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Unit 6
Reading Poetry
OBJECTIVES
Listen and respond to poems.
Identify how meaning is conveyed through word choice.
Read poetry fluently.
Connect ideas and themes across texts.
Model Fluent Reading
Point out that this poem is also the first verse of a famous song—our national anthem. Explain that you will read the song rather than sing it. Ask students to listen for the sense, or meaning, of these familiar words. Then read the text slowly, pausing as punctuation indicates.
Discuss the Poem
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
1 Setting • Literal
At what time of day is the song set?
It is set at daybreak ("at the dawn's early light").
2 Paraphrase • Inferential
In your own words, tell what happened the night before. What role did the flag play in that event?
Possible responses: There was a battle. During the battle, the flag continued to wave.
Model Fluent Reading
Tell students that the speaker in this poem is describing something she respects—nature—to someone she respects—her grandmother. Read the poem aloud in a reverent voice. As you read, have students imagine they are the grandmother. What do they picture in their heads?
Discuss the Poem
"I Watched an Eagle Soar"
1 Sequence • Interpretation
What two events does the speaker describe?
Watching an eagle fly in the sky, and then "seeing" the eagle when she closes her eyes.
2 Figurative Language
• Interpretation
What else might it mean to "see" something "behind your eyes"?
Possible responses: It might also mean to imagine something, or to remember something.
Symbolism
Explain that a symbol is a person, place, event, or object that has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well. In "The Star-Spangled Banner," for example, the flag is a real object, but it also stands for American ideals such as courage and freedom. In "I Watched an Eagle Soar," the main event—seeing an eagle fly across the sky—really happens. But when the speaker closes her eyes and "sees" the eagle again, the event becomes symbolic. It now suggests the act of imagination—of "seeing" something in the mind's eye.
EXTEND SKILLS
UNIT 6
Poetry
The Star-Spangled Banner
Oh say, can you see, by the dawn’s
     early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s
     last gleaming—
Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
     through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so
     gallantly streaming!
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs
     bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag
     was still there;
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner
     yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home
     of the brave!
by Francis Scott Key
I Watched an Eagle Soar
Grandmother,
I watched an eagle soar
high in the sky
until a cloud covered him up.
Grandmother,
I still saw the eagle
behind my eyes.
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve
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Practice Fluent Reading
Have students take turns reading "I Watched an Eagle Soar" in groups of three or four. As they read, have students imagine they are addressing an important adult in their lives. Encourage them to use a tone that is both respectful and excited. When students have finished, have them listen to the AudioText of the poem and compare and contrast their readings with the CD recording.
Audio CD AudioText
WRITING POETRY
Explain to students than an anthem is a song of praise or tribute. Then have students work in groups to write their own poetic tribute to the American flag. Allow students to illustrate their poems and display them in the classroom.