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will explain to students that the way you say things is as important as what you say. I will say, “Okay,” in two different ways (excited and reluctant or begrudging). Students will turn and talk with a partner about how they think I feel each time. I will discuss that the way I said, “Okay,” each time lets them know how I am feeling. I will explain that authors show how they are feeling by choosing how to write and this is how we hear the author’s voice. I will explain that we are going to read two poems about bats and discuss the author’s feelings, or voice. I will read “Amazing Bats” (poem provided in Books and Passages) and discuss how the author feels about bats. I will explain that because the author titles the poem “Amazing Bats,” we can draw the conclusion that the author thinks bats are amazing and has positive feelings about bats. I will give other examples from the text that tell me that the author feels positively about bats.

Ask: How did I determine how the author felt about bats? Students should respond that you read the poem and used words from the text that told the reader how the author felt about bats.

will read another poem about bats called “The Bat” (poem provided in Books and Passages) and discuss how this author feels about bats. We will chart word choices that tell us the author’s voice or how the author feels about bats. (Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Example Chart is provided in Teacher and Student Materials below.)

will read “My Friend, the Snake” and write a list of words and phrases that describe how each author feels about snakes. You will describe the author’s voice in the poem. (Student Independent Practice is provided below.)

TIP: Differentiate the Independent Practice for struggling students by providing a word bank of example words and phrases from the text. Differentiate the Independent Practice for excelling students by providing an extension opportunity in which they create a poem that communicates their own voice about snakes.