Dear Sky

• Ask students to read the title of the poem and look at the text on the page. Ask: Do you think this looks like a typical poem? What do you notice about it that might be different? (It’s written in the form of a letter.) 
  

• Invite students to predict what the speaker in the poem might want to say to the sky. What would they say to the sky if they were writing a letter to it?

• Have a volunteer read aloud the Up Close box.

• Preview the callouts alongside the poem.
  

• Read the poem aloud for the class, or have students listen to the Audio Read-Aloud. Alternatively, call on a student to read the poem for the class.

• Discuss the poem together by answering the questions that follow. (To answer the questions, it’s helpful for students to number the poem’s lines. Start with the line “Dear Sky.”)

• Read lines 2-5. Based on what the speaker says, how is the sky different from her? (compare and contrast) The speaker is stuck in one place, “in a state, a country,” but the sky stretches beyond state and country boundaries. By looking at the sky, the speaker feels she is seeing something that is not confined to one spot on Earth.

• Which lines in the poem express a way the speaker and the sky are the same? (interpreting text) The lines “. . . best of all, you always change, / the way I change getting older” show a way that the sky and the speaker are the same. 

• Read lines 13-16, starting with “I want to belong . . .” What do these lines suggest the speaker admires about the sky? (inference) The lines suggest that the speaker admires how the sky is known to kids all over the world. It seems she would like to have friends in many places.

• In your own words, sum up why you think the speaker is thankful to the sky. (interpreting text) The speaker is thankful to the sky because it is always there, linking her to other kids around the globe. The sky takes care of and delights people. As a “small dot on the Earth,” the speaker seems to appreciate that she can connect to something so vast and endless.

Distribute or assign the Poetry Kit, which will take students on a deep dive into the poem. It is available to print or as an interactive slide deck that students can complete digitally.

Have students work in groups to create a graphic version of this poem. They can look at “My Inner Weather Report” from our February 2021 issue as a model. Instruct them to  divide the poem into groups of lines, and have each person or pair create one panel based on their lines. When all the groups have completed their work, have a gallery walk in your classroom to view the different creations.