Poetry Unit
Year 3/4
Exploring the themes of
self-awareness/identity
Lewisham Primary Team 2006
The following activities have been designed to enable teachers and
children to explore the themes of self-awareness and identity
(thoughts, memories, hopes, dreams, etc.) through the writing of
poetry.
They are suitable for use as a stand-alone ‘mini-unit’ or as an
introduction to a larger unit through which to begin to meet the
framework objectives detailed below.
Each mini-unit incorporates use of:
•
visual planning sheets to help scaffold the thinking/writing
process,
•
opportunities for collaborative work to share ideas
•
suggestions for speaking and listening strategies to encourage
use of talk to help children organise and rehearse ideas before
writing.
Each mini-unit has been planned with a specific year group in mind
but the activities could easily be adapted to suit pupils across the
primary age-range.
Similarly, the opening phrases suggested within some of the models
for poetry writing can be easily substituted with phrases more relevant
to the themes being explored in your classroom.
The mini-unit and associated range and objectives are as follows:
1) Year 3/4: Year 3, Term 1 – poems based on observations and the
senses, shape poems T6, T7, T8, T13, T14
Year 3,Term 3 - poetry that plays with language T7, T15
Year 4, Term 1 – poems based on common themes – T7,
T14
Year 4, Term 3 – range of poetry in different forms – T14,
T15
Opening the Discussion
Invite the class to respond to and discuss open-ended questions such
as:
What does the word ‘poetry’ mean to you?
What are poems? What are they for?
How do you think a poem differs from e.g. a story?, a letter?, a
shopping list?
Why do you think people write poems?
Allow a few moments for pairs/groups to discuss their responses to
the questions posed.
Taking Feedback
One way to encourage children to listen to and take on board the ideas
of others is to value feedback from those who can share thoughts and
ideas of the people in their group. After children have shared an idea
or opinion that they have heard, their own responses can then be
voiced. Typical questions to encourage this process might include:
“Did anybody hear a response to the questions that they think we
should all hear?”
“Whose idea was that?”
“How does that compare to what you think?”
“Nod your heads if you heard a similar response”
It is likely that responses will include mention of rhyme, rhythm,
feelings, emotion, humour, layout, verses, etc. Treat all responses as
valid (since the questions included ‘What does poetry mean TO
YOU?”). ‘Misunderstandings’ can be dealt with by saying that you (and
maybe others in the room) have different ideas about poetry or that
perhaps our ideas about poetry will change as we continue to study it.
Sharing the main concept/objective that drives session 1
Explain to the children that one of the features that could set poetry
apart from other types of writing is the importance it places upon the
sounds made by the words used.
Explain that poems are often (if not always) meant to be read aloud
and that, because of this, poets choose words whose sounds as well
as meanings help the reader (or listener) enjoy/understand/relate to
the poem.
Explain that today the class will be full of people exploring the sounds
that words make and how these words/sounds can be played around
with to create meaning/feelings.
Share with the class your expectation that the children will be reading
words aloud and your expectation that, at times, the room will be
filled with the sounds of the words ‘buzzing’ around the space.
Practical Activity 1
Hand out piles of the cut up word cards (see appendix i) to each table,
ideally with enough for one per child (although class numbers or
reluctant readers may mean that some children should share).
Invite children to choose a word, read it to themselves (encouraging
paired work to support those children whose confidence will be raised
by checking their reading with a friend), then read it aloud to their
group. Allow a few moments for the sounds of the words to ‘fill the
room’.
Modelling
Chose a word for yourself (‘smack’ is ideal) to use to model reading
aloud. Demonstrate:
a) reading aloud ‘normally’, then in contrast,
b) reading aloud with intonation/volume/expression that mimics
a-ck
or alludes to the sound/action of a smack. i.e. sssssm
Practical activity 2
Now invite the children to re-read (or sound out) their words, deciding,
through experimentation, on the best way they think their word
should be voiced. Allow 1-2 mins. for this task.
When the room has returned to silence, tell the children that, as a way
of sharing the work they have done so far, you will point to children
around the room. When pointed at, it is the children’s task to ‘let their
sounds/words out’ in they style or manner they think best.
As you point around the room, the children will form a ‘chain of
sounds’. Play around with this chain and control it through:
a) returning to one child systematically e.g.
“wobbly, slimy, crack,
POP, slippery, bobbly, rumble, POP,…”
b) alternating between two children in the middle of a chain, e.g.
“crunch, slippery, cruel,
BOOM, BOBBLY, BOOM, BOBBLY,
BOOM, BOBBLY, BOOM, BOBBLY, slow, whack, wiggle...”
c) finding children around the room whose words, for a variety of
reasons, fit together, e.g.
