Stoppingby Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost(1874-1963)

Whosewoodsthese are I think I know.

His houseis in thevillagethough;
He willnotseemestoppinghere
Towatchhiswoodsfillupwithsnow.

Mylittlehorse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhousenear
Betweenthewoodsandfrozenlake
The darkestevening of theyear.

He giveshisharnessbells a shake
Toaskifthereissomemistake.
The onlyothersound'sthesweep
Of easywindanddownyflake.

The woods are lovely, dark, anddeep.

But I havepromisestokeep,
Andmilestogobefore I sleep,
Andmilestogobefore I sleep.
 LESSON PLAN
Teachingpoetry

Motto: ”A good poem is a complete hole”

(Ryburn)
Poetry title: Stoppingby Woods on a SnowyEvening
Author: Robert Frost(1874-1963)
Lesson aims:
 To enable the students to appreciate the poem
 To enable them to understand the thought and imagination contained in
the poem
 To appreciate the rhyme, rhytm and style of the poem
 To train the emotions, feelings and imagination of the students
 To develop their aesthetic sense
 To create love for English poetry
Preparation:I thinkteaching a poem shouldalwaysbeginwith a
beautifulintroductionaboutthe poem anditsauthor. Thiswillarousetheinterest of
thestudentsand create theappropriateenvironment for teachingthe poem.
Introduction of the poem canbedone in differentways:
- bygiving a briefsummary of the poem pertainingtothe background and
general theme of the poem andthen, askingfewquestions on it;
- bygiving a life-sketch, poetic styleandcharacteristics of the poet;
- byshowing a picturethatreflectsthe content of the poem, etc.
Warm-up:
1) For teachingthis poem, I chosethelastway, soIwillaskthestudentsto look
carefully at theimage of thephotograph “Horseandsleigh on ValdezTrailto
Fairbanks.” (resource 1).What do younoticefirst? Look again. Whatelse
do yousee? Whatmightbegoing on in thisimage?
2) I couldalsouse a brainstorming activity:
theteacherelicitsfifteenwordsrelatedtopoetry on the board –
anythingthatcomestostudentsminds. In pairs, thestudentsthen create
categoriesto put allthewordsinto.
3) If I havealreadytaughtprose, I
couldaskthestudentstodiscussthefollowingquestion in pairs: What do
 youthinkmakespoetrydifferentfromprose?” and I couldelicitwords or
expressionslike: line breaks, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, meter,
metaphor, simile, etc.
Activity 1 (beforereadingthe poem):
1) On a paperfolded in half, thestudents are givenonestanza of the poem
withgappedwords(resource 2). In pairs,
thestudentswilltrytoguessthemissingwords. Then,
theteacherwillreadthestanzaaloud. (There are alsoyoutubevideos of
peoplerecitingthe poem. Here is a link for the poem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to0UbOOUEnIandone for the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsTSjJsvW9U). Then,
thestudentsunfoldthepaperandcheckwiththe full poem (resource 2).
The teacherthenelicitswhich of
thewordsfromthebrainstormactivityduringthewarm-up, applytothis poem
andhow are theyrelated.
2) Dictogloss:The teacherwillreadthepoem aloudthreetimes.
Eachtimethestudentswilltake notes andthen are given a
chancetotrytoreconstructthe poem in pairs or smallgroups.
Witheachreadingthey get closerandclosertothe original. A poem
likethisonelendsitselfparticularlytothisactivitybecause of theuse of
repetitionandrhyme. The teachercouldcorrectbyeliciting it tothe board or
simply passing out a writtencopy.
The teacherthenelicitswhich of thewordsfromthebrainstormactivity in
thewarm-upapplytothisstanza. This poem, for example,
employsalliteration (”watchhiswoods”, “sound’sthesweep”, “His house”),
assonance(“hewillnotseemestopping”, “hegiveshisharnessbells a shake”),
rhyme (know-though-snow, queer-near-year),
repetition(”Andmilestogobefore I sleep”),metaphor(“sweep of
easywindanddownyflake”, ”Andmilestogobefore I sleep”), etc. The
teachercouldpoint out:howweusuallycapitalizewords at thebeginning of
lines;astanzais a poetic form of a differentnumber of lines, buthere, a
stanzacomprisesfourlineseach;aquatrainis a four-linedstanzatakenfrom
Persian poetryandin this poem, eachstanzaisalso a
quatrainthoughtherhyme scheme is a bit different.etc.
3) Before giving students the whole poem, pre-
teachingsomevocabularymightbe a good idea (resource 3). The
expositions of wordsshouldnotbedonein detail whileteaching of poetry.
 Onlythosedifficultwords or phraseswhichcreate hindrance in
thecomprehensionof the poem shouldbeexplained.

