Inside each of us are feelings for what we want in life. We need to be conscious of dreams and aspirations in order to move toward them and achieve them.

Ask students to identify their dreams by writing them down. These written dreams become their goals. Then ask them to identify the tasks necessary to achieve their goals. Research may be needed for this activity in order to list the tasks.

Now ask students to look at the immediate goals and future goals they have listed. What could possibly happen to throw these goals off track? Life has a way of throwing obstacles in our way making it difficult to achieve identified goals. Some obstacles cannot be controlled, others we can do something about. (Have students list possible obstacles that can be placed in our way to keep us from achieving our goals. Discuss which obstacles can be controlled and which obstacles cannot be controlled. Some examples might be: poor health, loss of job, family problems, pregnancy, etc.)

Discuss with students different ways to overcome these various obstacles. Emphasize to the students the importance of discussing goals and solutions to obstacles with adults who have the students’ best interests at heart or whom the student trusts. Emphasize to students that the best way to overcome obstacles is to avoid or bypass them.

Read aloud the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. You may want to print the poem as a handout for each student. Ask for the students’ interpretation of the poem.

Ask:

1. What is your interpretation of a deferred dream?
2. How does it make you feel?
3. What is a dried raisin?
4. What does it mean to fester like a sore?
5. What is the significance of a dream smelling like rotten meat?
6. How can a deferred dream be sweet?
7. What would it be like to have a heavy load?