During Reading
Use Text Organization
1. Listen as your teacher reads the first stanza of the song. Then add details to your cluster chart.
2. Continue reading on your own. Add details to your cluster chart. How does the refrain affect the mood of the song? Put a star next to the emotion in your cluster chart that is reflected in the refrain.
Fix-Up Idea: Read Aloud
Although Foster dropped much of the dialect in the song, there are still several examples of it. Many of these are in the forms of contractions or clipped words. Sometimes hearing dialect can help you unlock the meaning of words that look unfamiliar. Work with a partner to read the selection aloud. Read stanza 1. Then have your partner read stanza 2. Read the refrain together. Continue in this way until you have read the whole poem. Make a chart like the one on page 338 in your text. Fill in the chart with dialect you found and the formal or standard English version of each word.