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Which Road to Take?
A poem, a lesson and an ah-ha moment
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is a poem I use with students often. It is always fun to be the adult to bring this poem to new eyes and brains.
The last time I taught it I used a vocabulary QHT chart for sorting:
Q is for questions about words
H is for heard of it but do not know the meaning
T is for “I know this word so well I could teach it to someone else”.
We read and record words that they deem important. I usually explain I want them to record words that POP out to them. I use this is my own practice of reading.
Diverged is a word that always ends up on the chart from this poem.
There is also always talk about choices and the path the narrator was trying to decide upon. One of the girls spoke up about the connection to life in general and which paths people choose to take. The students said they thought a lot of people chose the wrong path. Some thought that certain paths were thrust upon people.
The writing the students did was quick but thoughtful after our brief discussion. It is much easier to make an extended response when a list of details about your big idea is either annotated on the poem in front of you or on a list you have…
