Tell me how to teach a poem....please!?

Edja

Hey there

How exactly do I teach poetry? Junior cert! What exactly do they need to know? Just the Theme, metaphors etc? How long should it take to teach a poem?? Haven't done poetry since 1991!!!

Tanx!!:D:(:o

Stewie Griffin

Ideas to enter the poem:
1. Brainstorm the title.
2. Brainstorm a word associated with the subject-matter.
3. Put up a picture (if you have a data projector) or pass it around that stimulates them and gets them thinking about the poem.

The next step:
4. Get them to read it silently to themselves and ask them to select three words/phrases they liked. Some will pick out similes etc unconsciously and you can teach them as a natural part of the pom rather than in isolation.

4. Explaining each line in detail is a matter of personal inclination. Some students need it and others like to know.

At the end:
5. Theme can often be reached by the students themselves with the right lead-in questions.
6. HL students need to know why they liked a poem and be able to use poetic terms to explain/develop their reasons.

7. Written exercises such as diary entries/letters/dialogues gets them to empathise with the characters in the poem and also trains them for the PW and FW questions on paper 1.

They would all be old-fashioned enough methodologies. Maybe the more recently graduated teachers will have newer ideas. Best of luck!

peanuthead

Hi there

They need to know things like the theme and tone.

You can also introduce techniques such as metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, repetition.

I tend to steer clear of assonance, as I don't think they really get it to be honest, and I would introduce symbolism too but I would go easy on them.

At Junior Cert they answer poetry according to a theme a lot of the times. So go with that.

A good starting point is the JC papers. If you look at Ordinary Level (my exp is here) the questions are extraordinarily open, eg: Name a poem that made you happy. Explain why.

The techniques thing - holding something like symbolism or metaphor back and giving that as a task to your stronger students will be a fab way to incorporate Differentiation too!!

BTW: I had my first block inspection already, can you believe that!??

implausible

I wouldn't go full steam ahead into exam questions.

The first thing they need to do is understand the poem.

Then, they need to be able to put it into their own words to show this understanding. You can bring in other sections of the course for this e.g write a letter to one of the people mentioned in the poem, write a diary entry for a character etc.

Images are vital - get them to find the images in the poem or point them out yourself. Get them to come up with a reason why they like the image. Don't get too stressed about the simile and metaphor stuff as it's more important to be able to pick out an image, explain it and give reasons why you like it. Get them to draw the image if you like, this works brilliantly with some students.

Another common approach in the exam is getting the student to relate the poem to their life. Can they figure out why the poet wrote it? Do they understand how he feels? Did they experience something similar? (Be careful of oversimplifying it however - if I had a penny for every time JC students brought in a dead brother/cousin/neighbour to Seamus Heaney's 'Mid-term Break', I'd be loaded!)

peanuthead

deemark wrote: »

I wouldn't go full steam ahead into exam questions.

No I agree. I wouldn't either however it is January and I could be wrong but afair Edja is teaching 3rd Years. Could be wrong but I did pick that up from a post on another thread I think!

But what I did mean was that the JC papers are a good starting point for the teacher in terms of knowing what they should teach.

Edja

Stewie, Deemark, and of course, Peanuthead! Thanks a million! Gold dust! Vry grateful to you all. This all gives me something to look at.

Peanuthead, you're kidding on the visit? Internal or external? At least its over now! Lucky sod! Who's your tutor?

spurious

I'm not an English teacher, but the first thing I would do with a poem is make them close their eyes and listen to it read well - ideally by the poet if at all possible.

peanuthead

Edja wrote: »

Stewie, Deemark, and of course, Peanuthead! Thanks a million! Gold dust! Vry grateful to you all. This all gives me something to look at.

Peanuthead, you're kidding on the visit? Internal or external? At least its over now! Lucky sod! Who's your tutor?

Internal is none other than Mr Malone, but it was my external. Couldn't believe it!

Edja

How'd you feel you did? Happy?

peanuthead

I was totally caught off guard but nevertheless it did go well. Overall I'm very happy with the 3 I've had so far. They have had their bad points, but they have also had their good ones!!

Good luck