“boom, bubbly, bobbly, bounce, boom, bubbly, bobbly, bounce…”
“chunky, chit-chat, picnic, knick-knack, chunky, chit-chat, picnic,
knick-knack…”
“Knick-knack, crack, whack, knick-knack, smack, whack…”
It is this last activity (example c) that will form the basis of the
children’s next task.
By now, children will have heard examples of how some words just
sound good together. E.g.
“boom, bubbly, bobbly, bounce” (alliteration)
eepy, sleek, creepy, sleek” (assonance/internal rhyme)
“cr
“smack, crack, whack” (rhyme)
“picnic, knick-knack, chit-chat” (rhythm/stress/metre/syllables)
It is not important, at this stage, whether or not the children use or
know the technical terms in brackets. What is vital is that they
begin to see/feel/hear that words can be group or related by the
sounds that they make.
Ask the children to walk slowly around the room, voicing their
chosen word as they go. Encourage them to talk loudly enough to
be heard by those close to them but quietly enough for others’
words to be audible. When children come across others whose
words ‘match’ theirs, they should stick together as they continue to
wander around the room listening for other possible matches.
When it is clear that 4 or 5 groups have formed, call the room to
silence once more. N.B. Some children may not have found a group
to join at this stage. This is ok. They have formed a group of words
that ‘stick out’. They could be encouraged to listen extra carefully
during the following sharing activity to decide which group would
best suit their word and why. (others could contribute suggestions).
Alternatively, you could direct them to an appropriate group.
Tell the groups that they are going to share their ‘word chains’ with
the rest of the class but not before they have decided (again,
through experimentation) upon the best order in which to sound
out their chain. Allow a few minutes for this.
When sharing, to help others to hear the sound patterns that the
children have created, ask each group to ‘loop’ their chains until
told to stop.
It is enough at this stage for the children to just experience
hearing/enjoying the sounds of words chains without having to
commit to why they sound interesting or to naming the effect. Of
course, they may be some children who will want to offer
explanations. The discussion/feedback should allow for these
contributions.
Practical Activity 3
Groups could now make posters, showing the process of how they
arrived at their final chain, which bits of the words help to create
an effect and why they find this effect interesting. As an extension,
some children could use examples from there own, or others’
chains, to identify/explain terms such as alliteration, assonance,
rhyme, rhythm, syllable, onomatopoeia etc.
Poetry Planning, Poetry Writing
Six-Word Poems
Now it is the children’s turn to choose their own words, read them
aloud and decide upon an order which creates a sound effect that
they enjoy.
For this unit, Planning Sheet A is used to help children:
a) develop an awareness of their own identity (which will be the
subject of their poems)
b) make decisions about the words they choose to use in terms of
what they mean and how they sound.
Using Planning Sheet A
Ask the children to write their name or draw their portrait in the circle
in the centre of the sheet. Then allow time for the children to reflect
on at least 5 roles that contribute to their identity, e.g:
They are:
1) a sister
2) a friend
3) a footballer
4) a joker
5) a scientist
6) a dancer
7) a classmate
8) a son, etc.
Children should edit their list down to five responses which they
should write in the five sections that surround the central circle.
The five corresponding larger sections (in the next ring out) are for the
children to fill with all the adjectives that describe them in each
particular role. Friendship groups are ideal for encouraging children to
collaborate to collect as many adjectives as possible. Thesauruses,
dictionaries and discussion with you will support groups in this
activity.
Ultimately, each child needs to choose ONE adjective from each
section to write in the spaces in the outer ring of the planning sheet.
Children now have a list of 5 adjectives and their own name at the
end. This is the first draft of their ‘six-word poem’.
Editing
Planning sheet B and small ‘post-it’ notes are used to help children
edit their poems.
The bottom box is for the child’s name. The 5 boxes above will each
take a ‘post-it’, each of which will have a chosen adjective written on it.
Children can now rearrange their adjectives to find patterns, sound
effects, rhythms, etc. that they would like to be heard in their poems.
The last word should always be their name, e.g.:
crafty
crafty
funny
friendly
kind
friendly
kind
funny
kind
funny
friendly
crafty
curious
curious
curious
Carl
Carl
Carl
Shape poems
Due to their simplicity, these six-word ‘identity’ poems are ideally
suited to use as the content for concrete poetry, shape poems and
calligrams. Using ICT to explore fonts, sizes, effects, layout, spacing,
etc. children can create calligrams or shape poems. This use of ICT can
be coupled with a more ‘hands on’ approach to manipulating text in
which the children can literally cut up, tear up, invert, screw up,
smudge, etc. printed words to create the desired effect.
caring
daring
calm
loyal
lively
Liz
Planning sheet A
SixSix-Word Sound Poems
Planning Sheet B
Appendix i
Appendix i
Appendix i
Appendix i