McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XXXVIII · Part 4: Lost Lucy, the Town Pump and the bobolink

44. The Cataract of Lodore, by Southey

Goal: Your child reads Southey's famous sound poem aloud with growing speed, and explains how its words imitate rushing water.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pencil

What's in the book

Southey's poem answering a child's question, "How does the water come down at Lodore?" with a long, rushing torrent of rhyming words.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the poem

    This poem is by Robert Southey, whose life is told in Lesson XX. Lodore is a waterfall in the English lake country, near where Southey lived. In the opening lines a little boy asks his father the question, and the father answers in rhyme.

  2. Read aloud

    Read the opening calmly:

    How does the water

    Come down at Lodore?

    Then read the rest, letting it gather speed as the water does. Your child reads the second half.

  3. Listen to the words

    SayFind words that sound like what they mean (splashing, roaring and so on). That is called onomatopoeia.

    SayHow do the lines change as the water comes down? Do they get longer or shorter?

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho asked the question, and who answered it?

    SayThe poet could have said, "It falls fast and loud." Why did he write so much more?

    SayWhich lines were the most fun to say?

  5. Perform it

    Let your child practice the last section until they can read it quickly and clearly, then perform it for the family.

  6. Write (optional)

    Write ten -ing words that describe how something moves: rain, wind, a creek, a crowd.

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