In the classic poem “The Skater at Ghost Lake,” William Rose Benet crafted an eerie picture with words, somewhat spooky but not horrific or frightening – perfect for late October.
Here are a few ideas you can use to lure students into a closer reading of just four stanzas, with ideas for extensions.
INTRODUCING the POEM ~ UNSCRAMBLE the STANZAS
To begin, I might say something like this: “This seems like a great time of year to read something a bit mysterious, so we’re going to read just a very small portion of a poem that uses words to paint an eerie scene.”
Then, tell students you are going to pass out the first four stanzas of the poem, explaining that they’ve been cut apart. Their task is to guess the order in which they appear in the poem. Pass out these cards (prepared in advance) – one set to each pair of students. Have students work with a partner to guess the sequence of the stanzas and arrange them to show their prediction.
This is a sneaky way to get students to really read the words, using DETAILS to make their predictions. They might trip over some of the vocabulary (e.g. ebony, sentineled), but they should understand enough to do the task.
Have students share how they sequenced the cards. There will likely be different ideas about the order. If students want to share more about their reasoning, this could lead to some discussion. But assure them that there really is no way to know for sure; everyone is just guessing.
After sharing, reveal the correct sequence.
THE BIG IDEA
Once the student pairs have the stanzas arranged correctly, have them come up with a title for just this portion of the poem. Although this is only one-fourth of the entire poem, they may write something quite close to the actual title. Again, allow time for students to share their proposed titles before revealing Benet’s choice of title. They might like some of their titles better!
LANGUAGE of the DISCIPLINE
Every stanza of this poem is rich in the use of poetic devices! Depending on the time you have and your objectives, you can introduce or review poetic terms and imagery. I thought it might be fun to incorporate an excerpt from the video below, so I’ve put together a slide deck that shows how I might go through each stanza. You can share it with students as is, or MAKE a COPY and edit it to create your own mini-lesson. PREVIEW it HERE.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
At the end of the slide presentation, if there is time, students can write an original stanza of four lines that details what happens next. I would challenge students to continue in the same meter and rhyme scheme, attempting to include onomatopoeia.
You might also like to show this video as a contrast to the poem. Students could write one four-line stanza that describes the carefree and joyful setting depicted here.
You may also be interested in using “The Blind Men and the Elephant” to introduce MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES or some of these constrained writing activities. Another great poem for October is Poe’s The Raven and Ian Byrd has shared some ideas for sharing that one with students.
Explore other lessons, puzzles, and virtual scavenger hunts on the Holiday / Seasonal page.