Unseen Poetry: How to approach a poem

1. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. Unseen Poetry: How to approach a poem

2. Bell task: What question would you ask the boy in this picture? Write your question on the pink post-it note provided. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

3. Learning Objectives • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and respond to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

4. Carousel Graffiti Around the room are words/ phrases from the poem that we will study during today’s lesson. Whilst the music is playing visit each word/ phrase and graffiti your response to the connotations attached to it. SONG Connotation: Noun An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

5. Learning check point: initial response In the first section of your progression placemat answer the following question: Using the words around the room, what is your initial response to the poem? • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

6. ‘Slow Reader’ By Vicki Feaver Slow Reader He can make sculptures and fabulous machines, invent games, tell jokes, give solemn, adult advice – but he is slow to read. When I take him on my knee with his Ladybird book he gazes into the air, sighing and shaking his head like an old man who knows the mountains are impassable. He toys with words, letting them go cold as gristly meat, until I relent and let him wriggle free: a fish returning to its element, or a white-eyed colt – shying from the bit *– who sees that if he takes it in his mouth he’ll never run quite free again. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

7. Learning check point: after first reading In the second section of your progression placemat answer the following question: What do you think the poem is about? • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

8. Group task: analysis In the exam you only have 30 minutes to write about an unseen poem, therefore you must be clear about what to analyse! Important aspects of an unseen poem: Important images - what do they suggest? First line - what mood is created? Last line - what mood is created? Voice - who is speaking and how do you know? Title - how does it relate to the poem? In groups of four you will be given one of these key areas to study, be prepared to feedback your ideas. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

9. Learning check point: initial response • In the third section of your progression placemat answer the following question: • How has the group discussion aided your understanding of the poem? • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

10. Model Response • The mother’s despair is revealed at the end of the first stanza. Comparing the boy to an ‘old man’ suggests her love, as though she can see all his life to come, but with the love the despair is shown by the idea, perhaps unconscious, that he will never succeed in this task. ‘The mountains / are impassable’ seems very final, the finality again emphasised by the line break after ‘mountains’, making them seem to hang in the air before the child, and the stanza break after ‘impassable’, creating a void which seems impossible (‘impassable’ is close to this, of course) to cross. The ‘mountains’ not only suggest the height and size of the task and the old man’s failing power to cross them, but also the mother’s desire: she desperately wants the child to pass over to the greener pastures of reading beyond them, but fears he will not. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

11. Now it’s your turn! Now write one high quality paragraph as demonstrated on the previous slide about your favourite line within the poem. Use some of these phrases to help you express your ideas in a more sophisticated and literary way: The writer presents____________ as The writer has used_________ to intensify the feeling of_______ The use of ___________ accentuates the idea that_________ The writer’s use of ____________ emphasises Evocative imagery of ____________ encourages the reader to ____ Other useful words: illustrates, highlights, creates a sense of, creates the impression that… • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

12. Learning check point: initial response • In the third section of your progression placemat answer the following question: • Can you interpret a quotation from the poem in three different ways? • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

13. Peer Assessment • Swap your work with your shoulder partner and check their paragraph alongside the lesson objectives. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen

14. Reflection Plenary: How does the image relate to the poem? Write your question on the post-it note provided. • By the end of this lesson you will be able to: • Identify key words and themes in an unseen poem. • Read and responded to key ideas presented in an unseen poem. • Write a paragraph with three interpretations of the poem. English Literature Exam: Poetry/ Unseen