PREVIOUSLY:
In Unit 20.3, we discussed about the
various ways of teaching the sub topic “Interpreting
simple stories” in Form Two.
IN THIS UNIT 20.4, we will cover the sub topic “Interpreting
poems” in Form Two.
TOPIC’S INFORMATION
Main Topic: INTERPRETING LITERARY
WORKS
Sub Topic: Interpreting poems
Periods per sub topic: 10
Class: Form Two
DESCRIPTION OF THE SUB TOPIC
Poems are not difficult. This is the truth. Instead, students use this old
notion and some notions from some teachers who erroneously claim that poems are
difficult. In most cases, difficulty of the poems comes to our minds only for this
wrong perception. The main poetic aspect that convinces us to say poems are difficult
is the aspect of language. Of course, poetry uses different language but not difficult
one because if we master this poetic language, poems cannot no longer be difficult.
Because English language is our instructional language then should master it. By
mastering English language we put ourselves in a good position to understand poems
effortlessly.
Teaching
poems is simple, and if mastered well, poems have strong foundations
for students. We all know that poets are good linguists, poets are wise, and poets
are great thinkers. Thus, for someone to have this knowledge it is the greatest
foundation for him or her.
If you the reader of this blog, the teaching guide for teaching this sub
topic is like that we used when introducing Form One Students to the Interpretation
of Poems . Thus the teaching guide used here is the same as the one used
in Form One previously.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON
In this sub topic/lesson, the student should be able answer questions
from a poem.
- TEACHER’S PREPARATION STAGE
This stage is about the preparation of the teacher before undertaking
the lessons of the particular sub topic. These are all activities, procedures,
materials, teaching aids, and games prepared by the teacher for teaching a sub
topic:
- Putting
heads together:
Introducing the topic/lesson properly. Organising how students will be
able to get to know what is the topic/lesson about. It is where teacher
makes sure that students are going to be in his/her train. It includes
brainstorming and familiarisation of the topic/lesson with the students.
This makes students stay together with the teacher. It
is at this stage students can understand what is going to be discussed in the
particular topic.
In this sub
topic/lesson; the teacher will
brainstorm with the students on the definition of poetry, terms used in poetry,
why poems are simple and how poems are analysed. In this sub topic/lesson, the teacher
will lead the students on the discussion on brainstorming about the poet, poem,
verse, stanza, and other poetic terms.
At this stage,
the teacher is expected to share with students on the:
The
meaning of a poet,
The meaning of Poem,
Verse,
Stanza,
Title,
Persona
Audience/Addressee
And other important poetic terms
like:
Rhythm,
Metaphor,
Rhyme,
Theme,
Message, and
Lesson
A teacher should note that Form I or II Students can only be introduced
to these simple poetic terms and not other difficult poetic terms that can be
confusing to them rather than educative. When these poetic terms are simply and
perfectly introduced, the students can understand the poems well; hence laying
other academic foundations.
- Preparation
of Materials. A
teacher has to decide on the teaching/learning materials he/she is going
to use.
In this sub
topic/lesson, a teacher will have to
prepare some selected poems. Teacher will have to prepare some selected poems from
various approved texts. These sample poems should be simple and relevant to their
level of understanding and age. In this context, some known poems are abridged to
meet the simplicity required, but also there are some poems that can be referred.
In this article, my used poems will come from the book of poems (Anthology)
called 'Status' written by Charles Mloka.
- Target Practice. Show them/Guide them to the practice of the
functions of the sub topic. A teacher has to show or guide students to the
target practice of the grammatical functions of the sub topic.
The Teacher
will guide students to practice how to answer questions from a poem by using various
guiding patterns.
In this sub topic/lesson, the teacher will also guide students to practice how to answer questions
on a poem read. To do this properly, the teacher will guide students to practice
using the following appropriate expressions as they analyse poems:
- The poet says.....
- The poem is about...
- The poet talks about...
- The title of the poem is....
- The person speaking in the poem is...
- Neither.....nor.....
- The themes of the poem are:
- The message of the poem is..
- The poem teaches us that...
- Context-Based Practice. A teacher leads students to the discussion on
how the target grammatical functions practised earlier can be applied or
integrated into the contexts and situations. The students are guided by
the teacher to apply the learnt skills in relevant contexts and situations
like school and library.
