Lesson video

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this lesson on poetry with me, Ms. Krzebietka.

Today, we're going to consider the question: What makes a poem, a poem? And we're going to look at some of my favourite examples of poetry.

So I'm really excited about that.

Before we get started, can you please make sure that you've got rid of any distractions.

So if you've got a mobile phone, make sure that it's on silent or put it in another room so it won't stop you from learning.

Also, please make sure that you've got a pen and something to write on so that we can record the amazing things that you do today.

Other than that, I'm really, really excited for this lesson.

I really, really love poetry, and I can't wait to get started.

So let's go.

Before we start this lesson, I'm going to go over exactly what we'll be covering.

So first of all, we're going to have a recap task of figurative language.

Then we're going to go a little deeper and we're going to explore what poetry actually is.

Next, we're going to explore some examples of poetry.

Then we're going to review your knowledge and see what you've learned.

So I'm sure a lot of you will recognise this term, figurative language.

But let's remind ourselves of exactly what figurative language is.

So figurative language is the type of language that helps to create pictures in our minds.

Here are some examples of figurative techniques that writers might use to create these pictures.

So we've got metaphor, simile, personification, and onomatopoeia, and I'm sure a lot of you will remember the examples of these things that we've looked at previously.

So just to see if you can remember what these figurative techniques look like, on the next slide, you're going to see some examples of them.

I'm really excited to see if you can name the figurative techniques correctly.

What I'd like you to do now is to pause, to read the sentences, and to see if you can fill in the missing word.

If you'd like to, you can write out the sentence.

And then write out the sentence beneath it, this is an example of a, and you can fill in the blank.

So pause now and have a go at filling in that blank.

Well done if you said that the boy was drowning in sadness is an example of a metaphor.

Remember, a metaphor is a figure of speech where we describe something as being something else or something that it can't be.

So the boy can't me drowning in sadness.

But what that metaphor helps us to understand is just how sad the boy is and how unhappy he is, almost overwhelmed by that sadness.

Congratulations again if you said that the sun felt like a warm blanket is an example of a simile.

Remember, a simile is a figure of speech where we compare one thing to another using like or as.

So in this sentence, we're comparing what the sun feels like to a warm blanket.

So it's a great example of a simile.

Don't worry if you didn't get those right, because this is a great chance for you to go over them, remind yourself of what they are, and to remember them for next time.

Okay.

So what we're going to do now is you're going to pause again and you're going to read through these sentences and you're going to decide which examples of figurative techniques these sentences are.

Again, if you'd like to, once you've read the sentence and decided what it is, you can write it down and underneath you can write, this is an example of, and fill in the blank.

Okay, pause now and have a go.

Brilliant work if you said that the glass burst through the window in one sharp blast is an example of onomatopoeia.

Remember, onomatopoeic words are words that sound like the noise they describe.

So blast helps us to hear that sound that the glass makes as it burst through the window.

Really well done if you said that the branches reached out and tugged at my jacket is an example of personification.

Remember, personification is when we give things that aren't human human features, or characteristics, or feelings.

So in this case, the branches are being given human characteristics, because it's saying that they reached out and tugged at the character's jacket, which we know that they can't do.

Again, don't worry if you didn't get those right this time, because now that you've seen them again, hopefully, it will have reminded you of what these techniques are and you'll remember them.

Okay, now, we're going to read some reminders about poetry, and I need you to be listening very carefully because after we've read through this, I'm going to test your knowledge and see if you remember.

Okay, so poetry is written to express big ideas and strong feelings.

We read poetry to understand the ideas and experiences of other people.

It's written in separate lines that sometimes rhyme, although they don't always rhyme, and that's what I said was key to remember.

Because not all poems rhyme at all.

Okay, quick test then.

Which two statements about poetry are true? Pause for me now, choose the two options that are true, and then be ready to see if your answers are correct.

Off you go.

Well done if you said option two is true.

We read poetry to understand the ideas and experiences of others.

That's exactly why we read poetry.

And that's what makes poetry so wonderful and so great for us.

Also well done if you said option four, poetry does not always have to rhyme.

That's something that I've said lots of times now.

And so hopefully, that has stuck in your memory.

Okay.

Let's read a little bit more information about poetry.

There are many different forms of poems that express ideas in different ways.

We talked last time about sonnets, and odes, and lyrics, and haikus, lots of different forms of poems with different names.

When reading poems, often we get to explore the minds of some of the greatest thinkers and writers who have ever lived.

And again, that's something that makes poetry so wonderful and so special and something that we should really treasure and try to read as much as possible.

Okay.

Another chance for you to see exactly what you've learned about poetry.

So in front of you, you have four options.

I'd like you to choose the two statements about poetry that are true.

Read them carefully and then decide which two you think are true.

Okay.

Pause now and have a go.

Amazing work if you said that option two is true.

Poems let us explore the minds of some amazing people.

And also well done if you said option three.

There are many different forms of poetry.

It's all right if you went for one of the other two options, because now you've got a little bit more knowledge and you'll hopefully remember these two true statements about poetry for next time.

What else should we know about poems then so that we can really say we are experts on what poetry is? Well, here are three things to commit to your memory about poetry.

They all use words carefully to create meaning.

So all poems and all poets choose the words that they use very carefully in order for the reader to really picture what they are trying to get across.

They are all organised into unique patterns.

So when you look at a poem, it won't look like, for example, the inside of a book and what the pages of a book might look like.

It will look very different, and all poems look very different.

They are unique, okay? And they are organised in unique ways.

