PRE-READING

1. Look at the pictures. Which do you think show a “good day”?

Explain why.

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2. Suggest other activities that you could do on a “good day”.

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5

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6

VOCABULARY INTRODUCTION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6obt6vVtqko

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1. Match the words in column A with their meanings in column B.

d

f

b

c

e

a

2. Complete a wordsearch.

count

deed

self-denying

ease

glance

trace

cheer

count

worse

BASIC UNDERSANDING

1. Match the lines from the poem in column A with their meanings in column B

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1

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Stanza-בית בשיר

A group of lines which form a unit in a poem.

2. How many stanzas are there in the poem “Count That Day Lost”?__________

3. Read the first stanza (lines 1-8) and answer the following questions:

a. Who is the speaker talking to?

CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER

i) The reader.

ii) People who help others.

iii) People who count their acts.

b. What time of day is mentioned in the first stanza?

i) the afternoon

ii) the early evening

iii) night

c. What should you do at sunset?

d. The poet mentions three things that make a day well spent. Name TWO of them.

You should count the acts that you have done.

one self-denying deed/one word that eased the heart of him who heard/one glance most kind

e. CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER

The example of a “self-denying deed” is when….

i) a person visits a sick friend instead of going to a show.

ii) a person gives old clothes he doesn’t need to a homeless person.

iii) a person studies for hours for an important test.

f. Copy the words that mean “made someone feel better.”

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g. Write in Hebrew the meaning of the word “count”

line 2:___________________________line 8:_____________________________

לספור

להחשיב

that eased the heart of him who heard

h. CIRCE THE CORRECT ANSWER.

You may think that a day is well spent if you have….

i) smiled with happiness

ii) done one good deed

iii) enjoyed the sunshine

Read the second stanza (lines 9-16) and answer the questions that follow:

a. CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER

At the end of the day, you may discover that you have…

i) had a very long, tiring day.

ii) done bad things during the day.

iii) done nothing for any other person.

b. Give ONE reason why a day is worse than lost.

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c. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES

i) You can cheer someone by saying___________________________________

ii) A day is worse than lost when you can’t trace one act that_______________________

you’ve cheered no heart/you’ve nothing done(that you can trace…

yes or no/one word

brought the sunshine to one face/helped some soul.

d. CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER

“That helped some soul and nothing cost” means that….

i) you didn’t have to make a special effort to help someone

ii) you didn’t have to pay a lot of money to help someone

iii) helping someone was not worth the money

5. Tick (✓) True or False

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. What is the message in the poem?

• If you want to have a meaningful life, help others.
• The message is to do good deeds for others and not to waste your days.
• Good deeds are important and not difficult to do.
• Good deeds give your life meaning.
• Make your life worthwhile.

EXPLAINING PATTERNS

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Look at the following series of numbers: 1,3,6,10,15, ______

What should the next numbers be? Why?

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What should the next shape be? Why?

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RHYMES

Write the words from the Word Bank that rhyme with each of the words in the table below.

third● fun● grey● run● call ●mind● bird ●space ●pay ●blind● heard● base● none

Find as many rhymes as you can in the poem. Highlight the rhyming words.

Now write the numbers of the lines that rhyme

sun-done

find-kind

word-heard

wend spent

day-nay

all-small

trace-face

cost-lost

1-2, 3-6, 4-5, 9-10, 11-14, 12-13, 15-16

Rhyme Scheme-תבנית חריזה

Another way to show the rhyming pattern in the poem is to use a letter for each new sound at the end of the line.

What is the rhyme scheme in the poem?

______________________________________________________________________

a a b c c b d d

a

a

b

c

c

b

d

d

e

e

f

g

g

h

i

i

A simile is a comparison in which one thing is described as being similar to another.

A simile is usually introduced by like or as.

Her dress is as white as snow.

Find a simile in the poem.

דימוי

HOTS: CAUSE AND EFFECT

Look at the picture. What happened? What may be the reason for this to happen?

Cause and Effect

An action that makes something else happen is called a cause (this is the reason) and the result of the action is called an effect.

Cause

Dan asked me a question

The box is too heavy

It became cold

My cell phone got wet

Effect

I can’t lift it.

it stopped working.

I gave him an answer.

the birds flew to warmer countries.

so

According to the first stanza (lines 1-8) what are the reasons for a day well spent?

Complete the following graphic organizer. Use the phrases below.

a day well spent

made no one happy ● a kind word that made someone feel better● a caring look ● didn’t help any person ● doing an unselfish (לא אנוכי) act ●didn’t make anyone smile

What makes a day worse than lost?

If you ____________________________________________,then______

_________________________________________________________________.

• According to Eliot, is it very hard to help another person? Explain your answer by giving examples from the text.

Thinking Skill I chose:_____________

Inferring

Although the answer is not written specifically in the text, I believe that Eliot tells the reader in the second stanza that it is not hard to help another person. I assume this is the answer because Eliot describes actions that require little effort such as “ act most small”, or saying to another person simply yes or no (“yeh or nay”)

BRIDGING TEXT AND CONTEXT

Read the following quote and answer the question that follows.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Aesop

Make a connection between the quote and the poem.

Aesop tells us that every act of kindness is important and is not wasted even if it is very small. we can find the same idea in Eliot’s poem. The poet tells us that if we want our day be well spent, then we should do at least one good act, and even if it is only a word or a glance it still counts because it made someone else fell good.

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The poem Count That Day Lost expresses the same idea that is in the quote: if you do even one act of kindness, “an act most small”, then your day is well spent. An act of kindness can cheer another person, it can ease a person’s heart and it can give meaning to our lives, so it is never wasted.

POST-READING

Make up a schedule for yourself of a day you think George Eliot would consider worthwhile.