http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Hughes_Mearn s

Read the poem Write down what you notice about the poem Rate your understanding of the poem from 010 Repeat twice more, but at the end of the third, also:

What happened to your understanding of the poem over the three readings? What questions do you still have about the poem?

Rate your understanding again from 1-10

Get in groups Share about your experience Rate your understanding of the poem again

"What we see here is how -- not all the time for every poem, but much of the time -- writing about your reading, even or maybe especially if it is only writing about what you don't understand, can be a useful way to assist you in your reading. Our students need to know this, and as teachers we need to remember it as we plan activities..." (38)

"Instruction has systematically taught them (students) to depend entirely on teachers to prevent or remove any textual difficulties they might encounter." (41)

(Scholes' building blocks for "textual competence") "(1) reading, addressing the question, What does it say? (2) interpretation, addressing the question, What does it mean? and (3) criticism, addressing the question, What is its value? or So What?" (51)

"...the teaching of literature does, in fact, teach students a pattern or discipline for thinking that is applicable to every field and probably every complex human endeavor, and that can serve as a description of critical thinking in virtually every context." (52)