Who Has Seen the Wind?

personification, rhyme, interpreting text, inference, poetic structure, theme, expressing an opinion

Set a Purpose for Reading (25 minutes)

• Begin by reading the Personification bubble for the class. Prepare students to listen or look for another example of personification in the poem (leaves hang trembling). Point out that personification can make a poem more exciting and interesting to read, and make the meaning easier to understand.
• Have students look at the photograph that accompanies the poem. Ask them to describe what the girl is doing. What is happening to her hair? How does she probably feel as the wind blows her hair around?

• Read the poem for the class or play our audio version.
• Project or distribute the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions and discuss them as a class while students refer to the poem in their magazines.
  

Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions (15 minutes, activity sheet online)

• What words rhyme in the first stanza? (rhyme) you, through What words rhyme in the second stanza? I, by
• In the first stanza, what words describe how leaves act the way people do? (personification) "the leaves hang trembling” 
• What is the wind doing to make the “leaves hang trembling"? (interpreting text) The wind is blowing the leaves.
• In the second stanza, what does the wind do to the trees to make them “bow down their heads”? (interpreting text) The blowing wind bends down the tree branches.
• When the trees “bow down their heads” as the wind passes, what human feeling might they be showing? (inference) Answers will vary; the trees could be showing their respect for the wind.
• Why does the poem repeat the same question and answer at the beginning of stanzas one and two? (poetic structure) The questions and answers are important. Even though people can’t see the wind, because it is invisible, we can see how it affects the trees in different ways when it blows on them. 
• How do you feel about the wind after reading this poem? (expressing an opinion) Answers will vary. Students may say they understand how powerful the wind is because of its effect on the trees.
• What other things can you feel but not see? (theme) Answers will vary but could include heat and cold, or emotions such as love or anger.

• Call on a volunteer to read the Think and Write box at the bottom of the page.
• Distribute our Write Your Own Poem activity. Remind students to include descriptive details and at least two examples of personification that bring the weather event to life for readers. Students can read their poems in small groups.