So they don't look the same as the writing that we might be used to seeing in a book, for example, in a novel.

They don't have to follow ordinary rules of grammar.

This might seem quite strange to you, but poems and poets don't have to follow the grammatical rules that all the other writers do and that you have to follow in your writing.

They are allowed to experiment with grammar and to do things in different ways.

And we'll see some of those experiments in the examples that we'll look at in a moment.

Okay.

So what I'd like you to do now is to read the opening of this text and to decide if you think it's as an example of poetry or not.

So thinking about the things that I've told you about poetry and the things that you've learned about poetry, I'd like you to listen to me read this example and then to decide if you think it's an example of poetry or not.

So it's one of my favourite poems called "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth.

Okay, here we go.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud "That floats on high over vales and hills, "When all at once I saw a crowd, "A host of golden daffodils, "Beside the lake, beneath the trees "Fluttering and dancing in the breeze." You've got a glossary down there if you need to just refer to that to remind yourself of what any of those words mean or to learn what some of those words mean if you haven't heard of them before.

But what I'd like you to do now is to pause, to have another read through, and to decide if you think it's an example of poetry or not.

Well done if you said, yes, this is an example of poetry.

If you read that very first line, I wandered lonely as a cloud.

We can see that those words have been chosen very carefully to create meaning, because that is an example of a simile, okay? And we can see instantly, because we've got that figurative language, that the writer must have thought really carefully about those words and about choosing those words, because we know that figurative language is the language that's chosen really carefully to create pictures in our minds.

If we look at this third and fourth line of this stanza of poetry, and a stanza is a verse of poetry, then we can see that although we don't have full stops at the end of the previous lines, they start with capital letters, and in fact if you look closely, all of those lines start with capital letters.

So we know that's not the normal rules of grammar that we follow.

But, remember in poetry, you do not have to follow the ordinary rules of grammar.

Okay.

Next one, they are all organised into unique patterns.

Look at how this looks on the page, okay? That's not what a novel for example would look like or a magazine.

This is a unique pattern.

This is a unique way that the writer has decided to organise their words.

And that's what makes this a poem.

Okay.

Another chance for us to read something and to decide whether we think it as an example of poetry or not.

So this stanza, remember, I said that's a verse in poetry, is taken from a poem called "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" by a poet called Emily Dickinson.

Listen carefully, and then decide whether you think it's an example of poetry or not.

And you'll also have to look carefully to get some of those clues as well.

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers- "That perches in the soul- "And sings the tune without the words- "And never stops - at all-" Just at the bottom there, you've got another glossary just to remind you that perches is an object on which a bird rests.

Okay.

Just pause for me there then and decide whether you think it's an example of poetry or not.

Well done if you said, yes, this is an example of poetry.

And well done if you spotted those features of poetry that we can see here.

So again, we've got a metaphor in that first line.

So the other poem started with a simile, this poem starts with a metaphor.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers.

Hope doesn't have feathers.

Hope isn't something that we can touch or see, and for it to have feathers, it would be something that we can touch or see.

But what the poet is doing there is using this metaphor, which they use throughout the poem and sort of comparing hope to a bird.

So, again, we can see, because they've chosen a metaphor that they've chosen their words very carefully.

So it is an example of poetry for that reason.

Also, what we can see again is that they haven't followed the ordinary rules of grammar.

So we've got dashes at the end of all of these lines.

And again, we've got capital letters with no full stops before it.

So we can see that they are not following the rules of grammar that we normally have to follow.

Finally, it's very different in the way that it looks to the way that the other poem, that we just looked at, looked like.

So what we can see is that it's organised into its own unique pattern, and that's what makes it an example of poetry.

So well done if you said, yes, this is an example of poetry.

Okay.

What I'd like you to do now is to pause, to complete the main task for this lesson.

You've got a worksheet that includes some more examples of texts that I want you to work out if they are examples of poetry or not.

So pause, complete that.

Remember to read through them very, very carefully, to look for those features, to see if you can spot those features of poetry that we've talked about, and then to decide whether you think they are examples of poetry or not.

Okay, off you go.

Great work.

I hope you enjoyed reading through those poems. And they are all examples of poems. And I hope that you spotted some of these things.

So here's what they have in common.

They all use with in an interesting way to create meaning.

They don't follow ordinary rules of grammar.

They are all organised into their own unique patterns.

And what you will have noticed is that each of them is very different.

Some of them rhyme; some of them don't rhyme.

Some of them use punctuation; some of them don't use punctuation.

Some of them are short; and some are long.

Unlike many other types of writing, poetry really has very few strict rules that poets have to stick to.

And that's why poetry is so imaginative.

And that's why poetry is so expressive of thoughts and feelings and why lots of people choose to write poetry.

Because you aren't bound by the rules of other types of writing.

And you can really be free and express yourself in the way that you want to express yourself and in the best way that you think possible to express yourself.

Well done for all the hard work that you've done in this lesson.

If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational with the #LearnwithOak.

Also, if you'd like to, you can ask your parent or carer to share your work with your teacher.

I'm sure that if I were you, I'd want to show off the amazing things I've been doing and show everybody exactly what I know about poetry and how much knowledge I have of poetry.

So I'm sure that you'd like to do that as well.

A final thing.

There is a quiz attached to this lesson that will do a final test of your learning for this lesson and see exactly what you know about poetry.

And I'm sure that you will do absolutely amazing at that quiz.

So open it up and have a ago.

Thank you so much for your hard work.

Bye.