Poem of the Day: “THE RULES NO. 1, NO. 2, + NO. 3” by Jason Reynolds

April is National Poetry Month! This is the first year I’m celebrating National Poetry Month in my classroom. Each day I’m sharing the poems my students and I read, along with prompts and resources.


Building on yesterday’s two poems is the third rule. Share your thinking about these poems from Jason Reynolds’s 2017 novel Long Way Down by annotating the poems and/or responding to one of the prompts.

  • How does the addition of “NO. 3: REVENGE” change the meaning / tone / flow of “THE RULES”? 
  • What do you notice about the three poems? Explain the importance of these noticings. 

I made the same editorial choice to include all of the poems on the same page like I did with yesterday‘s selections.

There was less confusion than yesterday, too. There was more concern regarding who was making, enforcing, and following the rules. After providing background information to Long Way Down and Will’s predicament, students understood who was supposed to follow the rules and when.

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