Introduction (10 minutes)
In the first lesson, teachers might like to briefly introduce the module, explain its aims and objectives and outline its content, which may comprise some of the following:
• learning about some basic characteristics of English poems and songs (e.g. rhyme, rhythm, images)
• reading a selection of poems
• writing a number of different types of poetry
• listening to a selection of songs
• adding verses∗ to songs or writing/re-writing song lyrics
• considering the place of songs in advertising
• listening to some songs in the musical Oliver!
• taking part in a song performance
• making a presentation on some favourite poems or songs
• creating a Poem and Song Journal
It should be noted that this list is not exhaustive, and teachers might like to add more items or drop some of them, depending on students’ needs, interests and abilities. In preparation for the module, students should be asked to start collecting English poems and songs from books, websites, the radio, television and CDs. They would need to bring at least one poem and one song to share with their classmates in the next lesson.
They will work on a range of assignments during the module, such as written personal responses to poems and songs, creative work, presentations and performances. The written work should be kept in a folder. It may also be a good idea to let them know that “poem” in the module is taken to mean everything from serious poetry to the verses inside greetings cards.
Warm-up Activity (30 minutes)
Teachers may need to modify the handout based on how they would like to conduct the activity to fit students’ needs. For instance, instead of having the teacher read a poem or play a song, students who feel ready could be invited to share with the class the poems/songs they have brought and invite other students to respond to the pieces.
Poem and Song Journal (30 minutes)
The handout introduces students to the Poem and Song Journal they are encouraged to keep for learning and assessment purposes for the module. The approach offered in the handout is a flexible one. Teachers might like to modify the handout according to the requirements considered appropriate for their students.
Assessment of the module will focus on the work produced during the module, such as written personal responses to poems and songs, creative work, presentations and performances. The written work should be kept in a folder, which can be handed in to the teacher periodically for review and comments. Teachers may consider using or adapting the “Journal Entry Feedback Form” on page T5 for this purpose or for students’ self or peer evaluation.
Three examples of journal entries are included in the student’s handout. Teachers can use any they deem suitable. Entry 1 is intended to be straightforward and relatively easy. Entry 2 needs a little
∗ The word “verse” has several meanings. It is used as a synonym for “stanza” (i.e. a group of lines in poems and songs) in different parts of this package.
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more sophistication and Entry 3 a little more again. Depending on students’ needs and abilities, teachers could give out all three to stimulate students to produce a varied and interesting journal.
As an alternative to reading all these examples in class, teachers could read a poem, ask a student to read one or play a song. Some types of response which can be made could then be pointed out. At this stage, it might be helpful for teachers to give students some guidelines on what aspects of a song/poem students could pay more attention to or comment on, such as the themes, language features, emotions expressed through the choice of words of a poem or the lyrics and melody of a song, etc, which would be discussed in greater detail in the rest of the module. It might also be useful to ask students to start listening out for good advertising jingles and other things needed later in the module. Sample student works or works from teenagers worldwide could be shown to students to further stimulate their imagination and creativity.
Catering for Learner Diversity
There is a choice of handouts to meet different needs, and teachers may vary the assessment requirements to meet the needs of their students.
Module Presentation (10 minutes)
Some guidelines on what students could include in the end-of-module presentation are provided in the student’s handout. Teachers might also like to refer students to Part 5 for further details and vary the requirements and arrangements as appropriate for their students.
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Journal Entry Feedback Form*
Tick the appropriate boxes and give your comments in the space provided.
Needs
Improvement Satisfactory Well Done Content
• At least one poem/song is included
• The theme of the poem/song is clearly introduced
• Personal response to the work is clearly presented with illustrations from the poem/song
• Ideas and comments are relevant to poem/song
• The content is interesting/insightful on the whole
Organisation
• The overall structure is clear
• The ideas are well-connected
Language and Style
• Sentences are well-formed
• Words and expressions are appropriately used
General Comments
*Teachers might like to adapt this feedback form to suit their students’ needs.
