Amanda Coffman

Daily Lesson Plan

Middle School/High School

1 Day
Preparation/Materials: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Brainstorm Organize information Integrate and use information Read (literacy) for experience Participate in a group activity

Objective:
Introduce students to Robert Frost and his aspect of literature/poetry. Prepare the students for context and vocabulary. Content Standards and Benchmarks: RL 8.1-8.6, RL 8.9-8.10, RI 8.2-8.4, W 8.2.b.c

Lesson Steps:
Most "The Road Not Taken" Lesson Plans are based on the false assumptions of the general populace. This one is not. This poem is often used in inspirational writing or speaking as an example of someone who chose the harder path, or the less common path -- in fact, the title of this poem is often thought of as being "The Road Less Traveled." Frost tells us that neither road is less traveled: "...the passing there had worn them really about the same, both that morning equally layleaves no step had trodden black." The reputation of the poem has an ironic cast to it. Day 1 1. Write What do you know about Robert Frost? on the board. This should be done prior to students entering the class or while they are taking their seats. a. Pass out a new notebook to each student in the class. Tell them this notebook/journal will be their exit ticket each day. They are only to use this notebook for this class project. The notebook/journal will be turned in at the end of class to be kept for the following class period. 2. There are a couple ways students could get prepared for this poem. You could ask them to consider a time when they had two options and no real way to choose between the two.

Be sure to have students give context to the situation and explain the resolution. This could be done verbally or in writing. 3. Ask students to tell (or write) about a time when they embellished an experience to make the story sound better, or someone embellished an experience in a story to them. 4. Make sure that each student has a copy of the poem for purposes of annotation. Then, read the poem aloud, or have students read it aloud. Make sure the students know to place their pauses according to the punctuation, not according to the line breaks. If you would like an audio recording of the poem. 5. Analyze the poem; Rhyme scheme -- There are four stanzas in this poem, each with five lines, each with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB. Each line has four accented, or stressed, syllables in a pattern that is basically iambic tetrameter but varies occasionally. Irony -- When one compares line 20 (the road less traveled by) with lines 8 and 9, it is clear that, for some reason, the speaker has decided to change his story for future audiences (line 16). Theme -- What are the nature and purpose of storytelling? Based on the first half of the poem, the speaker goes walking in the forest and comes to a fork in the road. He would like to choose both paths but cannot, and so he chooses one, leaving "the first for another day"(13). It's not that important to come back, though -- as "way leads on to way...[the speaker doubts] if [he] should ever come back"(14-15). However, in the last stanza, the focus turns to how the story will sound: "I shall be telling this with a sigh"(16). Rather than present the simple choice that faced him, the speaker declares that he will embellish it, saying that his choice "has made all the difference"(20). I could also bring to light an interesting point of discussion, particularly with a higher-level class (Pre-AP or AP in high school) why people come away from this poem blown away by its apparent theme about the importance of being an individual, and avoiding the easy temptations of following the crowd. It is one of these easy temptations, on another level of irony.

6. Student Response Have the students respond in a number of ways. For higher-level students, I will ask for an explanation for the use of enjambment in line 3. This may well serve as an emphasis of the moment of

stopping for the speaker. Stopping interrupts what had been a constitutional, just like the enjambment interrupts the flow of the poem. For middle-school students, I will ask for a drawing of the scene. If you have a particularly astute class, I could ask for two drawings: one as the speaker actually sees the fork in the road, and one as the speaker will describe the choice he faced.

Assignment: Students will answer several questions involving Robert Frost. They will also be able to share their perspective and understanding of poetry, especially Robert Frosts. Closure: Each student will gain a different view of Frost and understand what he was trying to convey.