General remarks
4. Students should be encouraged to keep a folder for this module which will serve as a record of their learning. The folder may comprise all the assignments the students have done for the module,
both oral and written. Students are also encouraged to reflect on and monitor their own learning process, and teachers should provide them with feedback and assistance where necessary.
Suggestions on how to cater for students with different needs and paces of learning are indicated by
* in the Remarks column.
Sections which are marked with # in the Focus column contain activities which are either more
demanding or are intended to further enrich students' learning experience. Teachers should use
their discretion as to whether to include or skip these sections, or to replace them with other
appropriate learning activities, based on students' needs and abilities.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 1:
Module introduction
2 periods Lessons 1-2
Students are able to:
• understand what the module will cover and the requirements of the Poem and Song Journal
Students bring back to class one or two of their favourite songs and poems. In small groups, they share their collection and discuss their interest and experience with poems and songs.
The teacher briefly introduces the module, stating that it focusses on the integrated use of language skills through appreciating poems and songs.
The teacher refers students to the handout on the Poem and Song Journal and explains what it involves.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^A handout on the Poem and Song Journal
A sample showing students what a journal entry might look like
The Poem and Song Journal, which comprises students' own collection of poems and songs, can be reviewed regularly.
Teachers might like to explain to students that the module involves:
• reading, enjoying and appreciating poems and songs;
• learning about the features of different types of poems;
• writing some poems and song lyrics;
• keeping a Poem and Song Journal which comprises a collection of poems and songs of their own choice and their personal responses; and
• selecting one piece of work from their Poem and Song Journal for presentation at the end of the module.
Teachers might like to bring in a selection of poems and songs to put up on the board to create interest among students. They may also think of ways or opportunities for some of the work students do throughout the module to be displayed. As most of the products in this module are creative by nature, it would be motivating to students to see their work enjoyed by others, whether that be on a class homepage, a class publication at the end of the module, or on the walls of their classroom or school.
Teachers would need to make clear to students the reasons for them to keep a journal. Poems and songs, by their very nature, assume a personal response or interaction with the text. Students should be encouraged to freely express their personal views and feelings in response to poems and songs.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 2:
Introduction to poems and songs
6 periods Lessons 3-8
Students are able to:
• read, enjoy and appreciate poems and
• identify and understand some features of poems and songs
• read aloud some poems
• explore sources for poems and songs
Students are introduced to some poems and songs, and are familiarised with the
vocabulary related to poem and song appreciation.
Students learn to read the poems aloud.
Students share their reading and insights in groups.
Students discover sources of poems and songs and make recommendations to one another.
songs
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^Handouts on some poems and songs
^A handout on poem and song vocabulary
Students' reading aloud of the poems
Entries in the Poem and Song Journal
Students' selections of poems and songs and the journal entries can be placed in the folder.
Students should be encouraged to start looking for poems and songs to be included in their Poem and Song Journal.
Some of the lesson time can be spent in a computer room or the Multi-media Learning Centre (MMLC) to allow students to explore resources together and have instant sharing.
Teachers might like to refer the students to the following websites for information about different poems and songs:
http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html http://www.algeo.net/poetry/page2.html
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/
(*For the less able students, teachers should give them more guidance on how to select poems and songs by suggesting criteria for text selection such as the level of difficulty in terms of content, theme and language.)
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 3:
Reading and writing poems
19 periods Lessons 9-27 6 periods Lessons 9-14
Students are able to:
• identify and understand the characteristics and features of acrostics, shape poems and poems making use of different grammatical patterns
• express personal feelings and views through writing different kinds of poems
• use dictionary skills to develop vocabulary
Acrostics:
• Students read and identify the characteristics of acrostics.
• Students start writing acrostics to describe themselves and their classmates by using their names and their classmates' names.
• In groups, students brainstorm possible topics to write on. They then practise writing acrostics individually.
Shape poems:
• Students look at examples of shape poems and discuss their themes and characteristics.
• Students form small groups to share their feelings and views about particular objects, themes or images and take notes.
• Students write shape poems individually on a topic of their choice.
Using grammatical patterns:
• The teacher introduces the concept of making use of different grammatical patterns to write poems.
• Students read, analyse and write poems using different grammatical patterns.
Students can collaborate in groups to brainstorm for ideas and vocabulary and to give feedback to one another's drafts. They can then revise their drafts based on the feedback.
Students will read and share with class the different types of poems they produce.
