Semi – Detailed Lesson Plan in English – III

I. Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
a. relate personal views to that of the poem
b. arrive at the meaning of unfamiliar words through context clues
c. extract the meaning and message of the poem through utilization of symbolism
d. single out worthwhile human values highlighted in the poem

II. Subject Matter

Topic: “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Reference: Rayala, S. and Lee, E. (2008). English is Power. INSTRUCTIONAL
COVERAGE SYSTEM PUBLOSHING, INC. pp. 51 -54
III. Materials
Visual Aids
Pop – up picture
IV. Procedure
A. Preparatory Activities
a. Prayer
b. Checking of Classroom
c. Checking of Attendance
B. Pre - Reading
a. Motivation
The teacher will ask the following questions:
1. Think back to the time when you were forced to make an important
decision. What were its consequences?
2. Were you happy about the decision or did you regret it later?
3. Do you think the decisions we make will affect our future?

b. Presentation of the lesson

POP – UP PICTURE:
The teacher will present a pop – up picture of two roads diverged in a
wood and will ask series of questions.
1. How many roads can you see?
2. Will you differentiate one from the other?
3. If you were to choose between those two roads, which one will you
take, knowing the fact that you can never go back once you decides?
4. What makes you decide to take that road?
5. What do you think will the focus of our topic today?
 c. Spotlight on the Author
Author Interview – one student will pretend to be Robert Frost and
answers two-question interview with the teacher.
1. Can you give me some highlights on your career?
2. What’s your inspiration in writing “The Road Not Taken”?
d. Unlocking of Difficulties
Match the words in column A with their corresponding meaning in
column B with the help of the sentences I will give.
1. The hospital corridor diverged; one corridor led to the X-ray
department, the other to the surgery.
2. Lost in the dark forest, the little boy rested in the undergrowth.
3. He chooses a different path everyday and so far hasn’t trodden the
same ground twice.
4. I doubt you will get an answer to this question.
5. After several years, the carpet was finally showing wear.
Column A Column B
1. diverge a. movement of the foot in
2. undergrowth walking
3. trodden b. led to a dead end
4. doubt c. extended in two
5. wear directions
d. a place where shrubs and
herbs grow
e. the result of long hard
use
f. to carry

C. While Reading
Set a Goal for Reading
a. First Reading
The teacher will distribute copies of the poem with the last word missing
from each line. The teacher will read the poem to the class. Students read
their own copies and complete the missing words.
1. What are the rhyming words in the poem?
2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
3. What is the structure of the poem?
b. Second Reading
1. What road was taken by the persona?
 2. What big realization did the persona achieve after the journey?

D. Post – Reading
Group Discussion
The teacher will create 4 groups with 6-7 members. Each group is given a
question that must be answered within 5 minutes.
1st – First Stanza
a. In what ways are the two roads different?
b. How does the persona feel about not being able to take both roads?
c. What do you think these two roads represent?
nd
2 – Second stanza
a. On the second stanza, did he already make up his mind?
b. Which road did he take?
c. Describe the road mentioned in this stanza?

3rd – Third Stanza

a. What other description is given in the third stanza that pertains to the
road taken by the persona?
b. Explain these two lines:
“Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.”
Why is it difficult to turn back after traveling for a while?
th
4 – Fourth Stanza
a. Did he regret his decision towards the end?
b. The speaker took the “less traveled road” and claimed that “it has
made all the difference.” What does making a difference means?
c. What realization did the persona have when he took the road less
travelled by?

V. Generalization
a. Symbolism
The teacher will let the students identify what being represented by each symbolism
is found in the poem.

SYMBOLISM

Traveler
Two roads in divergence
Woods
Trod
Sighs
Difference
 b. Theme
After getting the symbols and representations, the teacher will let the students
explore the poetic meaning of the poem with the aid of the symbolisms used.