Part 2
Introduction to
Poems and Songs
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Introduction to Poems and Songs
Objectives
By the end of the lessons, students will be better able to:
talk about poetry with the correct terminology
understand at a basic level how poetry works
look for poems and songs for their journal
Time Needed
4 hours
Learning/Teaching/Assessment Tasks/Activities
Students learn about the characteristics of English poetry
They discuss what makes a poem good
They read poems and appreciate them
They look at various sources for poetry
Materials Required
Handouts on “Introduction to Poems and Songs”
CD Tracks 1–3: Rhythm or Beat in English Poetry
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Introduction to Poetry Teacher’s Notes
This and the next few units in this part are for giving students some basic knowledge of verse. A handful of technical terms are introduced, but the concepts are more important than the words themselves. There are then a number of poetry worksheets in the student’s handouts and the Supplementary Materials Section. Teachers will choose the ones they think will suit their students (or even produce some similar ones with poems they prefer). It is anticipated the class will be able to work through two or three poems, thus gaining the beginnings of a critical appreciation as well as help in knowing what to comment on when they write their journal entries.
The comments on verse apply to songs as well as poems, but the focus is more on the former with songs receiving more attention in Part 4.
Learning Activity 1 (10 minutes) Discussion
This unit covers the basic concept of poetry. The two questions in Learning Activity 1 get students thinking about some common features of poetry in terms of form and meaning.
1. In pairs, students discuss the characteristics common to the poems they have come across.
Teachers invite some students to share with the class their observations.
2. Before students read the two short texts, teachers may tell them that there are many different types of poems across the world’s languages and it may not be easy to give one definition that covers them all. Students may refer to the definition below for what poetry is in general:
Poetry is when HOW we say something is as important as WHAT we say.
After students have shared with each other the similarities/differences between a note and a short poem they have identified, teachers could point out that the content of the two short texts, i.e. the time and place of the gathering, is mainly the same. However, while the reader would probably be the most interested in the meaning of the message (i.e. WHAT is being said) in the note, the form of the message (i.e. HOW it is said) in the little poem might also catch the reader’s attention as much as the meaning. For example, rhyming words (“there” and “square”) are employed to make the message sound more pleasing/memorable and emphasis is given to key information (“At 6”) through its position at the beginning of the line.
Learning Activity 2 (20 minutes) Writing
Students try to write a short poem with reference to the sample in Learning Activity 1 and the prompts for writing for this activity in the student’s handout. They are encouraged to write creatively.
Teachers can adapt the notes on common poetic devices used in English poetry on the next page according to students’ prior knowledge to help them to generate ideas for writing the little poem.
Further details of the characteristics of English poetry will be covered in the next unit.
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The table below summarises the main ways in which English poems are made special:
Lines The poem is set out in lines unlike ordinary writing. The lines are often of more or less the same length. They are organised in stanzas, not paragraphs.
In English, as words are of different lengths, we count the number of syllables rather than the number of words (e.g. “hope” has one syllable; “hoping”has two) in each line.
For some types of poems, there is a specific pattern in the number of syllables in each line of a stanza.
Rhythm Words have stresses. A musical beat or rhythm is created by the number and pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line.
Rhyme Words having the same sound as another word are in rhyme, e.g. “there” and
“square”. Rhymes may appear in different positions of a word (e.g. the last syllable (end rhymes) as with “wacky” and “poetry”; the first consonant (alliteration/initial rhymes) as with “funny” and “face”).
Images These are word pictures such as “he burned with anger” (metaphor) or “his voice was as cold as ice” (simile).
Sound
patterns These can be created by, for example, repeating consonants (e.g. “tasty tomatoes”;
“big bouncy baby”; “wild whistling wind”) or vowels (e.g. “grow old alone”; “my tiny mice”) within or across lines.
Suggested answers:
Hope to see your face In the sushi place At 1 next Saturday In Causeway Bay
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