Core Skills Analysis
Language Arts
- The student practices close reading by answering questions about the subjects and meanings of “The Cupboard,” “The Window,” and poem 11.
- The cupboard word hint encourages vocabulary analysis by noticing that the word contains “cup” and connecting language to an object in the poem.
- Listening to Mr. G read and discuss the poems supports fluency, comprehension, and attention to how poems sound when spoken aloud.
- The long list of weeds gives practice identifying descriptive details, interpreting lists, and considering how individual words contribute to a poem’s meaning.
Science
- The student observes and identifies plants named in the poem, including comfrey, hawksbit, and clover.
- Discussing weeds as useful or edible challenges the idea that all weeds are unwanted and introduces varied human uses of plants.
- Looking for these plants locally develops careful observation and basic field-identification skills.
- The activity connects literature with the natural world by showing how plant names and real photographs can enrich poem comprehension.
History and Culture
- Banbury cakes provide a cultural connection to a traditional food referenced in the poem.
- The activity introduces older vocabulary and everyday settings, such as cupboards, helping the student consider how language and household life may differ across time.
- Walter de la Mare’s poems invite comparison between familiar modern experiences and the historical or traditional images preserved in poetry.
Tips
Tips: Read each poem aloud twice, first for enjoyment and then to mark interesting images, repeated sounds, and unfamiliar words. Create a three-column chart for each poem: “What I notice,” “What I think it means,” and “Words that support my idea.” Take a supervised nature walk to photograph or sketch local plants, comparing them with the poem’s weed list; do not taste any plant unless an expert confirms it is safe. Finish by researching or making a simple version of Banbury cakes and writing a short poem that includes a cupboard, a window, and three plant names.
Book Recommendations
- The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky: A broad, accessible poetry collection for comparing imagery, rhythm, humor, and different poetic voices.
- A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson: Classic poems about ordinary places, nature, imagination, and childhood observation.
- The Oxford Book of Children's Verse by Peter Opie, editor: A varied anthology that supports further exploration of traditional and literary poetry.
Learning Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1: Students answer questions and refer to details in the poems as evidence.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2: Students determine themes or central ideas in “The Cupboard,” “The Window,” and poem 11.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.4: Students interpret vocabulary and phrases, including the clue within “cupboard.”
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.5: Students examine how lists, lines, and poem structure contribute to meaning.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1: Students participate in discussions about the poems and video presentation.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2: Follow-up responses can explain poem meanings using details and evidence.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3: The creative poetry extension supports narrative or descriptive writing.
Try This Next
- Make a close-reading worksheet with columns for poem title, important image, unfamiliar word, and evidence-based interpretation.
- Create a plant-identification scavenger hunt for comfrey, hawksbit, clover, and other locally observed plants.
- Write a six-line poem using one household object, one window view, and three plant names.
- Quiz prompt: Why does the activity suggest that the widow is not truly poor? Cite the poem’s second-to-last line.