Welcome to Part 3 of Animal Poetry! Dogs have masters. Cats have staff. Horses have servants. The brief observation of animal character which begins this lesson is humorous and quite on target. You already have studied, in groups, some poetry about the dog and the cat. Now, let's observe the horse: Open the following site: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/horse/ This American Museum of Natural History website is full of interesting information. Click on and Read "Fast Facts" for a brief summary of horses. Then, early in the lesson, find the quiz - "What Do You Know About Horses?" - by Opening the following site: http://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/horse/?pop=29597#http://www.amnh.org/ol ogy/features/whatdoyouknow_horse
Choose your group answer for each of the 10 questions. Then, check your Answers together to get your Results. Retake the quiz as needed. In Animal Discussion, early in the lesson, share which questions may have been especially challenging for your group. A puzzled donkey Quotations: There are many quotations about horses. A good site to open is the following: http://www.beckerpaints.com/pet_gems_horses.html Scroll down and spend some time reading these quotations - about the horse as a creature to care for, to ride, to listen to, hope for, rejoice in, tell things to, treasure. Then, choose a favorite quotation (other than the two in this lesson's next paragraph) to share in discussion. Explain why the group chose that quotation. A horse can be a great pet if circumstances permit. One of the quotations listed on the site above says, All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to
be loved by a little girl. Another quotation claims, Old age means realizing you will never get to love all the horses you wanted to. But Patty Barnhart, an enthusiastic rider, will find a way to always love some horses; she writes, When I Am Old. The poem can be found at the following site: http://angelacreshorsehavenrescue.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-is-beautifulwritten-by-patty.html This site also discusses the important horse rescue efforts by Angel Acres Horse Haven. Horses have been harnessed for personal riding, travel, and work. They are also used successfully as therapy horses. Robert Frost, the famed poet not usually associated with horses, wrote a deceptively-simple poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Listen to Robert Frost read his poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/videoitem.html?id=18 Then, open his short poem at the following site: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmmid/20519 Read the poem carefully. After that, return to the site where Frost is reading. Listen again and note the poet's facial expressions and his emphasis on certain parts of the poem.
Patty Barnhart, as noted earlier, wrote When I Am Old, and she did so in free verse. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening was written by Robert Frost using classic meter and rhyme. Study the two poems and finally describe some similarities and differences. Send your group's well-written comparison to your classroom teacher. Horses are harnessed, as we have seen, for varied reasons. Besides personal riding and using the horse for travel or work, the horse, particularly the thoroughbred, is prized for racing. Horse racing is now a big-time industry. Zenyatta is a mare who beat all rivals in 19 out of 20 races, and was Horse of the Year 2010. She is poetry in action. As your time permits, just enjoy a presentation on YouTube and see why Zenyatta is called the "Dancing Queen." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1q5rflpna
The horse has many cousins. Greeks. The Hippopotamus, is called "River Horse" by the The large land mammal is the subject of Theodore Roethke's humor. Open the following site: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmmid/15296 When you read The Hippo, you can see that the poet manages in a few short lines to create quite a picture and express a wry admiration of this creature. Next, rewrite as a group this poem in non-poetic words. Send your prose to discussion. You will then be able to make some comments there about which text you prefer: the poetry or the prose. Even bigger than the hippo, the cousin rhinoceros, "nosehorn," is endangered
because of that horn which poachers covet. Another relative, the tapir, has a pig-like head and none of the grace of the horse. But the zebra remains striking in its camouflage. And the camel is the horse of the desert. Stanley Harrison, in a short but beautiful poem, knows "great horses live again." To access Somewhere, open the following site: http://www.hopendreamsquarterhorses.com/poems.htm#somewhere
Before the end of the lesson, send to discussion your group thoughts about Somewhere. You may have noticed when reading quotations about the cat and the dog that those who love those animals have sentiments like Harrison's. Assignments: Early in the lesson, share In discussion which quiz questions about horses may have been especially challenging for your group. Then, choose a favorite quotation on horses to share and explain in discussion. Find and write about similarities and differences in the Barnhart and Frost poems. Send your well-written comparison to your classroom teacher. Next, rewrite in prose the Roethke poem, The Hippo. Send the prose to discussion and comment on prose vs. poetry. Before the end of the lesson, send to discussion your thoughts on Harrison's sentiments. You may also wish to comment on Zenyatta's dance. If we had another lesson, we would go to Bethlehem and find there many of the animals you have studied. The shepherds had dogs, the magi had camels or even horses. When the Holy Family reached Egypt via a lowly donkey, they would find the royal cat. All animals worthy of poetry. 7.0 Grade Level 7.1 Grade Level for Course