Find Ourselves in Poetry
This unit will provide students with an opportunity to read and write a range of poems. A particular theme that we will be inquiring into is one of identity. Throughout the Primary School students have learned about poetry. They will draw on this previous learning to help them to discuss, read and write poems. They will identify how poems can be written to convey strong images and feelings as well as being personally significant to the poet. They will use their knowledge of structure, poetic techniques and word choice to convey meaning in their own poems. Throughout the unit mentor texts will be used to model both the reading and writing of poems.
Key questions:
- Who am I?
- How do poets use words to express their thoughts and feelings?
- What is figurative language?
Poetry is beautiful and complicated to write. It is 'truth squeezed through too small a hole.' For children to write poetry well, one good way 'in' is by exploring their own identity and values. With a scaffold in place, it becomes an exercise in intentional word choice to express thoughts and feelings. In this way, poet children can create meaning and pleasure in their writing.
Here is a student example from last year:
Next units: Conflict Fiction (writing) and Historical Fiction Book clubs (reading).
