t like dis rhyme

Kiss my baby-foot Babies everywhere Join a Babyhood

poop po-doop

by Grace Nichols

• Read aloud the first few verses of this poem from page 177. CR  Ask students to say some of the Creole verses in Standard English. Ask students how they feel about the different versions. • Dey pumping up de chickens : Some poultry producers ‘plump’ chickens by injecting them with salt water. This increases the size and weight of the chickens and increases our consumption of salt. • Dey messing up de ozones : In the 1980s scientists discovered that gases formerly found in aerosol spray cans and refrigerants had created a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole. The ozone layer protects life on Earth from damaging solar radiation. International action was taken in an effort to reverse the situation.

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