The teacher presents the class with a large variety of poems (at least 1 for each student).
A mixture of old and new, with different emphases (rhythm, rhyme, free verse, sound, image ...) works best. Some that have worked well are:
But also see the following sites which contain many poems:
The students spend time browsing through the poems, pausing to read any that appeal at first glance (a full understanding is not necessary - instead, the student should look for sounds, images or patterns that appeal).
Students focus on a poem or part of a poem that they particularly like. They share the poem and their reasons for liking it with a partner.
Volunteer students share their poem and reasons for its appeal with the class.
The teacher leads the students through the various ways a poem makes its appeal - eg. sound, rhyme, pattern, image, narrative, rhythm. At some stage it may be useful to revisit the use of images with these ARB resources:
The students take a copy of their poem. Underneath it, they write why they like it.
For close reading of other poems, see these ARB resources:
Prescription (ARB username and password required to view this resource)
I'm Home (ARB username and password required to view this resource)
Parcel (ARB username and password required to view this resource)
Sea-dog (ARB username and password required to view this resource)
Learning to Read (ARB username and password required to view this resource)
Special Holiday Attraction (ARB username and password required to view this resource)
For drawing inferences from poems, refer to Assessment Resource Bank resources (key word search - inference/poetry).
Published on: 21 Apr 2009
