A Blessing

Open Ended

Good Things! 

What is your favorite animal?

A Blessing / Predators

Scale 16: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners building on others' ideas and expressing his/her own clearly.

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​Comparing and Contrasting in texts

​Compare, in relation to reading, refers to the process of identifying the similarities and differences between two things. On the other hand, Contrast refers to identifying only the differences between two things.

Multiple Choice

Comparing text means...

• Finding ONLY the similarities in texts

• Finding ONLY the differences in texts

• Finding BOTH the similarities and differences in texts.

Multiple Choice

Contrasting text means...

• Finding ONLY the similarities in texts

• Finding ONLY the differences in texts

• Finding BOTH the similarities and differences in texts.

Poem 1: A Blessing​

​BACKGROUND

For thousands of years, people have relied on horses to carry their belongings, plow fields, and to take them farther and faster than they could go on their own two feet. But the relationship with horses is not only about work—we can share a deep emotional connection with these graceful animal.

​Talk with your shoulder partner...

​What are some ways that people feel close to animals?

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​Think of specific animals and examples of when we feel a connection to them.

Open Ended

What are some ways that people feel close to animals?

Sentence stem options:

People connect to animals when...

People and animals connect by...

​Reading A Blessing

​With your shoulder partner read the poem on the following slides.

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Whoever has the longest hair will read first (partner A)

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​Whoever has the shorter hair will read second (partner B)

​A Blessing

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over the barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

That we have come.

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other. There is no loneliness like theirs.

​Continued...

​At home once more,

They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.

Suddenly I realize That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Into blossom.

Multiple Choice

At what time of day do the events in "A Blessing" take place?

"Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness."

• sunrise

• twilight

• midnight

• morning

Multiple Choice

In "A Blessing," what have the ponies come "out of the willows" to do?

"They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me."

• greet visitors

• watch cars

• graze in the woods

• play in the pasture

Multiple Choice

In "A Blessing," which of the following represents the separation between people and animals?

"We step over the barbed wire into the pasture Where they have been grazing all day, alone. They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness That we have come."

• the highway

• the pasture

• the barbed wire

• the woods

Multiple Choice

In "A Blessing," what is most likely the "blessing"?

• the spring grasses that grow in the pasture

• the light breeze that moves over the landscape

• the relationship between the speaker and his friend

• the feeling of closeness between humans and animals

Multiple Choice

Where are you most likely to find a blossom?

• in the sky

• in the garden

• inside a gymnasium

• on top of a concrete wall

Multiple Choice

In "A Blessing," the speaker says the horses have been "grazing all day, alone." What does he mean by this?

• The horses have been grazing far from the school.

• The horses have been grazing apart from each other.

• The horses have been grazing without human company.

• The horses have been grazing one at a time, taking turns.

Multiple Choice

In which line from "A Blessing" is a simile used?

• They have come gladly out of the willows. . . .

• We step over the barbed wire. . . .

• They bow shyly as wet swans.

• I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms. . . .

Multiple Choice

Which word best describes the author's tone of "A Blessing"?

• playful

• peaceful

• sorrowful

• suspenseful

Multiple Choice

Read these lines from "A Blessing.

"And the eyes of those two Indian ponies Darken with kindness.They have come gladly out of the willows. . . ."

Which words in these lines make the horses seem human?

• eyes, ponies

• ponies, kindness

• kindness, gladly

• gladly, willows

Multiple Choice

In "A Blessing," what effect do the ponies have on the speaker?

• They make him feel sad.

• They bring up old memories.

• They cause him to take risks.

• They make him feel alive.

Multiple Choice

Read these lines from "A Blessing."     Suddenly I realize     That if I stepped out of my body I would break     Into blossom.

• The word break is at the end of a line.

• The speaker imagines he is a blossom.

• The "b" sound is repeated.

• The speaker uses the word "I" to refer to himself.

Partner Work With your partner, please reread the poem to answer the following questions:

Review and Clarify With your partner, reread “A Blessing.” What are some words or phrases that help you visualize, or picture in your mind, the setting of the poem?​

Present and Discuss​ Now, work with your partner to share lines from the poem that you found especially important. Take turns presenting the lines you chose. Discuss what you noticed in the poem, what questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached.

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​Complete the google slides attached on the next slide.

​Refer back to the text on the previous two slides as needed.

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Open Ended

What is something that you are proud of today?

This can be academic or personal from your work today.