Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Write down a saying that adults in your life repeat, such as 'Better safe than sorry.' When is it true? When might someone repeat it without thinking about whether it fits?"

   Take three or four answers. Point out that a saying is a claim about life, and that people sometimes inherit claims without testing them. Tell students that the poem they will read turns on one such saying, and that today they will track how a text builds an idea like that from beginning to end.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Read the poem aloud once, straight through. Then define the three terms students will use all period:

   • Topic: a subject in a word or phrase (walls, neighbours, tradition).
   • Theme: a complete sentence that states what the text suggests about the topic. It is not a command ("Tear down walls") and not a plot summary.
   • Development: how the idea emerges (first appears), is shaped (added to by details) and is refined (made more exact, or complicated) by the end.

   1Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
   That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
   And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
   And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
   5The work of hunters is another thing:
   I have come after them and made repair
   Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
   But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
   To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
   10No one has seen them made or heard them made,
   But at spring mending-time we find them there.
   I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;
   And on a day we meet to walk the line
   And set the wall between us once again.
   15We keep the wall between us as we go.
   To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
   And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
   We have to use a spell to make them balance:
   "Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
   20We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
   Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
   One on a side. It comes to little more:
   There where it is we do not need the wall:
   He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
   25My apple trees will never get across
   And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
   He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."
   Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
   If I could put a notion in his head:
   30"Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it
   Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
   Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
   What I was walling in or walling out,
   And to whom I was like to give offence.
   35Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
   That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him,
   But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
   He said it for himself. I see him there
   Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
   40In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
   He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
   Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
   He will not go behind his father's saying,
   And he likes having thought of it so well
   45He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours."

   • Topic vs. theme

     A student writes: "The theme of Mending Wall is walls." What is wrong, and how can it be fixed?

     Result: "Walls" is the topic. Ask what the poem suggests about walls, and answer in a full sentence: "People may keep up barriers out of habit, without asking what the barriers are for."

   • How a theme emerges

     Line 1: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." What idea begins here?

     Result: The speaker names an unseen force that works against walls. Before any wall is mended, the poem raises a question: should this wall stand at all?

   • How a theme is refined

     Lines 43-45: "He will not go behind his father's saying, / And he likes having thought of it so well / He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbours.'" How does the ending refine the idea?

     Result: The saying turns out to be inherited ("his father's saying"), and the neighbour will not look past it. The theme narrows from walls in general to beliefs people repeat without examining them.

   • Objective summary

     Revise this summary sentence about lines 28-31: "The speaker makes fun of his slow neighbour with a silly question about cows."

     Result: "The speaker wonders whether a wall is needed where there are no cows to keep in." The judgment words ("makes fun of," "slow," "silly") are removed, and the sentence reports only what the lines say.

   Objective summary. Show students that a summary answers "What happens?" and an analysis answers "What does it mean?" The standard asks for both, kept apart. An objective summary gives the main events in order, uses neutral verbs (says, walks, repeats), leaves out opinions ("I think"), praise ("brilliantly") and judgment words ("stubborn"), and stays much shorter than the text. It can end with a neutral statement of the central idea.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs use two highlighter colors: one for details that shape the idea about the wall, one for details that complicate it. Work through these three details together, asking pairs to explain each before you confirm:

   1. "We keep the wall between us as we go" (line 15). Teacher note: the wall is literally between them as they walk on opposite sides, and the line quietly shows that the task that brings them together also keeps them apart.
   2. "He is all pine and I am apple orchard" (lines 24-26). Teacher note: apple trees cannot cross over and eat pine cones, so there is nothing for the wall to keep in or out. This shapes the idea with a concrete reason from the speaker: the two properties cannot harm each other.
   3. "Before I built a wall I'd ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out" (lines 32-33). Teacher note: the speaker states the question behind the whole poem. A wall should have a reason, and here no one can name one.

   Ask each pair to write a first theme statement for the whole poem, test it against the last three lines, and revise it once. Collect two or three on the board and compare how precise they are.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read the original story below on their own and complete three tasks on the handout: (1) state one theme of the story in a complete sentence; (2) fill in a three-row chart (emerges, shaped, refined) with a quotation in each row; (3) write a first-draft objective summary of no more than four sentences. The quiz questions on this story work as a check once students finish.

   1Dani had been the fastest runner at her old school, so in her first week at Eastbrook she ran alone. When Coach Ruiz put her with a group for the long Tuesday loop, she nodded, then pulled ahead at the first hill and kept going.

