Before Reading
Reflect on the Art
Answer the Reader's Journal question. Then, with a small group of classmates, discuss your responses. Read the Art Note and the title of the poem. What is unusual about both the poet and the painter?
During Reading
Read About How Art Affected the Speaker
1. Listen as your teacher reads the first ten lines of the poem aloud. How does the speaker feel about the artwork? What words hint at the speaker's feelings?
2. Continue reading on your own. Focus on the speaker's feelings as you read. Use sticky notes to mark lines that show a particular feeling, or keep a list of the speaker's feelings in your notebook.
Fix-Up Idea: Use Guided Reading Questions
If you are having trouble determining the speaker's feelings, go back and answer the Guided Reading Questions. These questions will help you focus on key ideas in the poem. Then go back and try to determine the speaker's feelings.
After Reading
Share Your Connections
With your group from the Before-Reading activity, discuss these questions: What feelings does the speaker express? How do the speaker's reactions to art compare to the feelings you described in the Reader's Journal activity? How might the background of the speaker and the painter have affected the speaker's response?