Dealing with Difficulty:

When reading complex text, difficult moments are places to think...

...these are places from which to make meaning or build understanding...

...difficult moments are also places to puzzle things out.

Today's work is primarily about giving you an opportunity to work with this idea of difficulty as the beginning of understanding.

Difficult moments are not

• places to skip over.
• places to give up.
• places to accept confusion.

Difficult moments are places to build an understanding.

To practice puzzling out "difficult moments" in poetry, we are going to examine an Emily Dickinson poem, "Hope" is the thing with feathers.

With this in mind, it's important to remember poems are texts which authors write in order to send messages.

1) As you are reading, ask yourself: What message is Dickinson trying to send?

2) Additionally, mark lines or moments in the text that seem difficult, confusing, etc.

We'll compare our difficult moments with the rest of the class to see where we are struggling together.

In a sense, today we are starting to build an understanding of a difficult text by identifying what we are struggling with specifically.

Overview

• Think about the essay's message.
• Mark difficult moments.
• Identify common areas of struggle and build an understanding together.

Questions?

What is the author's message?

Overview

• Think about the essay's message.
• Mark difficult moments.
• Transfer notes into a document.
• Identify common areas of struggle.

"Chunking" the Text

In our previous lesson we identified confusing moments to start building an understanding of a difficult text.

Today we will continue to puzzle out the message of "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" by chunking the text.

"Chunking" Roles

• Interpreter: Explains a stanza to their group.
• Recorder: Writes their partner's ideas.
• Representative: Explains their partner's thoughts to the class.

Representatives and Recorders

• How did your partner come to that interpretation?
• What made you think that?
• What is it about the text that makes you say that?

After groups have presented their interpretation, we'll continue to the next stanza with the same process.

Reflection Questions

• What did you learn about the poem from reading/hearing your peers' work?
• What new idea about the poem do you have that you didn't before?
• What part of the poem is still confusing?

Questions?

Recorders

• Chunk the text (Interpreters, Recorders, Representatives)
• Present group ideas/repeat process
• Reflection Questions

Representatives and Recorders

• How did your partner come to that interpretation?
• What made you think that?
• What is it about the text that makes you say that?

Reflection Questions

• What did you learn about the poem from reading/hearing your peers' work?
• What new idea about the poem do you have that you didn't before?
• What part of the poem is still confusing?

Group Genius

Difficult moments are places to build an understanding.

What message do you think Dickinson is sending in this poem?

Group Work

• A brief answer to the question: What message do you think Dickinson is sending in this poem?
• excerpts of lines from the poem that provide evidence to support that position

Gallery Walk

• Purpose: to expose ourselves to multiple interpretations of Dickinson's message.
• Task: Write down notes of interesting ideas.

Questions

Overview

• Independent quick write answering "What message do you think Dickinson is sending in this poem?"
• Group Poster with a response and a list of supporting evidence
• Gallery walk (take notes)

What message do you think Dickinson is sending in this poem?