Materials design and

lesson planning: Poetry

Literature and Language Teaching (Ch. 6) Lazar Gillian

Presenter: Betty Hsu

Putting a poem back （ Jigsaw puzzle ）

1. and molly was chased by a horrible thing 2. so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and 3. went down to the beach (to play one day) 4. may came home with a smooth round stone 5. which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and6. it’s always ourselves we find in the sea 7. maggie and milly and molly and may8. and maggie discovered a shell that sang9. milly befriended a stranded star10. For whatever we lose(like a you or a me) 11. as small as a world and as large as alone. 12. whose rays five languid fingers were;

Putting a poem back together again

maggie and milly and molly and may7went down to the beach (to play one day)3and maggie discovered a shell that sang8so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and2milly befriended a stranded star9whose rays five languid fingers were;12and molly was chased by a horrible thing 1which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and5may came home with a smooth round stone4as small as a world and as large as alone.11For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)10it’s always ourselves we find in the sea 6

Ans: 7,3,8,2,9,12,1,5,4,11,10,6

How to put a poem backJumble Up & ReorderStructure of Poetry• Identify the characters and the setting

maggie and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach (to play one day)

• Identify the discoursal features, collocational linkand maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn’t remember her

Why NOT use poetry in class• I’ve got a very demanding syllabus to get through, so

there’s no real time for playing around with poetry in my lessons.

• My students don’t read poetry in their own language, so how can they possibly read it in English?

• I’ve tried using a poem with students, but they found it difficult to understand, and just wanted me to give them the “right” interpretation of what it meant.

• I sometimes wonder if I’ve really understood the meaning of a poem myself; it’s a bit daunting then to explain it to a group of students.

Why USE poetry in class• Poetry is characterized as deviating from the norms of

language, but it is communicated with the reader in a fresh, original way

• Exploit the unusual use of language as a basis for expanding the student’s language awareness

• Poetic uses of language will reinforce the students’ knowledge of the norms f language use

• Poetry is rich in words, students can be trained to guess and check their meanings by using a dictionary

• Identify certain lexical or grammatical features of a poem to increase student’s awareness of those linguistic features

HOW to use poetry in class• Choose poems suitably graded to the level of the

students• Give students as much help as possible in

understanding the language of the poem• Devise activities which gently lead students towards

making interpretations of their own• Encourage students to make use of certain

interpretative strategies while reading, e.g. speculaing about the symbolic meaning of key words

• Interpretation of a poem varies form reader to reader; never degenerate poetry learning into a sterile linguistic exercise

What is distinctive about poetryPlease look at the extracts taken from different poems to decide…..

What is distinctive about the language?How poetry can be of value to English

learners?

Kangaroo Delicate mother Kangaroo Sitting up there rabbit-wise, but huge, plump-weighted, And lifting her beautiful slender face,oh! so much more gently and finely lined than a rabbit's, or than a hare's, Lifting her face to nibble at a round white peppermint drop which she loves, sensitive mother Kangaroo.

David Herbert Lawrence (1885 - 1930)

The Visionary

Silent is the house: all are laid asleep: One alone looks out o’er the snow-wreaths deep, Watching every cloud, dreading every breeze That whirls the wildering drift, and bends the groaning trees.

Emily Jane Brontë (1818-1848)

Lessons of the War: 1. Naming of Parts’

Henry Reed (1914 – 1986)

Today we have naming of parts. Yesterday We had daily cleaning. And tomorrow morning, We shall have what to do after firing. But today, Today we have naming of parts. Japonica Glistens like coral in all of the neighbouring gardens, And today we have naming of parts.

A Birthday (Christina Georgina Rossetti )

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow shell

That paddles in a halcyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these

Because my love is come to me.

What is distinctive about poetryWe saw that POETRY

Reorganizes syntaxInvents its own vocabularyFreely mixes registersCreates its own punctuationGenerates vivid new metaphorsPatterns sounds and orders rhythms

All these linguistic devices have importantimplications for the use of poetry in thelanguage classroom

AutobahnmotorwayautorouteAround the gleaming map of Europe

A gigantic wedding ring

Slowly revolves through Londonoslowestberlin

Athensromemadridparis and home again,

Slowly revolving.

That's no ring,

It's the great European Limousine,

The Famous Goldenwhite Circular Car

Slowly revolving

All the cars in Europe have been welded together

Into a mortal unity,

A roundaboutgrandtourroundabout

Trafficjamroundaboutagain,

All the cars melted together,

Citroenjaguarbugattivolkswagenporschedaf.

Each passenger, lugging his

Colourpiano, frozenmagazines, high-fidog,

Clambers over the seat in front of him

Towards what looks like the front of the car.

They are dragging behind them

Worksofart, lampshades made of human

money,

Instant children and exploding clocks.

But the car's a circle

No front no back

No driver no steering wheel no windscreen

no brakes no

Exploiting unusual language featuresActivity 1

Around the gleaming map of Europe

A gigantic wedding ring

Slowly revolves through Londonoslowestberlin

Athensromemadridparis and home again,

Slowly revolving.

1. Ask students to punctuate the first verse as they think appropriate, e.g. with commas between the names of the cities

2. Compare it with the original one and think about the effect

3. Find other examples in the poem

Exploiting unusual language featuresActivity 2

Each passenger, lugging his Colourpiano, frozenmagazines, high-fidog, Clambers over the seat in front of him Towards what looks like the front of the car.

They are dragging behind them Worksofart, lampshades made of human money, Instant children and exploding clocks.