   2"You can wait for us at the bridge," called a tall senior named Priya. Dani pretended not to hear.

   3By the third Tuesday she knew the route by heart, or thought she did. At the fork past the reservoir she turned left without slowing. The path narrowed, then ended at a parking lot she had never seen. She jogged in a circle and checked her phone: one bar of battery. Her legs, loose a minute ago, felt heavy.

   4She could run back the way she came and pretend nothing had happened. She had done that kind of thing before. Instead she stood at the edge of the lot until she heard feet on gravel and saw the group come over the rise, running together, talking in short breaths.

   5Priya slowed down. "Wrong fork," she said. "Everybody takes it once."

   6"I know," Dani said, which was not true.

   7They did not wait for her to say anything else. The group simply opened a space in the middle, and Dani stepped into it. For the next two miles she heard who was worried about the chemistry test, whose little brother had broken a window, and which hill Coach secretly hated. Nobody asked her how fast she used to be.

   8At the bridge, Priya pointed at the water. "This is where we wait," she said. "Every time."

   9The next Tuesday Dani reached the bridge first, as usual. She stopped, leaned on the rail, and watched the path until the others came around the bend.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) In one sentence, explain the difference between where a theme emerges and how it is refined. (2) Copy one sentence from your summary draft, circle any word in it that judges a character, and replace that word with a neutral one.

   Teacher note on language: line 40 compares the neighbour to "an old-stone savage armed." The word "savage" reflects an early twentieth-century way of picturing prehistoric people and is now considered dismissive. Treat it as the speaker's unflattering image of his neighbour, not as a fair description of anyone, and invite students to say what the image suggests without repeating the word casually. The spellings "neighbour" and "offence" are Frost's, kept as published.

   For homework: students read the original story below, which the homework uses.

   1My grandmother's recipe for lentil soup was written on an index card so stained that the measurements had turned into brown clouds. When she moved in with us, she handed me the card and said, "You make it now." I thought she meant it as an honor. Later I understood she meant it as a test.

   2The first pot was a failure. I followed the card exactly, or what I could read of it, and the soup tasted like warm water with a memory of onions. Grandma ate two spoonfuls, set her spoon down, and said nothing, which was worse than criticism.

   3The second time, I called my mother at work to ask about a smudge that might be "cumin" or might be "cinnamon." She laughed. "Your grandmother never measured anything in her life," she said. "That card is for guests."

   4So I stopped reading the card and started watching. On Sundays I stood beside Grandma while she cooked for herself, and I noticed things no card could hold: she fried the onions until the edges turned dark, she squeezed in lemon at the very end, and she tasted the soup four times, changing something each time.

   5By winter my soup was good, but it was not hers. I added more garlic than she liked and a handful of spinach she called "decoration." The first time she finished a whole bowl, she pushed it toward me and said, "Too much garlic." Then she ate a second bowl.

   6In the spring I copied a new card for my cousin. I wrote the measurements as clearly as I could. At the bottom, in smaller letters, I added: Watch someone make it first. Then make it yours.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which of these is a theme statement rather than a topic or a command?

   AFriendship and loyalty BAlways tell your friends the truth. CAdmitting a mistake can open the way to trust. DHonesty

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In "Mending Wall," the speaker separates the damage done by hunters (line 5) from "The gaps I mean." Why does this distinction matter to the idea the poem is developing?

   AIt shows the speaker blames the hunters for all the work of mending the wall. BIt suggests that something beyond human action works against the wall, which supports the opening line. CIt shows that the neighbour built the wall badly in the first place. DIt shows that the speaker enjoys hunting rabbits with dogs.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The speaker calls the repair "just another kind of out-door game, / One on a side" (lines 21-22). How does this detail shape the poem's developing idea about the wall?

   AIt shows that both men are competing to see who can finish first. BIt shows that the wall was built to mark out a playing field. CIt shows that the speaker is grateful for the neighbour's help. DIt makes the repair seem like a ritual with little practical purpose, which prepares for the claim that "we do not need the wall."

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Near the end, the speaker sees the neighbour "Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top / In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed" (lines 39-40). What does this simile add to the development of the theme?

   AIt pictures the neighbour's wall-building as an ancient, unthinking habit, which deepens the idea that the barrier is kept up out of custom. BIt shows that the neighbour is about to attack the speaker with the stones. CIt shows that the speaker admires the neighbour's strength. DIt shows that the neighbour has grown too old to lift heavy stones.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Short Answer

   "He moves in darkness as it seems to me, / Not of woods only and the shade of trees" (lines 41-42). Explain the two meanings of "darkness" here and how they refine the poem's theme.