Acrostics, shape poems and poems making use of different grammatical patterns
7 periods Lessons 15-21
Students are able to:
• identify and understand the characteristics of limericks and haikus
• read aloud limericks
Students read and discuss the characteristics of limericks. They then practise writing limericks.
Students read a number of haikus and identify their themes.
Limericks and haikus
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^Handouts on:
• acrostics
• shape poems
• poems making use of different grammatical patterns
^A poem feedback form
The poems that students have produced can be self, peer and/or teacher assessed. The
assessment criteria should be given and explained to students in advance.
The poems can be placed in the folder.
The writing of acrostics provides students with an easy start-off point to poem writing. There are basically no strict rules to follow and it can be great fun. Students without much prior knowledge can still find it manageable.
Students can find acrostics on the following website:
http://www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/dhummon/
acrostics/acrostics.html
(*For the less able students, teachers might like to give them a list of suggested topics to help them to generate ideas.) For a variation on this part, teachers might like to have the whole class work on the same topic for their acrostics and let students see and share the wide variety of ideas that they come up with.
Shape poetry offers a lot of room for stretching both
imagination and creativity. It is also visually very appealing to students and can be very effective for arousing students' interests.
Students can find shape poetry on the following website:
http://pages.prodigy.net/sol.magazine/archives/shaped7.htm Teachers can choose to focus on any grammatical patterns to illustrate the concept to the students depending on their needs and ability. The point here is to make students recognise that learning grammatical patterns can be more than just rules. They can be applied creatively in poem writing to express a particular theme or personal feelings and emotions, or to tell a story.
Teachers might also like to make use of this poem writing exercise as a reinforcement of the various grammatical patterns students have learned in the Compulsory Part.
(*Teachers might consider asking the less able students to write simple poems made up of short sentences or phrases and choosing one particular grammatical pattern for them to start with.
The more able students can apply various grammatical patterns they have learned in their poems. Teachers might also like to encourage them to appropriately apply poetic features in their poems.)
For self, peer and teacher assessment of the poems that students write, emphasis should be placed on content and use of language to express feelings and emotions. Delivery techniques (e.g. pronunciation and eye contact) can also be assessed if students are asked to read and share their poems with the class. The more able students can also be assessed on style and the creative use of language.
^Handouts on:
• characteristics of limericks
• reading and
Students' reading aloud of the limericks
Students' work regarding the themes of the haikus they have read and
Students can find limericks in Lear, E. (1996).
The Book of Nonsense and Nonsense Songs. London:
Godfrey Cave. Limericks can also be found at
http://modena.intergate.ca/personal/gslj/limericks.html.
More haikus can be found at
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities
• write limericks based on prompts
• discuss the themes of some haikus
• select vocabulary that conveys images, moods or feelings effectively
• express various themes or emotions by writing haikus
• evaluate their own and others' haikus using a set of criteria
• co-ordinate written texts and visual images in a photo display
Students discuss the characteristics of haikus.
Students identify certain moods or images and brainstorm vocabulary to work out lists of words. They then practise writing haikus by referring to the word lists.
Students share and evaluate each other's
Students create a photo display that
complements one or more of the haikus they have written.
Narrative 6 periods Lessons 22-27
Students are able to:
• identify and understand the features of narrative
• present a creative oral performance
• evaluate one's own and others' oral performance
• write simple narrative poems by applying the various language and poetic features they have learned
Students read and discuss the themes, language and features of some narrative poems/ballads.
Students prepare and perform an oral reading of a narrative poem.
Students evaluate their own and other groups' oral performance using a set of criteria.
Students think of an incident or experience that they would like to write a poem on.
Students submit their drafts to the teacher for feedback and make necessary revisions.
poems/ballads
poems/ballads
poems.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks reciting
limericks
• writing limericks
• characteristics of haikus
• reading haikus and identifying themes
• writing haikus and developing a photo display
^A poem feedback form (used in Lessons 9-14)
identified
Self, peer and/or teacher assessment of the poems that students have produced
The photo display The limericks and haikus that students produce can be put into the folder.
http://www.worldhaikureview.org/
Examples of haikus, with suggested activities, can also be found in the resource package The Learning and Teaching of Poetry (Secondary 1-3) (2002) produced by the Education Bureau.
Students should be encouraged to complete at least three of their Poem and Song Journal entries by the end of this part.
Teachers might like to consider a venue for students to display their work.
