During Reading
Use What You Know
1. Listen to your teacher read the first stanza of this spiritual. Think about the different meanings the word home might have. What might the chariot be? Discuss these questions with your classmates. Add your ideas to your chart.
2. Continue reading the spiritual on your own. As you read, note places, people, or things that might have a meaning related to deliverance to heaven or deliverance from slavery. Add these elements to your chart as you read.
Fix-Up Idea: Read Aloud
Try reading the spiritual aloud. Alternate stanzas with a partner. When you have read through the selection, try to answer the Guided Reading Questions with a partner. Then go back and read the selection again, silently, trying to identify allegorical elements, or things in the spiritual that have more than one meaning.