Year 4 Lesson

I would use ‘A Poision Tree’ for the basis on a lesson about poetry, which combined elements of history and PSHE. The objectives would be to look at imagery and how personal experience can be reflected in poetry. After reading the poem to the class we would discuss any words they are unsure. We were establish that this was possibly caused by the fact that the poem was written a couple of centuries ago, when they sometimes used different language. I would try and find some images of childhood in 1800s to illustrate this difference, and to show how the poem is a depiction of that era.

To introduce the concept of personal experience I would ask the children what emotions they felt the poem broached. I would then ask the pupils for any examples they had of experiencing anger towards a friend, and perhaps compare the consequences of this poem with one I heard my teacher on SSE read the other day which was about forgiveness.

I chose this poem in particular because it has such vivid imagery. Therefore, I would get the children to create pictures to illustrate the emergence of anger in the poem. Each group would need to pick a stage in the growth of this anger.

Getting the kids to make images of their anger is a really good idea. Why didn't I think of that!