illustration of a boy and his dog in the back of a car
Jomike Tejido
Poetry,

Switching Channels

By Beverly McLoughland | art by Jomike Tejido
From the September 2022 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will read a poem about the transition from summer to the school year and identify the main idea of the poem.

Complexity Factors
  • Purpose & Levels of Meaning
    “Switching Channels” is about a child who is having a hard time shifting from a summer vacation mindset to one that focuses on the upcoming school year.
  • Structure
    The poem consists of two stanzas of eight lines each and includes simple rhymes. It’s written from a first-person point of view.
  • Language
    The language is conversational. The poem employs a central metaphor of thoughts as channels. The poem uses repetition and imagery.
  • Knowledge Demands
    The poem refers to the switching and tuning of channels.
Featured Skill: Poetic Structures,
Other Key Skills: main idea, fluency, point of view, setting, visual literacy, key details, interpreting text, inference, connecting to the text
Standards
  • Common Core
    RL.1, RL.2, RL.3, RL.4, RL.5, RL.6, RL.7, R.4, SL.1, SL.2, L.1
  • TEKS Grade 3
    1a, 1c, 3b, 3d, 4, 6a, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, 7c, 7d, 7g, 8c, 8d, 9b, 10a, 10c, 10d

Presentation View
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Poem’s Meaning

As you read, look for what the speaker in the poem is thinking about.

Switching Channels

My brain’s

on a seashore channel,

tuned to sand,

and surf,

and sun,

but it’s time to switch the channel

now

that summer’s almost done.


It’s time to switch the channel

back

to add, subtract,

and spell,

though my brain’s still tuned

to gull and wind,

and sea, and sand,

and shell.

Reprinted by permission of THE POET. All Rights Reserved.

Audio ()
Activities (3)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (3) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Can't Miss Teaching Extras

If your students are eager for more summer-themed poetry, share these two delightful poems from past May/June issues: “How to Make an Ice Pop” and “A Circle of Sun.”

For more Beverly McLoughland poems, show your students “Make up your Mind, March!” and “Surprise.” Ask your students if they notice any similarities among this author’s poems.

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Close Reading

3. Skill Building

1. Preparing to Read

Set a Purpose for Reading

  • Read the title of the poem along with the poet’s and illustrator’s names. Ask students to describe the illustration and predict what the poem will be about. Review the predictions after reading the poem.
  • Ask students what they think about when they hear the words switching channels and write their responses on the board. For students unfamiliar with the concept of channels as used in the poem, you might refer to radio, television, or YouTube channels.
  • Tell students to keep the Think and Read prompt in mind as they read the poem.

Preview Text Features and Vocabulary

  • Go over any vocabulary terms that may be challenging for your students. You might want to explain that channel usually refers to a radio or television station. Some students will be familiar with YouTube channels. Switching means “changing from one thing to another,” and tuning refers to making the sound or pictures from a channel come in clearer.
  • Invite students to describe the illustration and then predict what the poem is about based on the title and the artwork.

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem

  • Read the poem to the class, play the audio version, or use text-to-speech.

  • Next, ask students to take turns reading aloud each line in the poem.

  • Discuss the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the poem.)

Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions

  • Who is the speaker in the poem? (point of view) The speaker in the poem is a child.
  • Where has the child been spending time? (Hint: Look at the illustration.) (setting, visual literacy) The child has been spending time at the beach.
  • Why does the child say “My brain’s on a seashore channel”? (Hint: What is the child thinking about?) (key details, interpreting text) The child says this because the child is thinking about summer fun at the seashore. The child’s thoughts are on “sand, and surf, and sun.”
  • Read these words in the poem: “but it’s time to switch the channel now.” Why is it time to start thinking about something else? (Hint: What is ending?) (interpreting text) It’s time to start thinking about something else because summer is ending.
  • Read these words in the poem: “It’s time to switch the channel back to add, subtract, and spell.” What is it time for the child to be thinking about now? (inference) It’s time for the child to be thinking about school again.
  • Although the child knows it’s time to go back to school, what is the child still thinking about? (inference, key details) The child is still thinking about summer at the seashore—the gulls, the wind, the sea, the sand, and the seashells.
  • How do you think the child in the poem feels about the end of summer vacation and the return to school? Do you feel the same way? Why or why not? (inference, main idea, connecting to the text) The child doesn’t feel ready for summer to end and school to begin. You can tell because the child is still thinking about the seashore. Answers will vary for the second part of the question.

3. Skill Building

Featured Skill: Main Idea

Distribute or digitally assign our Main Idea Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.  

Text-to-Speech