The goal of this exemplar is to teach young students to read closely and critically in order to comprehend complex literary text. In this lesson sequence, the teacher uses a variety of strategies to actively engage students in searching for meaning in the figurative language and rich vocabulary of a poem. Students learn to test inferences against specific details of the text, to take three dimensional "notes" and to use those notes to more deeply understand the meaning of the poem. Discussion and a short writing exercise help students to synthesize what they have learned.