And making connections with Bridging Literature
Task, Pre-reading and Post-reading activities
ETAI Conference July 9, 2014
Karen Guth
karen@guth.us
http://englishteachingwithcreativity.wordpress.com/
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TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
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Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
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And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
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I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken – By Robert
Frost
Narration by Alan Bates
Start
At almost 40 years old Robert Frost had not
published a single book of poems. He was very
discouraged by this. In 1911 he received
ownership of a family farm and he and his wife
made a momentous decision; to sell this farm
and start a new life in London where Frost hoped
to be able to publish more of his poetry. He later
became the most widely admired and highly
honored American poet of the 20th century.
http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.co.il/1999/
04/road-not-taken-robert-frost.html
How does this information connect to the poem?
“Poetry is when an emotion has found
its thought and the thought has found
words”. - Robert Frost
How does this information connect to
the poem?
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow
yourself to be made a victim. Accept no
one’s definition of your life; define
yourself” . - Robert Frost
How does this information connect to the
poem?
Bridging with biographical information of the author –
Amy Tan “Rules of the Game”- The family moved nearly
every year, living in Oakland, Fresno, Berkeley, and San
Francisco before settling in Santa Clara, California.
Although John and Daisy rarely socialized with their
neighbors, Amy and her brothers ignored their parents'
objections and tried hard to fit into American society.
"They wanted us to have American circumstances and
Chinese character," Tan said in an interview with Elaine
Woo in the Los Angeles Times (March 12, 1989).
How does this information connect to the story, “Rules of
the Game” by Amy Tan?
Bridging interview with Ron Jones – The
Wave Making Connections between
something said in the interview and the
story.
Start
Pre-Reading – The Road Not
Taken
Music
Pre-reading “The Split Cherry Tree” –
Appalachian English
Start
Post- reading- “Richard Cory” – Simon and
Garfunkel –
How is their song connected to the poem
(also a good compare and contrast HOTS
question)? What did Simon and Garfunkel
change in their song from what is written in
the poem and why do you think they made
those changes (also a good HOTS uncovering
motives question)?
Start
Making Connections in a Post-reading exercisethe meaning of our senses- Marcel Marceau Mime
and The Miracle Worker (show YouTube)
Start
Marcel Marceau called mime the art of “making the
invisible visible”; whereas, Helen Keller stated,
“everything has its wonders, even darkness and
silence… ”. She also said, “It is not the senses I
have but what I do with them (that) is my
kingdom”.
What do these two people have in common and
what message have they brought to Mankind?
Possible answer for Post-reading on “The Miracle
Worker”:
Mime is without speech- Helen Keller lacked the
sense of sight and hearing and yet, these two
people, Helen Keller and Marcel Marceau, created
“wonders even in darkness and silence”. Our senses
are all a gift and yet, one can experience the
wonders of the world, contribute to the betterment
of mankind and as H.K. said, “it is not the senses I
have but what I do with them (that) is my kingdom”.
Post-reading, “A Summer’s Reading” Orit Keren You Tube –
making connections to the story and real picturesStart
Describe Mr. Cattanzara’s day working in the IRT station and
explain why he said to George, “Don’t do what I did”.
Write a thank you letter from George to Mr. C ten years after
the story took place in which he describes his life and how his
dreams have come true (use information from the You Tube
which shows his “old” neighborhood compared to his “new”
neighborhood).
Possible Answers for Two Bridging questions on,
“The Road Not Taken”
At almost 40 years old Robert Frost had not
published a single book of poems. He was very
discouraged by this. In 1911 he received ownership
of a family farm and he and his wife made a
momentous decision; to sell this farm and start a
new life in London where Frost hoped to be able to
publish more of his poetry. He later became the
most widely admired and highly honored American
poet of the 20th century.
One possible answer:
The new information in the bridging question explains how
Robert Frost, who wanted to be a published poet, was not
finding someone to publish his work. In 1911 he was at a
crossroads when he received ownership of the family farm and
decided to sell it, move and start a new life in London. As a
result of that decision, he began publishing his poetry and
became famous.
This connects to the poem, “The Road Not Taken” because in
the poem we read how the author is at a crossroads, trying to
decide if he should take the path most people take or “the one
less traveled by”. He chooses the one less traveled and says
“that has made all the difference”. This is just like Frost’s
decision to move to London to publish his poems rather than
stay on his family farm to be a farmer all of his life.
Bridging question 2:
“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the
thought has found words” Robert Frost
How does this information connect to the poem?
The quotation says that a poem is created when an emotion
becomes a thought and the thought then is expressed in
words. This connects to the poem, “The Road Not Taken”
because we see that the author feels the emotion of having to
make a choice between two paths, both of which seem
pleasant or similar. That debate inside of him becomes the
words of his poem. For example, when he says, both looked
“fair” but he chose the one that was, “grassy and wanted
wear”. He further expresses in his poem that he chose “the
one less traveled by” and that made all of the difference for
him in his life.
Remember – The most important
connection is the one we make with
our students.
We do that with:
• Our passion for learning
• Our love and caring for our students
• Our creativity in the classroom
• Including movies, mime, music, and
more