"Mending Wall" Lesson Plan

Here is a lesson plan I used two weeks ago as part of a poetry unit for the 7th grade writing workshop I am working with. It went over quite well.

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Time: 50 minutes
Grade: 7th
Class size: 13 students
Materials: Extra desks and textbooks; 14 copies of “Mending Wall,” and copies of HW assignment

Before students arrive in the classroom, simulate a “wall.” There are a number of ways to do this – one is to push several desks together in a row and stack up textbooks on top of them, so that the students on one side, once sitting down, cannot see the students on the other side of the stacks of books.

When the kids enter the room, have them sit in their regular seats and let them ponder their situation while writing the objective on the board. (2 minutes)

Discuss with students how they feel about the stacks of books between them. Some questions that might be good to ask are: What does it feel like not to be able to see the people who are right next to you? Is the barrier the books have created distinct and noticeable? Does it feel like you have privacy? Are you more comfortable raising your hand and speaking out loud when you can only see half the class? Do you like or dislike the addition of this divider in the classroom? (8 minutes)

Pass around copies of the poem “Mending Wall,” by Robert Frost. Let students read it once, silently. (3 minutes)

Now begin reading the poem together, having one student read every five lines. After every five lines, pause and ask the following questions:

1-5: What might this “something” that doesn’t love a wall be?
10-15: What does stanza 3 indicate with some of its phrases? (“Spring mending-time,” “once again” – when I taught this lesson, I associated the first term with spring cleaning to indicate that it is something that happens every year)

Take a break here to assess the fundamentals of the poem. Who are the characters so far, and what are they doing?

15-20: “To each the boulders that have fallen to each” – what does that indicate about the neighbors’ relationship?
20-25: In this stanza it is stated that they “do not need the wall.” What question does that raise about what the neighbors are doing?
25-30: What does the phrase “good fences make good neighbors” mean?
30-35: “But here there are no cows.” Why does the speaker point this out? What is he questioning?
40-45: “he moves in darkness…not only of woods and trees.” – What causes the darkness then, besides the trees? Notice the repetition here of the neighbor’s phrase. (20 minutes)

Now that we have attacked and conquered each stanza, assess the meaning of the poem as a whole. How do the events happening on the surface reveal what is going on below the surface of the poem? (6 minutes)

Homework: Write a poem in response to “Mending Wall” from the perspective of the neighbor, who disagrees with the speaker. Why do good fences make good neighbors? Are there benefits to the barriers people put up between each other? Is there merit in preserving tradition, even when it is no longer necessary? (Hint: Think about the various reactions you had to the wall in the classroom). (2 minutes to distribute/explain)