Standard (taken from the Core Standards Website under Sixth

Grade Standards)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on
meaning and tone.
Context
I am teaching a class of sixth graders with mixed abilities about poetry, and how
metaphor works within poetry. At this stage in their development, my hypothetical
students have not fully developed their abstract thinking abilities. By analyzing the
metaphors and hidden meaning in The Road Not Taken they will develop their
understanding of metaphor and hidden meaning within poetry. Since analyzing
poetry can seem daunting, the Probable Passage assignment should get them
thinking about what the mystery poem might be about.

Reading Focus
Since many middle school have little experience working with poetry, I am
attempting to spark their curiousity in the poem by giving them a Probable
Passage worksheet. This assignment encourages students to find meaning out of
words on the page, which would hopefully prepare them to engage with the
meaning of the entire poem.
After this lesson students should:
1.) Make a prediction about The Road Not Taken by way of a Probable Passage
assignment.
2.) Be intrigued by the meaning of The Road Not Taken.

Instructional Strategies
Teacher Students
1.) Explain what
students will do during
their Probable Passage
assignment.
2.) Ask students to
share their opinions with
their assigned partner and
write out one new
1.) Quietly group the
words on the Probable
Passage hand out into
the Setting, Problem
and Unknown word
groups, write their Gist
statement, and three
things to discover.
2.) Students discuss
with their assigned
partner.
 prediction and one new
wondering that came out
of their discussion. Hover
around the room,
observing engagement,
and helping students who
are struggling.
3.) Move to the front of 3.) Students share out
the room, quiet students, loud their predictions and
and draw names out of a wonderings.
cup to share their groups
opinions. Writes on board
students thoughts,
comment on common
things that students are
coming up with
4.) Ask students to 4.) Students give
recall their prior suggestions about the
knowledge about double meanings that
Metaphor and ask them if words could have.
they think that any of the
seven words could mean
something else.

Assessment tools
Assignment Sheet: Look at the predictions of the Probable Passage
assignment sheets during class to see if students are actively engage with
the words I had given them.
Cold Call: Call students at random during our group discussion to share their
predictions. I will keep a mental note of the levels of creativity, engagement,
and thoughtfulness in their responses.
Hovering: Hover across the room. Compliment good, thoughtful thinking that
I see, and help students who are struggling/ not trying.

Research Base
The Probable Passage outline is articulated in When Kids Cant Read: What
Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. Beers notes that certain readers struggle to
comprehend and engage with a text because they dont predict what will happen
next. This strategy, she says, not only helps all readers predict what they are about
to read but sparks interest in the text that they are about to read.

Probable Passage
Assignment: The words bellow are taken out of a poem that shall not be named until
later in class. First, put all the words into the Setting box, words that you think
refer to the setting, and words that you think refer to the Problem of the poem put
into the problem box. If you dont know the meaning of any of the words, fear not.
Put them in the Unknown box.
Word Bank

Yellow Leaves Diverged

Paths
Difference Traveled Hence

Setting Problem Unknown

Prediction: Below, use ALL the words to create a one-three sentence prediction of
what happens in the poem. You can use other words to create your sentence.
Hint: Your prediction does not have to be literal.

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Wonderings: Below, list 3 questions that you have about the poem
1.)
2.)
3.)

During Reading Strategy

Standard (taken from the Core Standards Website under Sixth
Grade Standards)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on
meaning and tone.
Context
I have just prepared students to engage with The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
with a Probable Passage exercise. I gave them seven words from the poem,
without them knowing what poem they came from, and they had to group them into
Setting and Problem, and create a prediction using all seven words. I have already
taught a lesson on metaphor and how words in poems have double meanings.
These students also have learned what a metaphor is, but I will review it with them,
seeing as it is an integral part of this assignment.

Reading Focus
This lesson will help students develop their abstract thinking skills. They will use
their prior knowledge about metaphors and double meaning to interpret the
multiple meanings and metaphors in The Road Not Taken. By recording their
thinking in a Double Entry Journal, they will write what they see, literally, in the
poem, and what they think what that image might imply or what it might be a
metaphor for.

Research
In When Kids Cant Reads: What Teachers can Do Kylene Beers suggest the Double
Entry Journal as a During Reading strategy. According to her, this format helps
student track not only what they are seeing, but what they think of what they are
seeing. This helps student read actively, something that struggling readers fail to
do.
After this lesson, students should
1.) Have filled out a Double Entry Journal thoughtfully and thoroughly.
2.) Developed questions/ideas about the double meanings of the poem

Instructional Strategies
Teacher Student
1.) Teacher will model how the 1.) Students will observe how they
students should fill out their are supposed to read the poem
reading scaffold. The teacher will and take notes on it. They will
ask for a thumbs up/down answer specific questions about
evaluation from the students to what they just saw. Volunteers
see if they get it and check for will also give examples of
student understanding. Teacher metaphors or ask for clarification.
will also remind students that a
metaphor is describing one thing
by calling it something else (like
a simile without using like or as)
and call on students for
examples of metaphors. 2.) Students will silently fill out their
2.) Teacher will hover across the Double Entry Journals to The
room, check for understanding, Road Not Taken. They can
answer questions that students quietly ask each other or the
have. If the teacher observes teacher questions QUIETLY for
that the students are not writing clarification.
the right kinds of notes, the
teacher can bring them back and
clarify the assignment in a Catch
and Release fashion. 3.) Students will share answers in
3.) Have students share with each pairs and record new
their responses and to write observations and questions that
down in their journals at least they might still have.
ONE interesting response to the
poem, as well as one question
that the student still had about
the poem. 4.) Students will share their
4.) Conclude class by having interpretations and questions.
students share what
interpretations they came up
with and any questions they
might still have.

