Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 4

The Road Not Taken Lesson Plan Lesson objective: Students will be able to explain the meaning of the

poem. Length: 1 class period (50 minutes)

usually end up convincing ourselves that our choices were the right ones). The theme of the poem is that our choices do make a big difference in our lives and that there is no way to go back and change them. Rhyming scheme = ABAAB, CDCCD, etc.

Robert Frost (1874-1963) is one of the most famous American poets. He won many Pulitzer prizes (the highest award for writers in the US) and was a poet laureate (a poet appointed by a country to write poems for official ceremonies). Vocabulary: diverge (v.) - to separate wood (n.) - a forest undergrowth (n.) - the forest floor fair (adj.) - beautiful claim (n.) - a possession wear (n.) - usage tread (v.) - to take steps on something (trodden = past participle) sigh (n.) - a sound made by breathing out heavily age (n.) - a long period of time hence (adv.) - at a future time

Discussion questions: 1. What choices have you made in your life that you are happy about? Which ones would you like to go back and change? 2. Should people be free to make their own choices or is it better to follow parents and society?

This is a comprehensive lesson plan for teaching students how to analyze poetry, rhyme, and meter using Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken". High school teachers can make poetry easier and more interesting by teaching a poem and allowing students to make connections between the poem and their lives. Analyzing Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" 1. Lyrical poetry, rhyme, meter 2. Making decisions Lesson Objectives to Analyze Frost's Poem 1. Understand the definition of a lyrical poem 2. Identify the meter and rhyme of a poem 3. Comprehend how to read a poem for the literal and metaphorical meaning Lesson Materials Needed Either a text which includes Frosts poem or a copy of the poem for students. Overhead or PowerPoint with notes and assignment instructions. Quickwrite to Introduces the Theme of "The Road Not Taken" Make a list of all the decisions you have to make on a daily basis, no matter how minor. Then list what sorts of things influence you when you make those decisions.

Read and discuss the The Road Not Taken: Stanza 1 - The roads are a metaphor for choices in life. Yellow means that it was autumn. The writer can choose only one path and he takes time to think about it, looking down the first one as far as he can Stanza 2 - The writer takes the other path and feels good about his choice. However, both of the paths were pretty much the same (ie. used equally by others) Stanza 3 - The writer hopes to try the other path in future but doubts that he ever will since every path leads on to more and more choices and there is not usually time to go back and try all the options Stanza 4 - The writer says that he will remember this choice in the far future with a sigh (could be a happy or a sad sigh). At that time he will tell himself that his choice was the best and that it made a big difference in his life (whether or not this is actually true is not the point -- we

Give students five minutes to write their list, and then have them share what they wrote with a partner. Pick three students to share one decision and its influences with the class. Notes and an Example to Model Poetry Analysis

4. Discuss with students the metaphorical meaning of the poem and urge them toward making a connection between the qualities of a lyrical poem and the theme of the poem Use Quickwrite to Make Connections

Use a PowerPoint or an overhead as a visual. Have students copy the definitions into their notes for lyrical poetry, rhyme, and meter. Have students copy down the example lines of poetry into their notes: I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves of storm. Then read the two lines with exaggerated emphasis on the accented syllables. Have students mark the meter in their notes and write down the rhyme scheme. Discuss and Analyze "The Road Not Taken" 1. Using either a textbook or copy of the poem, read the poem aloud to the students and have them write down what they think the poem is literally saying. Give the students two minutes to write before having them share with someone close to them. 2. Read the poem a second time, and instruct students to identify the rhyme scheme and meter and mark it in their notes. 3. Ask students to read the poem to themselves and underline three words which connote emotion and identify any symbolism in the poem

Make a list of difficult decisions you are likely to have to make in the next five years (examples: where to go to college, what career to choose). Follow Through Assignment After Reading "The Road Not Taken" Write a well-organized paragraph explaining a time you chose to take the road not taken. Include details and specific reasons you chose to go the road not taken instead of taking the easy way. The lesson is appropriate for advanced eighth or ninth graders or eleventh graders studying American Literature. Students should have some experience with poetry, but do not need to be advanced. A poetry lesson with a connection students can make in their own lives teaches them to understand the meaning of poetry as well as its importance. During the lesson the teacher reviews the meaning of key concepts, models analysis, and facilitates discussion. The students take what they learned and use meta-cognition to connect the poem to their lives by writing about a time they needed to make a hard decision.

