HIGHWAYMAN Preview

Short Story of the Month Table of Contents "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes

List of Activities, Common Core Standards Alignment, & Difficulty Levels 4 Digital Components/Google Classroom Guide 5 Teaching Guide, Rationale, Lesson Plans, and Procedures: EVERYTHING 6-12 Activity 1: Combination Review on Sound Devices & Rhymes 13-14

Activity 2: Rhyme Scheme Quick Notes 15-17 Activity 4: Poetry Structure IN Lesson 18-22 Activity 5: Lyric & Narrative Poetry Quick Notes 23-24

Activity 7: Highwayman Cold Read Preview Questions 25-26 Activity 8: Highwayman Part 1 Close Reading Script + Annotations 27-34 Activity 9: Highwayman Part 1 Close Reading Script + Annotations 35-38 Activity 10: Comprehension Quiz w/Key 39-40

Activity 11: Vocabulary Guide Similes & Metaphors w/Key 41-44 Activity 12: Plot Pyramid Diagram Analysis w/Key 45-46 Activity 13: Find Evidence That… Text Evidence Activity w/Key 47-48

Activity 14: Close Reading Deep Analysis Questions w/Key 49-52 Activity 15: Highwayman Five-Sentence Summary Writing Activity w/Sample 53-54 Activity 16: Comprehension Skills Test w/Key 55-60 Activity 17: Elements of Poetry Quiz w/Key 61-62

Activity 18: Analyze Similar Themes in Song Lyrics w/Key 63-64 Activity 19: Lyric Poem (Annabel Lee) Annotation Guide 65-67

Activity 20: Annabel Lee Close Reading Questions w/Key 68-69 TEKS Alignment 70

Common Core Standards Alignment

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge Activity 1: Combination Review on Sound/Rhymes* RL.7.4, RL.7.5 Activity 2: Rhyme Scheme Quick Notes* RL.7.4, RL.7.5 Activity 3: Sound Devices & Rhymes Practice** RL.7.4, RL.7.5 Activity 4: Poetry Structure IN Lesson* RL.7.4, RL.7.5 Activity 5: Lyric & Narrative Poetry Quick Notes* RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5 Activity 6: Narrative Poem Practice** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 7: Cold Read Preview Questions*** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 8: Highwayman Part 1 Close Reading Script*** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 9: Highwayman Part 2 Close Reading Script*** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 10: Comprehension Quiz** RL.7.1 Activity 11: Vocabulary Guide: Metaphors & Similes** RL.7.4 Activity 12: Plot Pyramid Analysis** RL.7.1, RL.7.2, RL.7.3 Activity 13: Find Evidence That... Text Evidence* RL.7.1 Activity 14: Close Reading Deep Analysis Questions*** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 15: Highwayman 5-Sent. Summary Writing*** RL.7.2, W.7.3 Activity 16: Comprehension Skills Test** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 17: Elements of Poetry Quiz** RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 18: Analyze Similar Themes in Song Lyrics*** RL.7.2, RL.7.3, RL.7.1 Activity 19: Lyric Poem (Annabel Lee) Annotation Guide** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1 Activity 20: Annabel Lee Close Reading Questions*** RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.1, 7.3

All student activities are available in digital format compatible with Google Classroom. They are available in two formats: Google Slides and Google Forms.

Google Slides First, I have made all student pages (excluding assessments) in Google Slides format. Students can simply add text boxes to any area they wish to type on. To access the Google Slides for “The Highwayman,” copy and paste the link below into your browser: included in full version only

Google Forms I have made the assessments available in Google Forms. Here, they are self-grading, and I have set them all up with answer keys so they are ready to go for you. You’ll need to find these two files in your download folder to use Google Forms. The first file contains the links to the Forms, and the second file is explicit instructions for use.

