Year 8 Gifted and Talented lesson using ‘Grammar for Writing’ (Deborah Myhill et al)
The students were introduced to two grammar items: prepositional phrases and non-finite verbs.
We discovered how these could be used as sentence starters.
Using a collapsed version of ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath, students created their own sentences and then
in groups put them together to create their own poems.
http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/sylvia-plath/mirror/
The outcomes for the lessons were that students had understood these particular elements of
grammar and more importantly could use them in their own writing.
The Group Poems
In the lake, fish search for silver.
In the lake, the reflection of the moon.
In the lake, a young woman meditates.
In the lake, liars are drowned.
In the lake, I cornered a girl swallowing tears of agitation.
In the lake.
*******
In the lake, I see the reflection of a young woman, looking for a heart to have.
To love a woman is to have her heart.
To love is to replace a candle.
To bend love is like having faith in a liar.
To search for a liar is to reach for cruel darkness
And to reward a cruel girl is like drowning a god.
*******
Over time an eye becomes just as important as a heart.
Then I think of those truthful faces that turn to un-misted love.
To swallow the tears of love is to un-mist the truth.
In swallowing tears, preconceptions will flicker over time.
To love a liar’s heart is to search for tears.
Then to love is the opposite of darkness.
*******
To meditate with fish is like searching for God on the moon
To search for darkness in the day is to look for the moon in the morning.
To love a meditating girl is like searching for a four-cornered moon.
Searching for rewards is the opposite of cruel hearts.
*******
Rising from the pit of faith is like a candle swallowing part of the darkness
To swallow tears is like having hands.
In darkness, she drowns like liars in love.
To meditate is to reach your faith in God.
To love the morning is to dislike darkness.
Hope you can see some meaning in the poems. Well done Year 8 set 1!