Frozen Instant Color

1. Ask students to match the adj. with the nous in the box

2. Find any examples of the formed combination from the poem

3. Think about the effect it creates

coffee illustrations magazines food milksoup television chicken pictures photos

Possible ActivitiesDesign activities to exploit the unusual language features of the

poem Compare the punctuation

What effect is created by the layout and

punctuation used in the poem? Compare the combination of adjective and a noun

What effect does the poet create by using the

adj. & noun combination?

Procedure: 1. Analysis the unusual linguistic features of a poem2. Devise activities to exploit these features3. Help students to understand the historical or cultural background

of the poem 4. Help students to grap with the underlying meaning, and the theme

of the poem

Helping students with figurative meaning

Many poems are rich in metaphors or figurative uses of language

Help students to decipher the multiple ambiguities of metaphorical language and make them enjoy it

Find out the metaphor embedded in the following examples

Helping students with figurative meaning

Many poems are rich in metaphors or figurative uses of language

Help students to decipher the multiple ambiguities of metaphorical language and make them enjoy it

Find out the metaphor embedded in the following examples

Evening

She sweeps with many-colored brooms,And leaves the shreds behind;Oh, housewife in the evening west, Come back, and dust the pond!

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

A housewife v.s. The Sunset

The gulls’ flight The gulls’flight

is low                                           flat&hard    

they go

to sea                                  to the edge

Where the day’s fire

               is lit

they go

as shiftworkers                  to the dawn.

Nigel Roberts (b.1941)

The day’s fire v.s. The Sun

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening (Robert Frost)

These woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

The woods v.s. a journey

Robert Frost

The problem with metaphors Metaphor defined as a connection or comparison

made between things which are usually considered to be unlike each other

Understanding metaphors involves engaging in a series of linguistic inferences, which may be problematic to students, e.g. days fire stands for the Sun because of the common qualities of brightness and warmth.

A lot of devices can be used to help students to come to grips with the metaphorical/figurative meanings in the poems (e.g. pair or group works / cloze exercise)

Using poetry with lower levelsExample: He Threats Them to Ice-Cream

1 Your are going to read a poem called “He Treats them to Ice-cream” by Anna Swirszcsynski.

What does the verb “to treat” mean here? Write down what you think the poem is about. Talk about your ideas to your partner.

Example: He Threats Them to Ice-Cream

2. Now read the first verse of the poem. After you have read it, write down what you think happens next. Read this aloud to your class.

Every Sunday they went for a walk together.He, sheAnd the three children

Example: He Threats Them to Ice-Cream

3. Now read the next verse of the poem:

One night

when she tried to stop him going

to his other woman

he pulled out a flick-knife

from under the mattress

Were you right about what happened next in the poem?

Now write a last verse for this poem, and read it aloud to the

class.

Example: He Threats Them to Ice-Cream

4. Here is the last verse of the poem.

They still go for a walk

Every Sunday,

He, she and the three children.

He treats them to ice-cream and they all laugh.

She too.

Does it have the kind of ending you expected? What

do you think of the ending?

Example: He Threats Them to Ice-Cream5. Look at the title of the poem again: “He Threats Them to Ice-Cream”.

Then look at the definitions for the word to treat

Treat

1. to handle, deal with, or manage

2. to behave or act toward

3. to cause to undergo a process for a special purpose

4. to pay the cost of entertainment for

5. to deal with for some desired result.

6. to regard, consider

How many different meanings does it have? Do you think any

of these other meanings are connected with the poem?

Using poetry with lower levels Types of Activities1. Sentence completion2. Matching words to definitions3. Predicting writing4. Ordering sentences in the correct sequence5. Writing your own poem6. Gap-fill/cloze7. Matching words to pictures8. Checking word meaning in a dictionary9. Organizing words according to lexical relationships

Using poetry to develop oral skills

Poetry is also rich in patterns of sound. Teacher should make these sound patterns be fully enjoyed and appreciated by students.

Using poetry to develop oral skills Choral Reading 1

The squares on the words show which words students have to stress or emphasize. The meaning of sentences changes according to where they put the stress. Make students sensitized to how stressing different words conveys different meanings.

Choral Reading 2: movement + gestures + beating out rhythms to the poem

Using poetry with higher levels Types of Activities1. Sentence completion2. Matching words to definitions3. Predicting writing4. Ordering sentences in the correct sequence5. Writing your own poem6. Gap-fill/cloze7. Matching words to pictures8. Checking word meaning in a dictionary9. Organizing words according to lexical relationships

LondonI wandered through each chartered street,

Near where the chartered Thames does flow,

A mark in every face I meet,

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,

In every infant's cry of fear,

In every voice, in every ban,

The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cry

Every blackening church appals,

And the hapless soldier's sigh

Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hear

How the youthful harlot's curse

Blasts the new-born infant's tear,

And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

William Blake (1757 - 1827)

Difficulties for advanced students reading ‘London’

Understanding individual words in the poemUnderstanding the metaphorical/symbolic meaning

behind phrases or lines in the poemUnderstanding the historical context which forms

the background to the textUnderstanding the poet’s attitude to what he sees

around himResponding personally to the themes of the poemFeeling threatened or intimidated by the apparent

level of difficulty of the poem

Stages in a lesson using ‘London’ p,127

Anticipating student problems The background to the poem

Any cultural or historical information?The author’s life or other works?

The language of the poemAny unfamiliar words, grammatical, syntactic or discoursal features?Any ambiguities in meaning?Any figurative or symbolic meanings?Any aural or musical qualities in the poem?

Motivating and involving studentsHow can the topic be made relevant to the student’s experience?How does the poem mesh with the syllabus requirements?What activities will most suit the learning styles of the students?

Further tasks and activities

Pre-reading While-reading Post-reading Further Follow-up

Stimulating student interest in the textProviding the necessary historical or cultural backgroundHelping students with the language of the poem