©2018 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Short Story of the Month Teacher’s Guide "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes Teaching Guide, Rationale, Lesson Plans, and Procedures I have also discussed here how I use each activity and included hints and links to help you, too. I went ahead and mapped out the days for you. Feel free to take or leave what you like. Even if you don’t plan to follow this schedule, I still recommend reading through this section to get the most out of these activities.

These lessons and activities were designed to meet the needs of seventh graders during the second half of the school year when students have already been introduced to most major concepts like plot, conflict, character traits and characterization, theme, mood, tone, etc. Day 1 1. Activity 1: 20 minutes Sound Devices + Rhymes Quick Notes Lesson Review these important poetry concepts with this combination Quick Notes lesson. If you did the Rikki-tikki-tavi story unit, you may have already done these as two separate lessons. Either way, it’s Activity 1 a good review. 2. Activity 2: 15 minutes Rhyme Scheme Quick Notes – simple but important – discuss or review how rhyme schemes are identified and annotated in this unit. 3. Activity 3: 25 minutes Excellent Poetry Sound & Rhymes Practice, specifically preparing them for the annotating we’ll be doing and the types of questions they’ll be seeing. Don’t skip this one, especially if you’re Activity 2 going to give the Elements of Poetry Quiz for The Highwayman at the end of this unit.

Activity 2 Activity 3

Day 2 1. Activity 4: 20 minutes Poetry Structure Interactive Notebook Lesson – This is an abbreviated version of Activity 4 this lesson from the Poetry Interactive Notebook to include only the three relevant terms for this unit: stanza, verse (line), and refrain. 2. Activity 5: 15 minutes Lyric & Narrative Poetry Quick Notes Again, here’s an abbreviated version with Activity 5 only two types of poetry that we’ll be working with in this unit. The full activity in the Interactive Poetry Notebook includes these others: limerick, ode, Activity 4 sonnet, ballad, elegy, and free verse in addition to narrative and lyric. 3. Activity 6: 20 minutes Activity 6 Narrative Poetry Practice More practice that you don’t want to skip for the reasons mentioned previously! Find this one in the download folder. You can find TONS more practices like these in my POETRY Practice & Assess resources in my TpT store.

The Highwayman Text Versions – Options Included The next activity involves using ”The Highwayman” text, so here are the version options included in the download folder. I recommend V1, and it includes a prefilled version for accommodations. Choose V2 to save paper.

Version 1 Version 2

Day 3 1. Activity 7: 20 minutes COLD READ– Highwayman Preview Group Questions I like to start with a cold read, but having my students sit at their desks (or worse, go home) and read this entire poem would be pointless. They'd be so lost and bored less than halfway through it, Activity 7 the only thing I'd accomplish is LOSING their interest before I even started the lesson! So, for this cold read, I'm going to ask them to read ONLY the first page, which includes the first 3 stanzas. That's just enough to get them talking and thinking before they get too confused and lost. I'm going to put them into groups for this because I don't want my lower (or unmotivated) students just *sitting* there if they are stumped or confused. Now, I'll be around the room letting students know if they need to reconsider one. We'll do this for 15 minutes and then regroup. We will NOT go over this sheet line-by-line. Instead, I'll infuse these questions into the lesson when we get to that section of the poem and call on lower students who I know have the right answer on their paper and might not otherwise participate. These will all come up during the question and answer flow during the next 2 activities. 2. Activity 8: 45 minutes Close Read and Annotation of “The Highwayman” Part 1.This Activity 8 assumes that you’ve already gone through and glued the pages into the notebook as shown on the previous page near the bottom. Basically, students will be annotating the poem on the left side and summarizing it on the right. I’ve included a complete SCRIPT for you to follow. Questions, answers, my thinking, everything. You’ll hopefully make it through the first six stanzas of the poem, or Part 1. Narrative Summary – You’ll notice that the right part of the notebook page or template depending on the version you’re using includes a top area and bottom area. As you go through each stanza, use bullet points to write a brief, succinct summary of what’s going on in the poem. Under that line in each box, write the purpose of each stanza. Ask this question: What does the author accomplish in this stanza, from a narrative perspective? Major common core skill right here.

