Before Reading
Establish a Purpose
Read the About the Selection paragraph on page 496. Write Sandburg's purpose in your notebook. The title of the poem is "Grass." What do you think grass has to do with Sandburg's purpose? Write ideas about how grass connects to Sandburg's purpose in your notebook.
During Reading
Read with This Purpose in Mind
1. Listen as your teacher reads the first stanza. Who is speaking? What work does the speaker do? How does the statement in the first stanza relate to Sandburg's purpose? Write answers to these questions in your notebook.
2. Read the next two stanzas on your own. Answer the same questions you answered for stanza 1.
Fix-Up Idea: Use Footnotes
As you read, you will come to footnotes. The footnotes will give you additional information that may help you interpret the poem. When you come to a footnote, look to the corresponding number at the bottom of the page and read the note. Then continue reading the poem. After you have read through the poem once, stopping to read the footnotes, read through the poem again without pausing for the footnotes. What do all of the footnoted terms have in common? What is different about them? How does knowing the significance of these places help you understand the poem?
After Reading
Summarize
With a partner, share your responses to the During-Reading questions. Discuss how successful you think Sandburg was in achieving his purpose.