In this sub topic/lesson, the teacher will guide students to practice more exercises on the relevant
situations like school, and home. In these real contexts, students will practice
to connect what is found in the poem with the real experiences of their contemporary
societies.
- Vocabulary
Building Practice. At this
time, teacher discusses with the students on the vocabularies and phrases
to apply in the already mentioned contexts and situations.
In this sub
topic/lesson, the most commonly
applied vocabularies are: stanza, verse,
line, rhyme, theme, message, title, poet, symbol, rhythm.
- TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCEDURES, ACTIVITIES AND GAMES
Guide the students to the full lesson procedures, activities and games
for better understanding of the sub topic by following these activities:
ACTIVITY ONE: Brainstorming. The teacher has to brainstorm with the students on the sub
topic/lesson's aspects through oral questions with answers, pair works, and
group discussions of all important concepts to get students on track.
In this activity, the teacher will
make use of his/her prepared materials that are in Preparation of Materials Stage
above to brainstorm with the students on various key concepts about the poems of
their level of understanding and age. At this initial stage, the teacher can ask
students to recall and sing some of the nursery poems and primary school poems.
After singing these songs or poems, the teacher can now take the students to another
stage.
Also
at this stage, the teacher is expected to share with students on the:
- The meaning of a poet,
- The meaning of Poem
- Verse,
- Stanza,
- Title,
- Persona
- Audience/Addressee
And other important poetic terms
like:
- Rhythm,
- Metaphor,
- Rhyme,
- Theme,
- Message, and
- Lesson
These terms are few but important
for the level of students. Form I or Form II students need to be introduced to the
simple aspects of poetry and simple poems as well which will be or can be covered
under this article.
All these poetic terms can be accessed
under the following link:
ACTIVITY TWO: Teacher's Demonstration. The teacher applies his/models or examples so as to bring the
topic/lesson and the students into the real or common sense of the
topic/lesson.
In this activity, the teacher
will demonstrate reading a poem aloud with accurate pronunciation. The students
will listen attentively to the teacher as he/she reads the poem. For how to
read a poem, a sample of a poem, and other details, you can visit this topic of
‘Interpreting poem’ in Form One.
ACTIVITY THREE: Students' Demonstration. The teacher guides students how they can apply a model like that of a
teacher. The skills demonstrated by the teacher should now be
demonstrated/applied by them. Here students need to be guided on how to use
given expressions, structures, vocabulary, and phrases or similar ones.
In this activity, the students
to will be guide by the teacher to read the poem aloud by imitating the teacher
when he/she was reading the poem earlier.
The Poem
THE BUNCH OF BANANA STOOPS WHERE IT IS
Stoops where where it is,
A bunch of bananas.
A bunch of bananas,
Does not move.
Bows in a banana tree,
A bunch of bananas.
We are human beings,
Not like a bunch of bananas.
Let us fight very hard,
And live not like a bunch of bananas.
Let us not lean,
And bend like a bunch of bananas.
After reading
the selected poem, the students will have to answer oral questions about the
poem they have read. These simple oral questions will act as a base to
familiarize with the poem and test them if they were listening to the poem or
if they paid attention to what they were reading.
At another stage, students have
to discuss questions in groups about the given poem. They will use the guiding
questions given by the teacher.
These guiding questions are:
- The poet says.....
- The poem is about...
- The poet talks about...
- The title of the poem is....
- The person speaking in the poem is...
- Neither .....nor.....
- The themes of the poem are:
- The message of the poem is..
- The poem teaches us that...
Their answers
will be in written forms. After discussing and writing their responses well,
they will have to present their answers orally before the class. The teacher
will ask the rest of the class to note down what the presenting groups are
delivering.
In general,
all students should asked by the teacher to note down the questions about the
poem and write their answers in their exercise books. By doing this, students
will be collecting the notes about the lesson. If need be, the teacher will
supply some important notes at the end of the lesson on the topic.
ACTIVITY FOUR: More Contextual Students’ Demonstration. Taking/leading students to the real situations or
contexts where they can apply what they have mastered. Here speaking, reading
or writing activities are involved.