   Show model answer

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence belongs in an objective summary of "Mending Wall"?

   AThe narrow-minded neighbour foolishly insists on keeping a wall that nobody needs. BI think the speaker is right, and the wall should come down. CEach spring, the speaker and his neighbour walk the line between their land and put fallen stones back on the wall. DFrost brilliantly uses simple language to hide a deep message.

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does the speaker say he could say "Elves" to his neighbour, "But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather / He said it for himself" (lines 37-38)?

   AHe wants the neighbour to reach the question on his own instead of accepting someone else's words. BHe is too shy to speak to his neighbour at all. CHe believes that elves are really knocking the stones down. DHe is afraid the neighbour will be offended by the word.

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement best expresses a theme of "Tuesday Practice"?

   ARunning is a sport that rewards speed more than teamwork. BBelonging begins when a person stops trying to prove she needs no one and lets others in. CAlways follow your coach's instructions. DTaking the wrong fork on a trail can be dangerous.

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Where does the theme of "Tuesday Practice" first emerge?

   AWhen Dani hears about the chemistry test and the broken window BWhen Priya points at the water at the bridge CIn the first paragraph, when Dani runs alone and pulls ahead of the group because she had been the fastest runner at her old school DWhen Dani's phone shows one bar of battery

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "Instead she stood at the edge of the lot until she heard feet on gravel." Why is this sentence a turning point in the development of the theme?

    AIt shows that Dani is too tired to run any farther. BIt shows that Dani is angry at Priya for not warning her. CIt shows that Dani's phone has died and she cannot call anyone. DDani chooses to wait and let the group find her instead of hiding her mistake, the first time she lets others see she needs them.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Dani answers Priya, "I know," "which was not true." What does this detail add to the theme's development?

    AIt shows that Dani's pride still pulls at her, so her change is gradual rather than sudden. BIt shows that Dani already knew the route and took the fork on purpose. CIt shows that Priya is wrong about the fork. DIt shows that Dani wants to hurt Priya's feelings.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Short Answer

    During the last two miles, Dani hears "who was worried about the chemistry test, whose little brother had broken a window, and which hill Coach secretly hated." How do these ordinary details shape the theme?

    Show model answer

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How does the final paragraph of "Tuesday Practice" refine the theme?

    AIt shows that Dani is still the fastest, so nothing has really changed. BIt shows that Dani has decided to quit the team. CDani now waits for the others on her own, which shows that belonging is something she gives as well as receives. DIt shows that Dani is bored by the slower runners.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which is the best objective summary of "Tuesday Practice"?

    ADani is an arrogant runner who finally learns her lesson after she embarrasses herself by getting lost. BA new runner, Dani, runs ahead of her team alone until she takes a wrong fork and ends up lost. She waits, the group arrives, and she runs the rest of the way with them. The next week she waits for them at the bridge. CDani runs. She has a phone with one bar of battery. Priya is tall. Someone's little brother broke a window. There is a chemistry test. There is a bridge. DPriya takes the wrong fork, and Dani waits at the bridge to show her the way back.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student's summary of a story ends, "I would have been embarrassed too." Which rule of an objective summary does this sentence break?

    AIt is too short. BIt uses the past tense. CIt does not include a direct quotation. DIt adds the reader's personal reaction, which does not belong in an objective summary.

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    A student wrote this summary of "Tuesday Practice": "Dani, who thinks she is better than everyone, runs off alone. She gets lost, which serves her right, and Priya has to rescue her. In the end she finally learns to be a team player." Name three problems with this summary and explain how to fix each one.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    The speaker questions the wall, yet he is the one who says, "I let my neighbour know beyond the hill" (line 12), and the two men "meet to walk the line." How does this detail complicate the theme of "Mending Wall"?

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student has the topic "second chances." Which sentence turns that topic into a theme statement?

    AA second chance can matter more than the first one, because a person has learned what failing costs. BAlways give people a second chance. CThe story is about second chances. DSecond chances in life and in friendship

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    This summary sentence about "Mending Wall" includes interpretation and judgment: "The neighbour, trapped in his own darkness, blindly repeats his father's saying because he is afraid to think." Rewrite it objectively, and name what you removed.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    The stones are "loaves" and "so nearly balls / We have to use a spell to make them balance" (lines 17-18), and the men "wear our fingers rough with handling them." What do these details suggest about the wall, and how do they connect to the opening line?

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RL.9-10.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.