Assessment Tools
 Cold Call/Instant Recall: After giving students instructions, Cold Call random
students to tell me one thing that they are supposed to do with the
assignment. If they give vague answers, prompt them with more specific
questions like: Are we just recording our reactions, or are we also recording
metaphors?
Check In: At the end of class, I will ask students to share their responses to
see if they have delved deeply into the text and drawn out the metaphors
that Im looking for.
Hover: Look at students work as they are working.

Text Metaphors/Reactions/
Wonderings/Comments
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
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
What do the two roads represent? Two
choices in life?
What does the wood represent? Why
is it yellow?
He seems sad
What does it mean by wanted wear?
Why does the grassiness make it
better?
What could the grassiness be a
metaphor for?
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.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages an ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the road less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
So What? What message is this poem telling us?
Why cant he come back?
He has to make a choice.
This choice seems important because
he has spent an entire day deciding
which path to take.
Why does he like the first one better?
If he liked the first one better, why is
he taking this one? And why does that
make all the difference?
After Reading Strategy
Common Core Standards
Reading Literature

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through
particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or
judgments.
Speaking and Listening

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1.C
Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making
comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.
Context
Students have just read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost while taking notes on
their responses. They have also filled out a so what? statement that asks them to
summarize their reactions of a poem into one message or meaning. The scaffold
should have helped them think of the inferred or hidden metaphors in The Road Not
Taken.
Reading Focus
Students will narrow their understanding further by choosing what they believe to
be the most important word in the story. To justify their most important and explain
how it relates to the poems speaker, theme, conflict, and setting, they will fill out a
Most Important Word Form found below. After filling out this form, they will civilly
discuss their most important word with their tablemates. During this discussion,
they will practice good listening and speaking skills. This means that they will listen
thoughtfully while someone else is speaking, engage reluctant speakers in the
discussion, ask for clarification, and consider others opinions. The point of this
exercise is not to make everyone believe that your word is important, but to gain
new perspectives on this poem.
Research
Kylene Beers claims that the Most Important Word exercise encourages students to
engage deeper in a text and have a fun (yet civil) debate. She says that the Most
Important Word form helps struggling readers in particular identify the most
important word.

Teacher Student
1. Teacher will hand out the Most 1. Students will attentively listen to
Important Word form to students. the teachers instructions and
Teacher will model how to fill out think of any questions that they
the most important word form might have.
and explain his or her thinking.
The students cannot use the
word that the teacher chooses.
Teacher will ask students to give
a thumbs up/down to measure
understanding.
2. Teacher will instruct students to 2. Students will skim The Road Not
take five minutes to find their Taken to look for the word and
most important word and to fill write down their justifications in
out the Most Important Word their Most Important Word Form.
diagram. As the teacher hovers Students will ask the teacher for
and checks that students are help if need be.
rereading the poem. Once
students begin filling out their
form, the teacher will check their
responses and help students
clarify their thoughts if 3. Students will listen to the teacher
necessary. and ask for clarification
3. Teacher will instruct students to
have a civil debate over their
words NOT AN ARGUMENT about
what the most important word is.
The teacher will emphasize that
in their discussions, s/he should
see people listening thoughtfully
to others opinions, making
contributions to each others
 thoughts, asking questions, and
presenting their own opinions in
a thorough manner. The point of
this is not to slam your opinion
down others throats, but to gain
different and interesting
perspectives.
4. Teacher will hover around the
room and make small
contributions to discussions. S/he
will look for students engaging in
a civil discourse and for students
backing up their arguments with
evidence and insight. Teacher will
correct any uncivil or rude
behavior.
Assessment Tools
Listening to students discussions
Written formative assessment of Most Important Word Form
4. Students will engage in a
thoughtful discussion over the
most important word in the
poem. They should listen
thoughtfully when someone else
is speaking, and back up their
own claims with evidence and
insight while presenting their
own opinions. At the end of the
discussion, they will write down
one other insight a person had
that they found particularly
interesting.
 Most Important Word

Speaker:__________
Theme:___________

The most important

word of this section is.