VI. Application
Group Activities
Work with the same group. Each group will be given a question that must be
answered within 5 minutes.
1. If you were the speaker, would you choose the “the less traveled road,” too?
2. Is it always better to take the less traveled road? Why or why not?
3. Should people be free to make their own choices or is it better to follow parents
and society?
4. What do you think is the personality of the persona as reflected in his decision to
take the less traveled road?

VII. Evaluation
Individual work – Ask students to write an essay with the following topic,
“You are offered two jobs by two different companies: One is a high-paying job with
long hours and better prospects but would give you little time with family and
friends. The other one is a lower-paying job with shorter hours and less
responsibilities that would give you more time with family and friends. Which one
would you choose? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details.” (With
the help of a mind map)
VIII. Agreement
Compare and contrast “The Road Not Taken” with Frost’s another poem “Stopping
by the Wood on Snowy Evening.
A Semi – Detailed Lesson
Plan in English – III
(Literature)
Subject Matter: “The Road Not Taken” by
Robert Frost

Presented by:
Cristo, Joy Mariette B.
BSE - English

Date:

April 24, 2013

Name: _____________________________ Class: _________________ Date: ___________________

Essay Writing

You are offered two jobs by two different companies: One is a high-paying job with long hours
and better prospects but would give you little time with family and friends. The other one is a
lower-paying job with shorter hours and less responsibilities that would give you more time
with family and friends. Which one would you choose? Explain your choice, using specific
reasons and details.”

Use the mind map below to brainstorm your ideas.

High-paying job: Lower-paying job:

Advantages: Advantages:

Disadvantages: Disadvantages:

The job I would take is: ____________________________

Name: _______________________________ Class: ____________ Date: ________________

Listen to the poem. Fill in the missing words.

Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow __________,
And sorry I could not travel __________
And be one traveler, long I __________
And looked down one as far as I __________
To where it bent in the __________.

Then took the other, as just as __________,

And having perhaps the better __________,
Because it was grassy and wanted __________;
Though as for that the passing __________
Had worn them really about the __________.

And both that morning equally __________

In leaves no step had trodden __________.
Oh, I kept the first for another __________!
Yet knowing how way leads on to __________,
I doubted if I should ever come __________.

I shall be telling this with a __________

Somewhere ages and ages__________:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and ________--
I took the one less traveled __________,
And that has made all the __________.

Robert Frost
Robert Frost (1874-1963) is one of the most famous American poets. He won many Pulitzer prizes (the
highest award for writers in the US) and was a poet laureate (a poet appointed by a country to write
poems for official ceremonies).

Vocabulary:
 diverge (v.) - to separate
 wood (n.) - a forest
 undergrowth (n.) - the forest floor
 fair (adj.) - beautiful
 claim (n.) - a possession
 wear (n.) - usage
 tread (v.) - to take steps on something (trodden = past participle)
 sigh (n.) - a sound made by breathing out heavily
 age (n.) - a long period of time
 hence (adv.) - at a future time

Read and discuss the The Road Not Taken:

 Stanza 1 - The roads are a metaphor for choices in life. Yellow means that it was autumn. The
writer can choose only one path and he takes time to think about it, looking down the first one as
far as he can

 Stanza 2 - The writer takes the other path and feels good about his choice. However, both of the
paths were pretty much the same (ie. used equally by others)

 Stanza 3 - The writer hopes to try the other path in future but doubts that he ever will since every
path leads on to more and more choices and there is not usually time to go back and try all the
options

 Stanza 4 - The writer says that he will remember this choice in the far future with a sigh (could be
a happy or a sad sigh). At that time he will tell himself that his choice was the best and that it
made a big difference in his life (whether or not this is actually true is not the point -- we usually
end up convincing ourselves that our choices were the right ones).

The theme of the poem is that our choices do make a big difference in our lives and that there is no way
to go back and change them.

Rhyming scheme = ABAAB, CDCCD, etc.

Discussion questions:
1. What choices have you made in your life that you are happy about? Which ones would you like to
go back and change?
2. Should people be free to make their own choices or is it better to follow parents and society?
 The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.