• Investigate the Acoma Pueblo Indians and create a presentation for your class. Ensure it includes a simple map showing the regions where the Acoma have historically lived. Discuss their connections to nature, their language, and their community.

• Compose a poem about an event that symbolizes your personal relationship with either your mother or father, and then present it to your class.

• View and contrast Western films from the 1940s and 1950s with those from the 1980s and 1990s. What differences do you observe in the portrayal of Native Americans, and how do you explain these differences?

• Rewrite Ortiz’s poem from the father's perspective. How does this shift alter the themes and meaning of the poem?

• The poem's speaker expresses a desire “to say things” and recalls his father “saying things,” yet these things are not specified. Rewrite the poem using dialogue instead of reported action. Does this change lessen the poem's impact? Why or why not?

• Study the Acoma language and compile a brief vocabulary list with a pronunciation guide for your class. Include these words from the poem: voice, corn, sand, father, hand, mice, sand, alive, damp, time.

• In pairs, perform a dramatization of the poem, taking as many creative liberties with the “script” as you find necessary. One person plays the father, the other the son. Present your interpretations to the class and then discuss the differences.