^A handout on poem and song vocabulary (used in Lessons 3-8)
^Handouts on narrative poems
^A performance feedback form
Recitation/Performance of
Self and/or peer assessment of the oral performance of the poem
Students can find narrative poems on the following website:
http://judithpordon.tripod.com/poetry/narrative_poetry.html (*Teachers might like to help the less able students by giving them more hints or resources for word selection and idea generation. More sample poems can also be provided to help them to initiate and organise ideas.
For the more able students, teachers might like to encourage them to make up more sophisticated story outlines building in various characters or even a story twist. They can also be encouraged to incorporate more poetic features and to select vocabulary to create a special mood, tone or feeling for their poems.)
poems
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 4:
Appreciating songs and writing song lyrics
15 periods Lessons 28-42
Song lyrics reading and writing
6 periods Lessons 28-33
Students are able to:
• appreciate songs for their melody and lyrics
• identify the language features of song lyrics
• write/rewrite song lyrics
Students listen to and appreciate some songs. They discuss and identify the themes, language and features of the songs.
Students make use of the features they have learned to write/rewrite song lyrics.
Song
presentation for commercials
3 periods Lessons 34-36
Students are able to:
• understand how song lyrics can create images and meanings
• understand how lyrics and images can be used for the purpose of promotion and publicity
• select and present songs to promote certain products
• evaluate their own and others' presentations
Students listen to commercials to identify how songs are used to create images and promote products.
Students evaluate the effectiveness of the images created by songs in promoting products.
In groups, students create advertising campaigns that make use of songs. They then present their advertising campaigns to the class.
Students evaluate their own and other groups' presentations using a set of criteria.
#Musical appreciation and performing a
6 periods Lessons 37-42
Students are able to:
• enjoy and appreciate a musical
• understand the meaning of some songs
• perform a song
• evaluate their own and others' performance
The teacher briefly introduces the musical Oliver!.
Students are presented with some songs from Oliver! and they engage in the following activities:
• listen to a song and complete a cloze
• learn the meaning and pronunciation of unfamiliar words
• use contextual clues to arrange the lines of a lyric
In groups, students learn and give a performance of a song.
Students evaluate their own and other groups' performance using a set of criteria.
song
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^Handouts on song lyrics
The written/rewritten lyrics can be placed in the folder.
Students should be encouraged to select songs they enjoy and put them in their Poem and Song Journal.The lyrics of many songs can be found on the following website:
http://www.tonsoflyrics.com
(*The more able students may be asked to select songs and design activities which focus on themes as well as language features to be presented to the class.)
^Handouts on:
• commercials that use songs
• role-play for the advertising campaign
^A performance feedback form (used in Lessons 22-27)
Group presentations of the advertising
campaigns Self and/or peer assessment of student presentations
There are commercials on English TV channels that make use of songs. Teachers might like to recommend some suitable ones to the students.
^Handouts on song lyrics (used in Lessons 28-33)
^Handouts on the musical Oliver!
^A performance feedback form (used in Lessons 22-27)
Self, peer and/or teacher assessment of the group performance
Students' written work on musical appreciation can be placed in the folder.
A musical, which may be a new experience for some students, is recommended as the basis for the last 6 lessons of Part 4. Oliver! is suggested in this scheme as a possible resource that teachers might consider using.
Teachers, however, need not adhere to the suggested title and may replace it with any other one they deem suitable.
Alternatively, based on students' needs and interests, teachers may choose to work on another selection of songs (focussing on a particular theme) for these 6 lessons instead of doing a musical.
Students are encouraged to view Oliver! outside class time.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 5:
Final
presentation and end of module reflection
8 periods Lessons 43-50
Students are able to:
• display the Poem and Song Journal
• demonstrate a critical understanding of a selected poem or song
• reflect on the module
Students demonstrate various aspects of knowledge gained in the module through their work in the Journal.
Students give presentations on a selected poem/song individually.
Students reflect on the module and share their insights and experience with classmates.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks A suitable venue for
the display and the presentation
Assessment can be done on:
• the Poem and Song Journal
• the poster
• the presentation
• the performance which should reflect how well the various aspects of what was covered in the module have been learned
There should be no restrictions on the format of the
presentations. Teachers should encourage students to make use of whatever interesting and creative means they can think of. Students might also, if they like, recite/sing the selected
Teachers would need to support students in various technical ways as they prepare for their presentations.
poem/song.