Conflict:_________
Message:___________

Letter to Parents
Reading is like exercising the muscles of the brains. As your child reads, they are
not only improving their reading skills but strengthening the function of their brain.
Having a fit reading mind will be an invaluable resource as your child enters the
work force which is why reading is such an integral part of Sixth Grade English. To
strengthen your childs reading skills, we will begin to identify and develop the
following reading voices that we have when we read.
Interrupter Voice: Weve all done it. Were reading a book, perhaps an enjoyable
one, when we think What will I have for lunch today? or I should build a dragon
fortress in Minecraft. Suddenly, were thinking about the calories in a BLT or the
amount of wood weve collected. Then, we realize that weve reached the end of a
page and cant remember what we just read! Struggling and advanced readers alike
do this all the time. Its important to recognize these distracting thoughts ASAP so
that we can find the place where our mind floated away and read attentively.
Narrator Voice: When your student reads with a Narrator voice, they are
comprehending and retaining the information given. If they are reading a story with
a Narrator voice they will almost certainly picture the action in the story vividly.
When you can quickly summarize the last few pages you just read with no trouble
you are probably reading in a narrator voice. Reading with a narrator voice is
essential for comprehending information, but it does not allow us to interact with
the text in the same way that the Conversation Voice can.
Conversation Voice: Reading with a conversation voice means that you are
consciously reacting to the text and asking questions of the text while you read (not
after you read). This is the most active reading voice out of the three and the most
challenging for students, especially struggling readers. Since the conversation
reading voice is relatively new to most sixth graders, we will use reading guides and
scaffolds to help students ask critical questions of a text as they read. These guides
will help students ask questions, develop connections, and make predictions about a
text.
Along with the reading guides I mentioned above, I will often assign pre-reading
guides and post-reading guides to help students warm up for a reading and dig
deeper into a text post readings. These three guides together will help students
create strong engagement with texts and further their comprehension skills.
Note: For students still reading below grade level, it will be especially difficult to
develop the conversation reading voice. While my goal is for every student to
develop a conversation reading voice by the end of the year, I am more concerned
that each students make some progress. I would rather that each student makes
some progress in their reading throughout the yar than that they all arrive at the
same destination. This goes for struggling and advanced readers. If an advanced
reader is already reading with a conversation voice, I will challenge them to further
strengthen that voice.
Group Texts: A lot of the time, the most meaningful takeaways from a book come
from discussing a book. Everyone will read four core texts over the course of the
year so that we can discuss them in large and small groups. Some of these
discussions will happen in the forms of mock debates, online forums, or methods
other than a basic class discussion. The four books that I have chosen have had
high praise from past students and have created meaningful discussions. To
accommodate the reading needs of all students, I will let students choose to read
either the original texts or the modified texts that are at a more comfortable reading
level.
Reading is Fun!: Reading should not merely be a difficult chore or a punishment.
Many sixth graders have already found pleasure in reading while others will laugh at
the idea of reading for fun. My goal is to have every student graduate from my
classroom having found at least one type of book or genre that they enjoy. This is
why I will designate the first ten minutes of every class to pleasure reading and will
assign a reading log for them to complete outside of class. Even with your busy
schedules as parents, I hope that you hold your child accountable for filling out the
reading log fully and honestly. Once your student has found a book or genre that
they enjoy reading they will be more willing to struggle through a difficult text and
develop a deeper engagement with all texts.
 Self-Evaluation
I feel like completing this assessment portfolio has helped me develop a
deeper understanding in how to engage students within a text as well as my
personal view on how texts should be taught. This has shown me that making
meaning of a text does not just happen during reading but after and before reading
as well.
I am particularly satisfied with my post reading strategy. Looking through
Beers post-reading assessments reminded me that my favorite memories of English
classes are those in which my class had a vigorous discussion over the meaning of a
text. These types of activities also yielded some profound insights and questions
regarding the workings of life. I believe that the post-reading assessment I chose,
The Most Important Word, would engage students in a lively discussion and debate
over the meaning of this text. I would still like to find ways in which I could expand
this post-reading assessment so that my class could open our discussion up to life in
general, and what kind of crossroads we have had and will experience. Doing so, I
believe, would result in profound and meaningful self-knowledge.
I still have a lot of concerns about how I should structure during reading
scaffolds to meet the needs of the most students. Is it better to leave the reaction
box blank, so that students can write more freely, or to have specific questions in
those boxes to guide their thinking? For what students would guided questions
engage thinking, and for which students would it limit thinking? I think that certain
students thrive off of looser instructions, but for struggling readers I think they
would need questions to make them think deeper. This feeds into a deeper worry
that I have about teaching. How do I make sure that every student in my class is
being appropriately challenged? How do I accommodate struggling students while
still engaging other students?
Out of the three reading assessments, I have the most reservations about the
pre-reading assessment. I wonder if asking students to predict the meaning of a
poem would engage them with the text, or make them more worried about their
own predictions coming true and missing the more valuable takeaways from the
text. If for some reason we completed the pre-reading assessment and had to move
the actual reading to the next class, would the prereading assignment make any
difference? I wonder if it would be better for students to journal for five minutes
about a time when they faced a tough decision as a prereading exercise. This way, I
think they would be able to apply their own experience to the speakers
predicament and therefore become more engaged.
Im still not quite sure about my overall philosophy about teaching reading.
While writing the letter to parents I found myself picking and choosing philosophies
of other teachers that make the most sense to me. I am hesitant to solidify any sort
of reading philosophy until I have had ample time interacting with students and
discovering what works for them.