Literacy Methods Intermediate Grades

Interactive Read Aloud

Book: When the Horses Ride By: Children in the Times of War
Poems by Eloise Greenfield
Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
Grade Level: 5th grade
Common Core:
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.5.2
Determineathemeofastory,drama,orpoemfromdetailsinthetext,includinghowcharacters
inastoryordramarespondtochallengesorhowthespeakerinapoemreflectsuponatopic;
summarizethetext.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.5.6
Describehowanarrator'sorspeaker'spointofviewinfluenceshoweventsaredescribed.
Rationale:
Ichosethistextforavarietyofreasons.Whatinitiallycaughtmyeyeaboutthistextwas
thatitiswrittenfromthepointofviewofchildren.Thiscanhelpmakethetopicmorerelatable
tothestudentssincewarisalargetopicforfifthgraderstounderstand.Intermsofgenreand
form,thisbookisacollectionofpoemsalldealingwiththetopicofwaranddiscord.Itfitswith
thecommoncorestandard5.2becausethecollectionofpoemscombinestotellacentral
messageallrelatingtochildrensperspectivesofwar.Theseperspectivesmeetstandard5.6
becausethestudentswillbeabletoanalyzehowtheperspectiveofachildtalkingaboutwaris
differentthananadulttalkingaboutwar.
The themes and ideas of this book are applicable to fifth grade
because they study various wars, some which are explicitly addressed in the
book. This collection of poems allows the students to see another
perspective that is not addressed in their textbook. The language and
literacy features help drive the story. Since each poem deals with a different
war or struggle, there are multiple perspectives to understand that all tie to a
central message. The poems allow for greater interpretation that can help
students relate to the topic. In addition, then sentence complexity,
vocabulary and over all syntax is unique in that the poems appear to be
unrelated but can then be connected with the message. On each page the
sentence complexity, vocab, and syntax are different which allows for the
students to see the multiple stories told by different children. Finally, the
illustrations greatly add to the overall effect of the book. The illustrator chose
a mixed media format, which reflects the mixed points of view in the book.
The illustrations also use color very well to highlight different aspects of the
story.
Overall, I believe this book will lend itself to a fun and interactive read
aloud.

Literacy Methods Intermediate Grades

Objective: Students will be able to understand the theme of the book by

reflecting on the details the author chose to include and how the author
presented the topic. Students will also be able to describe how the point of
view in the story affects the message.
Materials: When the Horses Ride By: Children in the Times of War
Poems by Eloise Greenfield
Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
Procedure:
1) Begin by asking students what point of view means. Ask them to tell
one instance where they could point out perspective/point of view. Ask
how different point of views might change how a story is told. Think,
pair, share.
2) Then talk about how we are learning about the Civil War. Tell them the
book we are about to read is about war. Ask them to think about point
of view as you read. Also ask the students to think about the
illustrations and how they relate to the book as a whole. Think, pair,
share.
3) Read the first two poems then stop. Ask what they noticed in the first
two illustrations. Model with for example I see images that I recognize
from our study on the civil war. The children are looking on to the
horses. Do they see anything they recognize?
4) Read the next poem and then ask how the fact that the speaker is a
child changes how he sees war? Think, pair, share.
5) Read to A Different Land. Ask the students what they know about this
topic and what the illustration says about the topic. Think, pair, share.
6) Stop again at When the Horses Ride By. Ask the students why the
children would want to pretend? Think, pair, share.
7) At A Child Like Me stop and ask the students to reflect on this poem.
Can they relate to the children? Think, pair, share.
8) Go to I Imagine. Ask them what they see in the illustration. How does
it make them feel?
9) Finish the book and ask the students what they thought about the book
as a whole. Why was it important for the speakers to be children? How
did this change the message? What was their biggest take away from
the book.
Evaluation/ Assessment:
1) Students will reflect on their learning by composing a piece of writing,
preferably poetry, about a topic we have discussed in the current unit. They

Literacy Methods Intermediate Grades

will be asked to write the piece from a point of view they find unique. They
will then write a reflection about this piece of writing describing why they
chose to write from that point of view and how it affected their writing.