McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XLVIII · Part 5: Courage, kindness and the village smithy

54. The Snow-storm, by Thomson

Goal: Your child reads Thomson's blank-verse winter scene and picks out its pictures of birds, beasts and people.

⏱ 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

A passage from Thomson's "The Seasons" describing a snowstorm: the falling snow, the robin that comes into the house for crumbs, hungry beasts, and the shepherd's flocks. A note about James Thomson opens it; definitions and a note follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says James Thomson was born at Ednam, in Roxburgh, Scotland. This selection is from his long poem "The Seasons."

  2. Words and meanings

    Read some definitions:

    Hoar, white or grayish white.

    Winnowing, separating chaff from grain by means of wind.

    Askance, sideways.

    Whelms, covers completely.

    And the note: "household gods" refers to the ancient Romans' belief in the Penates, the gods of the home.

  3. Read aloud

    This poem does not rhyme (it is blank verse), so read for the sense, pausing at commas and periods, not at every line end.

    Through the hushed air the whitening shower descends,

    At first thin wavering; till at last the flakes

    Fall broad and wide and fast, dimming the day,

  4. Talk about it

    SayHow does the snow fall at first, and then later?

    SayTell what the redbreast does.

    The Redbreast, sacred to the household gods,

    Till, more familiar grown, the table-crumbs

    SayWhat happens to the wild animals and the flocks?

    SayWhich picture in the poem is the clearest to you?

  5. Tell it back

    Your child describes the snowstorm and the robin's visit in their own words.

  6. Write (optional)

    Write a short description of a bird or animal at your window in winter.

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