Under this activity, the teacher can add more activities on interpreting
poems.
The Poem
MY BROTHER
You are going too fast,
The way you act,
Most people react,
Wrong direction you take!
Since you took an appointment,
Six years in government,
There have been complaints
About you!
Your colleagues are saying,
Per diems you are getting,
Abroad and working,
Give you a big head!
You are very selfish,
Personal interests,
Are matters you think most,
Than public interests!
Houses you built,
And cars you got,
Make yourself treat,
The only blessed in this world!
Tribalism is your song,
You keep people of your tongue,
Where there is something,
And treating others as nothing,
My brother! Where are you heading?
Questions
1) Suggest the suitable title of the poem.
2) What is the general message of the poem?
3) What is the mood of the poet?
4) Mention three themes from this poem.
5) What lessons can we learn from this poem?
ACTIVITY FIVE: Winding up the topic/lesson.
Here teachers summarise the topic/lesson by emphasizing the importance of the
sub topic/lesson and suggesting other related aspects of the sub topic/lesson.
ADDITIONAL
ACTIVITY:
As a teacher, what other activity can be applied in this sub topic/lesson? You
can always drop your alternative activity or activities to this article so as
to improve teaching and learning of ‘O’
Level English Blog! (OLE).
REFLECTION
Ask students to reflect on where they hear the poems
in their societies. Guide the students to think about the poems they were
singing during kindergarten classes or at primary school level. Tell them that
the poems they are learning are the continuation of those simple nursery poems
and primary school poems.
ASSESSMENT
A teacher should design an evaluation for students by
using appropriate assessment tools like oral questions or assignments so that
to see if the student is able to answer questions from poems.
ASSESSMENTS
Assessment
#01: Group work
In groups, students have to
read a selected poem and interpret it by using teacher’s guiding questions.
After the discussion, students should present.
Assessment
#02: Pair works
The teacher to ask students to
be in pairs and give them copies of a selected poem. In their pairs, students
have to interpret the poem and present their answers before the class.
Assessment
#03: Individual work
At this assessment, the teacher
will give students the task of interpreting of poems individually.
Other
Activities:
- Select
one Swahili Song and play before them. Ask them the questions about the
song like rhymes and message.
- Select
one English song especially reggae song or any English song that students
will not get trouble listening to it. Ask them to observe the lyrics,
message, rhymes and other issues.
Note: You can give
students more individual works, pair works, and group works to facilitate their
interaction and understanding of the sub topic or lesson. As English language
teacher you have to give students more works to do. Because language is meant
to be largely spoken and written, the teacher should rely on written exercises
and notes. Instead students have to learn English language by vigorously
exercising individually, in pairs, and in groups.
SUMMARY/CONCLUSION
Teacher will tell his/her students the importance of
reading and writing poems. He/she discuss with the students on how poems are
influential in the society. As a teacher, allow students to explore how poems
have influence in the society. For example, tell them that the popular songs
they listen to are the sources of poetry as an art. The students should also
understand that the poems are sources of employment as exemplified by how music
artists make a living through singing.
NOTE: These
stages explained above are not necessarily covered in a single lesson of single
or double period. Remember that this is the guide for teaching the whole sub
topic which has periods ranging from 6 to 20. So, the teacher's task is to
divide these stages according to the total number of periods for a particular
sub topic.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
This
article is about how to study and teach "Interpreting poems"
in Form Two. As a student or
teacher, what is your opinion on how to study and teach this sub topic/lesson?
Your
opinion is worth and I believe that it can make these materials better for our
own consumption.
You are Welcome!
Resources
Mloka,
C (2009) Status, M.N.B, Dar es
Salaam.
If
you are a STUDENT, TEACHER, PARENT/GUARDIAN, or an education stakeholder, you
can also get various Materials, Teaching Guide, and Notes for ‘O’ Level English
Language (OLE) right here.
You may also
be interested in our products below:
1. English
Language for Secondary Schools
FORME ONE
FORM THREE
FORM FOUR
2. Our Blogs:
3. Other Useful ‘O’ Level
English Topics:
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GOOD ESSAY - Form Three & Four REQUIREMENTS & COMMON
MISTAKES ON ESSAY WRITING in Form Three & Four