Day 4 1. Activity 9: 60 minutes Day 2, Part 2 Highwayman close reading/annotating. Same show as Activity 9 yesterday.

Day 5 1. Activity 10: 25 minutes Comprehension Quiz– Basic Comprehension (Recall Facts) This quiz checks for basic comprehension and recall of the story. There are no higher order thinking questions on this quiz, no inferring, no analyzing, no drawing Activity 10 conclusions, etc. so I do not recommend that students use a copy of the story for this quiz unless they need that as a testing accommodation. Key included (not shown) 2. Activity 11: 20 minutes Vocabulary Guide – Deep but routine analysis of similes and metaphors from the poem. Hopefully students can complete this accurately and mostly independently by this time in the year. You’ve discussed/annotated most of Activity 11 these in the previous activities, but not all of them. 3. Activity 12: 20 minutes Plot Pyramid – This is so routine, but IMPORTANT for hammering home these ideas: 1) a narrative poem REALLY is a story and can be diagrammed just like a story, and 2) YES, even YOU can diagram a poem!

Activity 12

Day 6 1. Activity 13: 15 minutes Here’s another activity that reinforces that students CAN handle poetry on a standardized test. Most of Activity 13 my students would clam up when I said “text evidence” and “poetry” in the same sentence – but nope. This activity shows them just how easy it can be. It’s a quickie. 2. Activity 14: 45 minutes Close Reading Deep Analysis Questions – these are the hardest of the hard, but so important. Do this one in class and encourage your students to answer on their own. I let them give informal answers on this one because I care more about their ability to think through these than their ability to express it formally. Activity 14 That’d take two days to get through. Let them use their annotations, of course, and they’ll surprise both you and themselves at how well they can answer these really, really hard questions. J

Day 7 1. Activity 15: 60 minutes The Highwayman Five-Sentence Summary Writing Activity Even if you aren’t familiar with this sentence-formula style of teaching narrative writing, I encourage you to try this with your students. It’s a real challenge to summarize this Activity 15 entire poem in five sentences, so students have to get really creative by adding parts to their sentences, writing really complex sentences, and using present tense strong verbs. I included my rubric as well as a sample to help you understand. My students always surprised me with how well they did on this one. It’s one of my favorite parts of this unit, and in case I haven’t mentioned it yet – this is my very favorite favorite unit I teach in 7th grade!

Day 8 1. Activity 16: 40-50 minutes Activity 16 Comprehension Skills Test. Meant to be given along with a copy of the poem, though I wouldn’t allow students to use their annotated version unless it was a test modification. Keys included as always (not shown).

Day 9 1. Activity 17: 30 minutes Elements of Poetry Quiz – This one is also over “The Highwayman,” but I really wanted to assess students’ Activity 17 understanding of poetry elements, so instead of making an extra-long test, I made this one separate. Students should have a copy of the poem in front of them for the quiz. Everything on the quiz has been covered in this unit, as is usual for Comprehension Skills Tests. Key included, not shown. 2. Activity 18: 30 minutes Similar Themes in Songs Here, students evaluate three (very much like “The Highwayman) songs and decide if the song/lyrics share either of two themes with The Highwayman. This is really subjective, so your students can essentially give any answer and as long as they can justify it, it is correct. This activity always leads to tons of really, REALLY, really great debate, and it’s essentially how I cover the standards for different poems/stories, same topics/themes. Here are the songs or lyrics to find online – either the song or lyrics or both will work for this activity. Most can be found on Youtube – I recommend listening, not viewing - but you might need to look on iTunes for the Garth Brooks song. 1. ”The Beaches of Cheyenne” – Garth Brooks 2. “Whiskey Lullaby” – Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss 3. “Seven Spanish Angels” – Willie Nelson & Ray Charles ©2018 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Short Story of the Month Teacher’s Guide "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes

