The plot of “Jabberwocky” is straightforward: A father warns his son about a monster called the Jabberwock. The son goes hunting for the Jabberwock, and when it shows up, he kills it. The son cuts off the Jabberwock’s head and shows his father, who hugs him and praises him. Read each stanza aloud and restate its action in simple language. As you do, show excitement to find out what happens next and satisfaction when the conflict is resolved, and emphasize how proud the father is of his son.
Right off the bat, first-graders will notice the made-up words in “Jabberwocky.” At this age, they’ll be able to infer what parts of speech the nonsense words are, and you can ask them what they think a “slithy tove” looks like or what “burbling” sounds like. Point out that Carroll is being silly with language, and that it’s great when poetry plays with words for fun. You might also mention that people actually use some of these nonsense words now. “Chortle,” for instance,” has a dictionary entry: “To laugh or chuckle especially in satisfaction or exultation.” To make it, Carroll stuck two words together: “chuckle” and “snort.”
First-graders will enjoy hearing that Lewis Carroll wrote “Jabberwocky” as part of a book about a girl named Alice, who is just a bit older then they are -- in Chapter 6 of “Through the Looking-Glass,” she tells Humpty Dumpty that she’s 7 1/2. Some of them may even have seen the Disney movie “Alice in Wonderland” and be familiar with the character. In “Through the Looking-Glass,” Alice finds the poem “Jabberwocky” in a little book on the White King’s table. She has to hold it up to a mirror to read it, because in the looking-glass house, words appear backward. When Alice finishes the poem, she says, “It seems very pretty, … but it’s rather hard to understand!” Ask the first-graders whether they agree with Alice’s assessment.
After focusing on comprehension and content, you can point out two poetic features to first-graders. First, show them that poems are divided into lines, but that books aren’t. Open up a chapter book and point out the visual difference between the two texts. Next, tell them that rhyme often makes poetry sound different than books do. To illustrate this point, you might write out a stanza and use the same color to underline each pair of rhyming words, then show the first-graders that the colors make a pattern -- there are two of each.