This lesson is written at a 9th or 10th grade regular-level English/Reading class. Feel free to adapt it for your grade level. Setting the Mood Most "The Road Not Taken" Lesson Plans are based on the false assumptions of the general populace. This one is not. This poem is often used in inspirational writing or speaking as an example of someone who chose the harder path, or the less common path -- in fact, the title of this poem

is often thought of as being "The Road Less Traveled." In fact, though, Frost tells us that neither road is less traveled: "...the passing there had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay [i]n leaves no step had trodden black." And so even the reputation of the poem has an ironic cast to it. There are a couple ways students could get prepared for this poem. You could ask them to consider a time when they had two options and no real way to choose between the two. Be sure

to have students give context to the situation and explain the resolution. This could be done verbally or in writing. Another way to start this lesson might be to ask students to tell (or write) about a time when they embellished an experience to make the story sound better, or someone embellished an experience in a story to them. Coming to the Fork Make sure that each student has a copy of the poem for purposes of annotation. Then, read the poem aloud, or have students read it aloud. Make sure the students know to place their pauses according to the punctuation, not according to the line breaks. If you would like an audio recording of the poem, one is available here. As the students hear the poem, have them underline or highlight words or phrases that jump out at them. If you are working on marking rhyme scheme, this is a fairly easy poem for that. Analyzing "The Road Not Taken" The following poetic devices should be considered when analyzing "The Road Not Taken." Rhyme scheme -- There are four stanzas in this poem, each with five lines, each with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB. Each line has four accented, or stressed, syllables in a pattern that is basically iambic tetrameter but varies occasionally. Irony -- When one compares line 20 (the road less traveled by) with lines 8 and 9, it is clear that, for some reason, the speaker has decided to change his story for future audiences (line 16). Theme -- What are the nature and purpose of storytelling? Based on the first half of the poem, the speaker goes walking in the forest and comes to a fork in the road. He would like to choose both paths but cannot, and so he chooses one, leaving "the first for another day"(13). It's not that important to come back, though -- as "way leads on to way...[the speaker doubts] if [he] should ever come back"(14-15). However, in the last stanza, the focus turns to how the story will sound: "I shall be telling this with a sigh"(16). Rather than present the simple choice that faced him, the speaker declares that he will

embellish it, saying that his choice "has made all the difference"(20). Interestingly, the speaker gives the reader a window on the conscious invention of that embellishment. An interesting point of discussion, particularly with a higher-level class (Pre-AP or AP in high school) would be about why people come away from this poem blown away by its apparent theme about the importance of being an individual, and avoiding the easy temptations of following the crowd. It is one of these easy temptations, on another level of irony, that lead too many readers away from the true message of this poem. Student Response Once you've finished a group discussion about the devices above, have students respond in a number of ways. For higher-level students, ask for an explanation for the use of emjambment in line 3. This may well serve as an emphasis of the moment of stopping for the speaker. Stopping interrupts what had been a constitutional, just like the enjambment interrupts the flow of the poem. For middle-school students, ask for a drawing of the scene. If you have a particularly astute class, you could ask for two drawings: one as the speaker actually sees the fork in the road, and one as the speaker will describe the choice he faced. A cool connection to the media: Find an audio or video commercial for a product that you know most of your students are likely to purchase or at least use. Before you play the commercial, ask students what word or phrase they associate with that product. It is quite likely the word or phrase they name will be the same as the jingle or motto at the end of the commercial. Lead a discussion relating that connection with the false idea that so many have gotten about this poem.
Filipino - gawa ka reaction paper 10 sentencs sa article na 'to. MOTORCYCLE LANE SA EDSA START NA Nakatakda nang ipatupad ng MMDA ang motorcycle lane sa kahabaan ng EDSA simula bukas, Feb 14. Ayon kay MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino,

magsasagawa muna ng isang linggong dry run kung saan obligadong sumailalim sa 15minutong road safety seminar ang mga mahuhuling sumaway sa mga itinalagang lugar sa roxas blvd, orense,white plains, timog at quezon ave. bibigyan din sila ng stickers na may logo ng MMDA na may mensaheng "certified motorcycle riders" at "disiplinado ako". ilalagay sa ikaapat na linya mula sa kanang sidewalk na magsisimula sa EDSA monumento hanggang pasay city ang nasabing lanes. nauna nang nagpatupad ng motorcylcle lane sa commonwealth ave at sa macapagal blvd sa pasay at paranaque city.

Вам также может понравиться