Materials Required: Robert Frost's Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by Susan Jeffers (2001).
Activity Description
Whenever there is snow in the forecast I use Robert Frost Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by Susan Jeffers (2001). This is a wonderful book with beautiful illustrations that go with each line of the poem. I start the lesson by brainstorming how children feel when they see the snow falling. Then I introduce the book and focus on the illustrations, highlighting some of the vocabulary like harness, queer, and downy. I encourage the children to express how they feel when they look at the winter scenery.
Followed by reading the poem in groups, as a class and individually students are asked to identify the end rhyme in each stanza.
Then students are asked to write a Reader’s Response to the following questions:
What did you like about the poem? What does this poem make you think about? How does this poem make you feel?
While sitting in a seminar circle students are directed to analyze, discuss and interpret the poem using these questions: What was the speaker's attitude about the woods? Why does the horse stop in the woods? Why did the author use a winter scene? What happens at the end of the poem? Do you think the ending was positive or negative? Why?
As a follow up students are asked to create a Reader’s Response. They divide a piece of paper in have or draw a line down the sentence of a notebook page.
For intermediate students: On the left side they write a line from the poem. On the right side they answer the question: What do you think the line means?
The advanced students are asked to respond to the following questions in written form:
What did you like about the poem? What does this poem make you think about? How does this poem make you feel?
Extended Activity: Find a favorite poem to illustrate and share a read aloud with the class.
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