A brief summary of which Blake poem I would teach a class of year 4, why and how.

A brief summary of which Blake poem I would teach a class of year 4, why and how.

I would choose The Poison Tree. The language in it is simple and it has a strong central image of a tree which makes it accessible. Children might relate well to it, as it seems genuinely representative of how children are. When I read it I was reminded of times in my own childhood when bitter resentment felt like it is physically taking over my body and sometimes lead to vindictive behaviour

I would start with reading and discussing the poem, breaking it down and ensuring the children could understand and explore the ideas within it. I would then use it as a starting point for a class discussion on temper in relation to situations from the children’s own lives, and how and when and why you might want to control it. I would build on this by talking about how the poem visualises anger as a tree and encourage children to talk about what form their anger might take. I would then set a task of writing a poem about a time when they have been angry, using an image to express what their anger felt like.