Reflection on Teaching Poetry and Year 4 Lesson Plan

Reflections on Teaching Poetry

I have not read a great deal of poetry myself although I enjoy reading it when I do, despite worrying sometimes that I have not understood it properly. I am more familiar with other examples of playing with language such as songs, proverbs, puns and advertisement slogans. I love listening to music but terrible at trying to make out the words. I can remember learning raps by heart when I was a child so I could join in and can still recite the lyrics from “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” theme tune and “Ice Ice Baby” though I’m ashamed to admit it! I think we have to use songs as a way of promoting poetry to children as the majority of children like music of one kind or another and are familiar with the lyrics that have been written to go with it. If they like music it is more than likely that they will become interested in poetry too.

I found reading the chapters on poetry interesting and was not aware of the link that Bradley and Bryant (1985) found between a “resistance to developing rhyming skills” and learning difficulties. This is something I will keep in mind for the future.

I often used tongue twisters, poems and songs in my EFL teaching abroad to help students of all ages with reading and making sounds and found that they enjoyed them a lot and found them useful and challenging. I think it’s only natural to want to repeat something if you like the sound of it. This is most commonly done when people sing along to their favourite songs but is equally valid when we hear poetry we like or a catchy jingle or slogan. Therefore, I have used the idea of learning poetry by heart suggested by Chris Powling and Sean Flynn in my lesson plan ideas. I also like the idea of the class listening to the poem being read to them without having a copy to read as it allows the students to concentrate more on the sounds and images.

I thought I would use the poem “The Chimney Sweeper” with a year four class because although the subject is not particularly nice, the rhyme and rhythm used is appealing and I like the fact that it reads like a story. It is visual and could be separated into stanzas to study quite easily.

Lesson Plan

1) Give a short introduction to the poem by saying that in the 1800s, children between the ages of 4 and 10 were used as chimney sweeps and that often very poor families sold their children to Master chimney sweeps. They were used to sweep chimneys because they were small enough to go up them.

2) Ask if anyone has seen Mary Poppins and remembers the song “Chim Chim Cheree” that Burt, the chimney sweeper sings. Show them a clip from youtube to get their interest and engage with the rhyme and rhythm of song as a form of poetry. Explain that being a chimney sweep was a dirty, painful dangerous job and that the film clip is not an accurate portrayal of the job in any way!

3) Read the poem to the class while they sit on the carpet and listen

4) Divide the class into six groups (about 5 in each group) and give them each a stanza to memorise. They could be given a large piece of paper and some crayons and coloured pencils to draw an accompanying picture and then the teacher could choose one person at random from each group to recite their stanzas.

5) Read the poem through again replacing some of the words. The pupils must listen very carefully and put their hands up if they hear a different word. They can earn house points or stickers for being the first person to identify the word Blake used. The smart board could be used in this activity so that the children can come up and move the words and check the original word. I would replace three or four words in each stanza.

e.g: (third stanza)
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-WALKING (instead of sleeping), he had such a FRIGHT! (instead of sight)
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack,
Were all of them CLOSED (instead of locked) up in coffins of black.

Ask the pupils questions to find out if they understood the poem such as “Why was Tom’s head shaved?”, “What do you think ‘coffins of black’ are to chimney sweeps? “How old do you think the boys are in the poem?” “Why do you think the they ran down to the river when the angel set them free?” “Why did the boys rise in the dark?” They can talk to the person next to them to discuss their thoughts.