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DURING READING
GUIDED PRACTICE Have students
discuss how they would use the
strategy to answer the following
question.
What form does the poem have?
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE After
students answer the following test
question, discuss the process they
used to find information.
The tone of the poem is
lighthearted and joyful. How does
the form help create this tone?
Use the Strategy
  1. Look at the poem and ask
    yourself, "Is it regular or
    irregular? Are the verses and
    line length all the same, or is
    each verse or line different?"
  2. Then read the poem. Read it
    once without stopping to get
    the general idea of the poem.
    Then reread it, paying
    attention to the words and
    images the author uses and
    what it makes you think of or
    how it makes you feel.
  3. Read the test question and
    see if you can answer it. If
    not, reread the poem, looking
    specifically for details that will
    help you answer the question.
USE FORM Explain that students
may be asked to read poems and
answer questions about them on
standardized tests. Tell students
the first thing they want to do when
they see a poem, even before they read it, is to look at it and think
about how it looks on the page.
Different kinds of poetry have
different forms. Some are regular,
with the same number of lines per
verse and the same number of
words or syllables per line. Others
are irregular, or what is known as
free verse. Understanding what kind of poem you will be reading can help you understand it better. Provide the following strategy.
TEST PRACTICE
Strategies
for Poetry
Prior Knowledge
Possible response: Often good examples of rocks are found buried in the dirt.
ELL
Access Content Point out the words
alley and sandy on p. 80. Explain that
an alley is a narrow street behind
buildings in a city or town; sandy
 means covered with small, loose
fragments of rock, as at the beach.
Discuss with students why they
might find a rock in such places
and what kind of rock it might be.
Rule Number 1
Rule Number 2
All right.
Here
are
the
rules:
Nobody
is supposed
to know
what’s special
about
another person’s
rock.
If somebody says,
“What’s so special
about that rock?”
don’t even tell them.
I don’t.
Rule Number 1
Rule Number 2
Rule Number 3
Rule Number 1
But if you can’t,
anyplace will do.
Even an alley.
Even a sandy road.
If you can,
go to a mountain
made out of
nothing but
a hundred million
small
shiny
beautiful
roundish
rocks.
But if they do,
DON’T WORRY.
(The worst thing
you can do is go
rock hunting when
you are worried.)
When you are looking
at rocks
don’t let
mothers or fathers
or sisters or brothers
or even best friends
talk
to you.
You should choose
a rock
when everything
is quiet.
Don’t let dogs bark
at you
or bees buzz
at you.
Rule Number 3
Otherwise,
don’t blame me
if you
can’t find
a good one.
Bend over.
More.
Even more.
You may have to
sit
on the ground
with your head
almost
touching
the earth.
You have to look
a rock
right
in the eye.
What do you know that helps you understand Rule 3?
Prior Knowledge
 
   
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ELL
Test Practice Form refers to how something looks—its shape or outward appearance. Explain that most poems have a form. If the lines are all the same number of words and each verse is the same number of lines, then a poem may look boxy and rigid. A free verse poem will appear more fluid. Explain that the poets often choose a form to fit the subject or sometimes, to contradict the subject. Point out that the form of a poem can sometimes reflect the tone or mood of the poem as well. This is why we should look at a poem before we read it. Look at the poem with the students. Discuss its appearance and what tone or mood it creates and what emotion they think the author wants to convey. Then have students answer the questions in pairs or small groups.