Activity 2(readingthepoetry):
1) Recitationisthesoul of thepoetry. The model
recitationbytheteacherhelpsthestudentstoexperience or feelthe poem in
itstotality. Therefore, theteachershould recite the poem withproperrhythm,
stressandintonation. In myopinion, in thispoint,
studentsshouldlistencarrefully, withtheirbooksclosed.
Tohavethegreatereffect, theteachercould recite the poem
onceagainandthistimethestudentsshould open theirbooks.
2) The teachermayasktwo or threestudentsonebyonetoreadthe poem in the
same mannerhe/shehasrecited. Thisrequires a lot of practice on the part of
thestudentsandhelpsthemtoenjoythepoemandandfeelthemusicandthebeaut
y of itslanguage.
3) The studentsmaybeaskedtoreadthe poem silentlyandgraspthe theme of
the poem.
4) At theprimarystage, silentreadingshouldbeavoided. At thisage,
thestudentsenjoytherecitation of thepoems in chorus. It helpsthem in
overcomingtheirshyness. The teachercanreadthe poem line by line
whichshallbefollowedbystudentscolectively.
Activity 3 (comprehension):
Translation
In pairs, thestudentscan translate the poem intotheirownlanguage. The
language in this poem ispretty simple, so it usuallydoesn’ttakelong.
In a monolingualclass,
theteacherwillprovidethestudentswithtwoslightlydifferentversions of the
verse (easilyfoundbyGooglingthe poem). In English, thestudentsthen
comment on anydifferenceswiththeirowntranslation, andwhich of
theofficialtranslationstheylikebetter. Usuallythisleadsto a bit of a
discussionabouthowmuchliberty a translator shouldtakewiththemeaning of
the poem, whetherhow it soundsis more important sometimes, etc.
In a multilingualclass, theteachercanaskstudentsto translate it
intotheirownlanguage, andthentaketurnsreading it aloud. It
willbeinterestingtohearthe poem in Turkish, Russian, French, Italian or,
whynot, Romani language?
Small-groupDiscussion
Sharewhatyounoticed in the poem withyourpartnerandanother pair of
students. Based on thedetailsyou just sharedwithyoursmallgroup,
howmighttheimagefromthebeginning of classrelatetothe poem? Whatimages
stand out toyou in the poem? Whatmightthewoodssymbolize?
Whole-classDiscussion
Howwouldyoudescribethemood in the poem? Why? Whatpromises do
youthinkthatthespeakermighthavetokeep? Whymightthespeakerrepeatthe
final line?
Extension for Grades 7-8
Rereadthefirststanza. Whymightthespeakersayhethinksheknows
“Whosewoodsthese are”? Write a postcardtotheowner of
thewoodsfromthespeaker. Whatmightthisspeaker tell theowner?
Extension for Grades 9-12
Rereadthe poem andpaycloseattentiontotherhyme scheme. Write an
emulation of this poem whereyou mimic therhyme scheme. Or, rewritethe
poem in a differentseason.
Rewritethe poem
In the final stage of thelesson, thestudents are given an
opportunitytorewritethestanza in smallgroups. Theymaintainthe same
structureandrhyming scheme but changesomethe of thewords.
For example: Whosefieldsthese are I think I feel...
The studentsfinishbysharingtheirnewverses.
Thisactivitycouldfinishbydiscussingwhichversiontheylikedbestandwhy,
whichwasthesaddest, funniest, most original, etc.
Ideas for more detailedtaskscould include:
 Askingthestudentstoreplacecertainwordswithsynonyms. Doesthe poem
still sound as good?
 Role playing a conversationwiththeauthor of the poem and a
closefriend.
 Write a new verse (to put in themiddle or at theend).
  Notingdownemotionsthat are expressed in the poem,
countingmetaphors, etc.
 Studentscandrawwhatthey imaginewhentheyread or listenthe poem.
Some final words
Poetryisoften (fairlyandunfairly) labeled as “hard”, but
thiscanactuallywork in theteacher’s favor withtheright poem.Sometimes, as
teachers, wespendsomuchtimeteachingstudentshowtoanalyze, break
downanddecodepoetry,thatweforgettoteachthemhowtoappreciatethebeauty of
thewordsandthemessage.There are
manybeautifulpoemswhichcouldbring”magic”toour English
classesbyteachingpoetry. I haverecentlydiscoveredthat a goodand semnificant
poem put at thebeginning of a poetry unit, for example,canbe a realimpulse for
childrentolovepoetry (likeIntroductionToPoetryby Billy Collins).

IntroductiontoPoetry
ByBilly Collins

I askthemtotake a poem
andhold it uptothelight
like a color slide

or press an earagainstitshive.

I saydrop a mouse into a poem

andwatchhim probe hisway out,

or walkinsidethepoem’s room
andfeelthewalls for a lightswitch.

I wantthemtowaterski
acrossthesurface of a poem
waving at theauthor’sname on theshore.
 But alltheywantto do
istiethe poem to a chairwithrope
andtorture a confession out of it.

Theybeginbeating it with a hose

tofind out what it reallymeans.

Bibliography:
https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-stopping-woods-snowy-evening-robert-frost
https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2016/04/National-Poetry-Month-middle-school-
high-school.html
https://www.eflmagazine.com/lesson-ideas-for-teaching-poetry/
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46712/introduction-to-poetry
”TeachingUnplugged: Dogme in English LanguageTeaching”, Paperback Delta
TeacherDevelopmentSeries English, By (author) LukeMeddings , By (author) Scott
Thornbury