When I taught 8th grade Language Arts, reading strategies were a big part of helping students with comprehension by activating prior knowledge, making connections as they read, and tying text to a bigger world. The text-to-text strategy led me to think about Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence." This songs reminds us to avoid the neon gods that litter our daily life, which can trick us into indifference.
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Then the sign said, "The words on the prophets are written on the subway walls
In tenement halls"
And whispered in the sound of silence
I have been known to say, LOOK UP, see the world around you.
ReplyDelete