What do you know about shipwrecks? Have you ever seen a movie or read a book about a ship that sunk to the bottom of the sea? Share what you have read or seen. Then read the Prereading information on page 201.
Read the poem twice, once silently and once aloud with a partner. When you read aloud, take turns reading the stanzas. The one who reads each stanza should also rephrase each stanza. For instance, after reading stanza one, the reader might say, “A skipper and his daughter sailed in the winter on a ship called the Hesperus.” Use what you know about modern sentences to rephrase each stanza. Help each other rephrase stanzas by using the footnotes and Words for Everyday Use at the bottom of the pages.
If you are having difficulty reading and rephrasing the stanzas, refocus by writing down the three Guided Reading Questions in your notebook. Then read each poem, writing down the answers to questions as you read.
Summarize what happens in the poem. Share your summaries, first with your partner and then with the whole class. Read and rephrase the stanzas of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” in the same way you read and rephrased “The Wreck of the Hesperus.” Compare what happens in the two poems. How are the wrecks in the poems similar to other wrecks? Find lines in the poem that might describe other famous shipwrecks.