Day 10 1. Activity 19: 25 minutes Read and Annotate “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe – Sticking with the LOVE topic, my students always love this one too. Give the background story about Poe and the meaning of this one at your own risk, but I always enjoyed Activity 19 shocking my students just a little bit! Here they’re simply annotating for the same things as previously. SEE Annotating Key near bottom of this page. 2. Activity 20: 35 minutes ”Annabel Lee” Close Reading Questions – Consider using this as a little informal assessment to see how far your students have come with analyzing poetry – I hope you’re pleasantly surprised! This is a good activity for groups, too, similar to the preview questions. 3. BONUS: If you want to compare this one to a song, try “Who You’d Be Today” by Kenny Chesney. Find the music video on Youtube and SHOW them this one if at all possible! Here are a few questions to spark awesome discussion: 1. Name a common theme shared by “Annabel Lee” and ”Who You’d Be Today.” = Ex. It is painful to lose Activity 20 someone you love. 2. What is the tone of the singer in “Who You’d Be Today”? = Ex. Sad yet hopeful (I know I’ll see you again someday…) 3. Contrast that with the tone of “Annabel Lee.” = Ex. angry, desperate, even maniacal, but not hopeful at all

Sound Devices ______alliteration the repetition of initial consonant sounds in a series of words Ex: I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet ~Robert Frost

______assonance the repetition of the same vowel sounds among words Ex: I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless ~Thin Lizzy

______consonance the repetition of the same consonant sounds among words (not limited to initial sounds) Ex: all mammals named Sam must be clammy

______onomatopoeia words whose sounds imitate their meaning Ex: tick-tock, click, clack, drip, drop, sizzle

Rhymes ______complete rhyme words whose final syllables have the exact same sound Ex: cloud; shroud, crowd, proud, loud

______partial rhyme words whose final syllables almost rhyme Ex: cloud: round, brown, shout, plow

______internal rhyme rhymes within lines Ex: I’m a cat who wears a hat When in the fog, I jog

______end rhyme rhymes at the ends of lines Ex: Yes it’s true I am a cat When I go out I wear a hat

Activities 8-9 ©2018 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Short Story of the Month Reading Literature "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes Question & Answer Flow for Close Read/Annotations Close Reading Question & Answer Flow Here’s how this section will work. If I’m talking to you, I’ll leave the text black. For the question and answer flow, the questions will be in blue and the answers you’ll expect in red. The left column includes the poem with annotations followed by the summary/purpose key below and the Q&A flow on the right. The previous activity includes the cold read procedure and preview group questions.

What can you tell me about the first three lines? They are all metaphors. Annotate: Blue=metaphor. Here we discuss what each metaphor means. (see box) What is the refrain in the first stanza? The highwayman came riding - Riding - riding - The highwayman came riding... Annotate as shown Look at each end rhyme. Are they complete or partial rhymes? Both are complete rhymes. Annotate as shown Let's switch gears. This is a narrative poem. What does that mean? A narrative poem has a plot, setting, and characters. Fill in summary above line in box. Stanza 1 From a narrative perspective, what is the PURPOSE of the first stanza? What does the author do here? The author establishes the setting with the three metaphors and the first three lines. Then, the author introduces the main character, the highwayman.

