Dust of Snow

• Let students know that this poem was written 100 years ago by Robert Frost, a famous and beloved American poet. Frost often wrote about nature and everyday life in the countryside.
• Invite students to read the title of the poem and look at the illustration. Let them know that the tree is a hemlock, an evergreen tree with needles, like a pine tree. Ask them to predict what the poem might be about.
• Point out the word rued in line 8 to students. Review its definition in this poem (dreaded) and ask why someone might rue their day.
• Ask a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box for the class.

• Read the poem aloud, or play our Read-Aloud to hear a Storyworks editor read the poem out loud to your class.
• Ask students to underline words, phrases, or lines from the poem that they enjoy or have questions about. Invite your students to share what they underlined and why in small groups or whole group share-outs.
• Ask four volunteers to point out the rhyming words that end each line of the poem. Each volunteer can say one set of rhyming words. Then explain that we can give letters to lines that rhyme, so this poem can be said to use the ABAB rhyming pattern in each stanza.
• Discuss the poem together by answering the questions below.

• What is the mood, or feeling, of the poem? How does the artwork illustrate this mood? (mood/text features) The mood is quietly happy. The artwork illustrates the mood of the poem by showing the speaker in the poem and the crow looking thoughtfully at one another. It looks like they’re by themselves in a forest with snow falling gently around them. The crow and the girl appear calm. We can see the part of the girl’s smile that isn’t covered by her scarf.
  

• Read lines 5 and 6. What does it mean for a heart to have “a change of mood”? What change of mood is experienced by the speaker in the poem? (interpreting text) This means that a person’s feelings and outlook are different from what they were before. The speaker felt dread about the day she was having. We can guess it wasn’t going well. After the crow shakes snow on her, part of her day is “saved.” We can infer that she is happier now.
• How do you think the poet feels about nature’s effect on people? Why do you think that? (point of view) Sample answer: The poet seems to appreciate nature and believe that it can have a positive effect on people. For example, the speaker feels better about her day after the crow shakes snow on her. Instead of feeling annoyed by this unexpected event, the speaker seems pleased by this interaction with nature. It causes her to pause and appreciate the world around her.
• The poem is made up of one sentence. How would the poem be different if this sentence had been written without rhyme? (rhyme) Sample answer: The rhyme makes the poem more interesting and fun to read. It gives the poem a musical quality. If it had been written without rhyme, it would probably be less interesting and sound less musical.
• Reread the whole poem. What big message do you think readers can take away from this poem? (theme) Sample answer: An unexpected event (especially one in nature) can improve the way we feel about things.

Distribute or assign the Poetry Kit, which will take students on a deep dive into the poem and offer opportunities for students to connect the poem to other stories in the issue, as well as write their own short rhyming poem.