Read the second stanza with your students. If they’re excited to point something out during the reading, run with it – don’t wait! Here we go… Let's stay in narrative mode for a minute. What does this second stanza accomplish? It describes the main character. What do you learn about the main character? His clothes are very fancy. He even twinkles. He must be rich. Go ahead and write the summary. Now we point out the alliteration and consonance. I originally picked out the two alliterations (purple) but a student pointed out that coat, claret, velvet, all ended in Stanza 2 /t/, so that was consonance. He was right, so we double-dipped. I like to point out how that alliteration and consonance really add to the rhythm of that line. I make my students say it aloud a few times with rhythm and force. **RHYTHM** Now, here is where I’ll stop to have students analyze the rhythm. Students who are inexperienced with poetry won’t get this right away. I’ll rhythmically read the first stanza, then ask what the rhythm is meant to mimic, or make you think of. They may not get it. Then, I’ll turn on this sound: (Horse Gallop Sound, file in the download folder) faintly in the background and read the first stanza again. They’ll have to listen hard to hear, but they’ll “get” it! Then, read the second stanza aloud as a class, with the horse hooves rhythm turned up louder. Doing this early on, they’ll “feel” the hooves guiding them to rhythmically read the rest of the poem. I love it! Activity 8 Question & Answer Flow 1/7 ©2018 erin cobb imlovinlit.com Short Story of the Month Reading Literature "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes Question & Answer Flow for Close Read/Annotations

More alliteration and onomatopoeia to get out of the way here before we can get to the good stuff. Emphasize how pleasing this is to the ear! Let's think about what we have so far. We have a fancy-dressed, wealthy guy on a horse riding into town to see the landlord's daughter. Think about in stories and in movies... when someone has a daughter, be it the farmer or the KING or whomever, what type of storyline are we going to see? Someone is in love with the daughter. This is a love story! The highwayman and the landlord's daughter... Let's look at dark red. That color symbolizes...? Love! That one's obvious. Also... blood! and Stanza 3 death! OK.. so here's what we have so far. A wealthy guy, the landlord's daughter, and foreshadowing of love and/or death. Sound like a good story? YES! At this point I've got them. They're all interested. Some of them are salivating at the *I’m not going to continue annotating every single mouth for more. OK.. so maybe not quite.. ;) But end rhyme. I’ll wait until some partial rhymes come they're definitely into it, only three stanzas into a up later. LONG poem!

Narrative mode.. what (or who?) do we have here?! A new character! Tim the ostler. How does the author describe Tim? "His eyes were hollows of madness; his hair like mouldy hay." Look at the metaphor and simile. Are those good connotations or bad connotations? Definitely bad! The author does not show Tim in a good light. He's either angry or crazy and his hair is yucky. Oh! Oh! What does he have to do with the landlord's daughter? He loves her! What do we have here? A love triangle! YEP! Stanza 4 IF you were Bess, which man would you choose, based on the author's descriptions so far? Definitely the highwayman. He's rich and looks nice. Not like yucky Tim! What's Tim doing? Eavesdropping on Tim and Bess! Who is “the robber”? The highwayman! Oh, it isn't an accident that the author calls Bess "the landlord's red-lipped daughter" - what do we have here? The color red! Again. *Remember that dog simile. It’s more important than you think*

Comprehension Quiz Choose the best answer.

1. The highwayman is described as… a. sloppy. b. fair-skinned. c. well-dressed. d. both b and c

2. In the poem, what twinkles? a. his pistol butts b. his dark eyes c. his sword handle d. both a and c

3. After he whipped on the shutters and received 7. Why does Bess writhe and twist? no response, what did the highwayman do? a. to fight the soldiers a. throw a rock b. to reach the trigger b. call her name c. to alert the soldiers c. whistle a tune d. all of these d. both a and b 8. How is Bess first alerted that the highwayman is 4. In the poem, Bess is described as having… approaching? a. red lips. a. she hears the horse hoofs in the distance b. black eyes. b. she sees him crest the hill c. black hair. c. she feels that he is near d. all of these d. none of these

5. Why does Tim eavesdrop on the highwayman 9. What does the highwayman do when he hears and Bess? the shot? a. He’s in love with Bess. a. he speeds up to reach the inn faster b. He’s bored. b. he stops and listens c. He’s an undercover agent. c. he turns around to the West d. none of these d. he shrieks and curses

6. The soldiers tie Bess to ______. 10. How does the highwayman die? a. her wardrobe. a. He shoots himself to save Bess. b. the foot of her bed. b. He shoots himself to be with Bess. c. the inside of the casement. c. Tim shoots him. d. the old inn door. d. The soldiers shoot him.

6. Line 32: ______his face burnt like a brand ______his face is being compared to ______a brand Meaning: ______the highwayman blushes – his face burns red hot, like a branding iron ______

7. Line 33: (implied) ______the black cascade of perfume ______Bess’s hair is being compared to ______a cascade (waterfall) of perfume Meaning: ______her hair is like a waterfall and smells sweet, like perfume ______

8. Line 51: (implied) ______she heard the dead man say ______the highwayman is being compared to ______a dead man Meaning: ______the highwayman is as good as dead; his fate has already been ______determined, and he will not survive

9. Line 74: ______her face was like a light! ______her face is being compared to ______a light Meaning: ______Bess’s face lit up brightly; it could be the moonlight on her face, or it ______could be her resolve and determination, or the sight of him, anticipation

10. Line 89: ______down like a dog ______the highwayman is being compared to ______a dog Meaning: ______he was shot as easily as one might shoot a dog; like he wasn’t human or ______his life didn’t matter; also, reference to dog and Tim

Find Evidence That… Find text evidence that proves each statement and write it in the space provided.

Example: The highwayman takes care to dress He’d a French-cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch well. of lace at his chin, A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin

1. The highwayman is well armed.

2. Bess is beautiful.

3. Tim is not attractive.

4. The highwayman worries that he might run into trouble tonight.

5. The redcoats were not good guys.

6. Bess could see the highwayman before she pulled the trigger.

7. The highwayman and Bess are ghosts who haunt the night.

7. In stanza 2, what effect does the refrain have on your perception of the highwayman?

______

8. The word moonlight is mentioned nearly twenty times! Why? What might the moonlight symbolize, or represent?

______

9. Reread stanza 3. What sound devices are present? What impact do these sound devices have on the stanza?

______

10. Why is stanza 4 important to the plot’s development?

______

11. Think deeper about stanza 4. What effect does this stanza have on the poem’s resolution?

______

12. What type of poem is “The Highwayman”? What effect does this have on its meaning? ______

TEKS Standards Alignment

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge Activity 1: Combination Review on Sound/Rhymes* ELAR.4(A) Activity 2: Rhyme Scheme Quick Notes* ELAR.4(A) Activity 3: Sound Devices & Rhymes Practice** ELAR.4(A) Activity 4: Poetry Structure IN Lesson* ELAR.4(A) Activity 5: Lyric & Narrative Poetry Quick Notes* ELAR.4(A) Activity 6: Narrative Poem Practice** ELAR.4(A) Activity 7: Cold Read Preview Questions*** ELAR.4(A) Activity 8: Highwayman Part 1 Close Reading Script*** ELAR.4(A) Activity 9: Highwayman Part 2 Close Reading Script*** ELAR.4(A) Activity 10: Comprehension Quiz** ELAR.6 Activity 11: Vocabulary Guide: Metaphors & Similes** ELAR.8 Activity 12: Plot Pyramid Analysis** ELAR.6(A), (B) Activity 13: Close Reading Deep Analysis Questions*** ELAR.6(A), (B), ELAR.4(A) Activity 14: Highwayman 5-Sent. Summary Writing*** Activity 15: Comprehension Skills Test** ELAR.4, ELAR.6 Activity 16: Elements of Poetry Quiz** ELAR.4, ELAR.6 Activity 17: Analyze Similar Themes in Song Lyrics*** ELAR.3(A) Activity 18: Lyric Poem (Annabel Lee) Annotation Guide** ELAR.6(A), (B), ELAR.4(A) Activity 19: Annabel Lee Close Reading Questions*** ELAR.6(A), (B), ELAR.4(A)