Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you doing today? I hope you're really well.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'm feeling really good today because we are going to be exploring some poetry together.

We're gonna be preparing to write a poem about the rain.

Mm.

I wonder how you feel about the rain.

I quite like the rain.

It's quite refreshing and cool sometimes, and it helps the plants to grow.

And I also like it when it's not raining, but sometimes I love the rain.

So we are gonna be writing about the rain, we're gonna be exploring a specific form of poetry, and I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am.

So let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is: I can prepare to write a poem about the rain.

We have a couple of keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them once at a time.

My turn, your turn.

Form.

Pantoum.

Great to hear you sharing those words.

And what do these keywords mean? Let's find out.

Form is the way that a poem can be presented.

A pantoum is a form of poetry that uses repetition to create musical effect.

Let's be on the lookout for these keywords.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's be thinking carefully about these words.

So in our lesson today, preparing to write poetry inspired by rain, we have two parts.

First of all, exploring pantoums, and next, generating ideas and vocabulary.

Let's begin by exploring pantoums. Today, we're going to be exploring poems inspired by the rain.

The form of poem we're going to explore today is called a pantoum.

And remember, a pantoum is a form of poetry that uses repetition to create musical effect.

An excellent way to prepare to write poetry is to explore some examples yourself.

Reading poems can inspire you and give you ideas and make you feel interested and enthusiastic to write your own.

So let's get into exploring some poetry.

A pantoum is a form of poetry that originated in Malaysia.

And remember, form is the way that poem is presented.

And it's characterised by its repeating lines and overlapping pattern.

And we can see Malaysia on the map there on our screen.

Looks like a really interesting place to visit, surrounded by so much sea.

Oh, I feel like I'd like to go there one day.

The poem consists of a series of four line verses, also referred to as stanzas.

Each line often contains between eight and 12 syllables.

And the syllable is a unit of sound that makes up a word.

A useful strategy to help you count the syllables in each word is to clap each beat.

For example, lightning spark.

It's also quite fun to clap the syllables in your names.

So I'm gonna have a go with my name, Ms. Afzal.

Ready? Ms. Afzal.

How about you? It's your turn.

Clap the syllables in your name.

Okay, fun.

I wonder how many syllables you had.

I had three.

Ms. Afzal.

Let's have a look at an example pantoum, which contains three verses.

I'm going to read through each verse.

Dark clouds gather, heavy with rain.

As lightning streaks across the night.

In the tempest's grip, we remain.

Seeking shelter from nature's might.

As lightning streaks across the night.

The wind howls with a mournful cry.

Seeking shelter from nature's might.

Underneath the stormy sky.

The wind howls with a mournful cry.

In the tempest's grip, we remain.

Underneath the stormy sky.

Dark clouds gather, heavy with rain.

So here is our example pantoum, with three verses, all about the rain.

What is your first impression of the pantoum, I wonder? So what is your first feeling or impression of this poem? What did you like about it? Did you notice anything about the pattern and structure of the poem? So pause the video here while you share with someone nearby your first impression.

So your initial thoughts and feelings about this poem.

What did you like? What did you notice about the pattern and structure? Pause the video and share with someone nearby.

I hope you enjoyed sharing.

I wonder if you had similar or different impressions.

Let's hear from Lucas.

"I noticed that the first line and final line are the same.

There is lots of repetition in the poem." Yeah, good spot, Lucas.

Absolutely.

That's part of this form, the pantoum form of poetry is that there is lots of repetition.

And here is Alex.

"Some of the rhyming lines are reordered in the verses that follow.

It's like they're being recycled." Oh, I love that Alex, and I never thought of that, that we're recycling these lines.

That's a really great way of putting it.

We can just use them again and again.

Love that.

Check for understanding.

Pantoums originated in which country? Japan, Malaysia, United Kingdom.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected Malaysia.

Pantoums are interesting because they follow a unique form, a specific pattern or structure.

So let's take a look at this form in a little bit more detail.

In pantoums, the second and fourth lines of one verse are included as the first and third lines of the next verse.

So we can see this, let's just check this out, actually.

In verse one, we can see those lines of pink.

And then those same lines get repeated in verse two as lines one and three.

Now let's have a look at verse two.

So let's have a look at the second and fourth lines.

Those are green.

And those same lines get repeated in verse three as the first and third lines.

We can see those green lines repeated again in verse three.

Oh my goodness, love this pattern.

As Alex said, we are recycling, which bringing those lines back in cyclical kind of pattern.

The first and third lines of the first verse are included in the final verse in the second and fourth lines.

So let's go back to the first verse.

So the first and the third lines, those are in purple.

Those lines get repeated in the third verse in the second and fourth lines, we can see those purple lines there.

So again, more repetition.

This pattern means that pantoums have a cyclical patterns.

That means they're going round like in a cycle.

So what we have at the beginning comes back again later on, and what we have later on comes back again later still.

So here we can see, once again, we can see the lines that you see in one colour.

So in verse one, the purple lines, get repeated in verse three.

And the pink lines in verse one get repeated in line two, in verse two.

And the green lines in verse two get repeated in verse three.

So much repetition.

There are a certain number of lines of poetry and these each get repeated.

So let's look at the form of the pantoum that we read together.

Dark clouds gather, heavy with rain.

As lightning streaks across the night.

In the tempest's grip, we remain.

Seeking shelter from nature's might.

And here's that repetition.

Can you see the lines that were in pink in verse one? They're gonna come again in verse two.

So as lightning streaks across the night.

Here's a new line.

The wind howls with a mournful cry.

Here's the repetition.

Seeking shelter from nature's might.

A new line.

Underneath the stormy sky.

And now the lines in green are going to get repeated in verse three.

And the lines in purple from verse one are also gonna be repeated in verse three.

Here we go.

The wind howls with a mournful cry.

In the tempest's grip, we remain.

Underneath the stormy sky.

Dark clouds gather, heavy with rain.

So hopefully you're getting to see the cyclical pattern where the lines are being repeated again in the following verses.

In pantoums, each repeated line gains new context and meaning as it is combined within different stanzas, offering depth and richness to the poem.

Despite its strict structure, pantoums allow for flexibility in what the poem is about and the mood or atmosphere the poet wants to convey.

Poets can experiment with word choice and imagery within the form, leading to unique and imaginative compositions.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Pantoums do not use any repetition.

Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

It is false.

And now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Lines in pantoums are repeated across verses.

This sometimes brings new meaning to the lines.

Pantoums can be written about the weather.

Pause the video while you decide which of these statements justify your answer.

While both of these statements are true, it's the first statement that justifies your earlier answer about repetition.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to read this pantoum out loud.

And I'm interested, will repeated line sound different in the different verses? You might like to change the emphasis the second time that a line appears.

You may wish to read the poem to an audience and ask for feedback.

So pause the video here and have a go at reading this pantoum out loud.

And if you're offering feedback, then be sure to share something that you really liked about the way that someone was reading.

And you may also like to share if there was something that you think they could do in a different way that might be helpful.

So pause the video here while you have a go at this task.

Alright, it's great to be back with you.

I am really curious how did you get on.

Did you change your expression as you read the repeated lines? And did you use any facial expressions or physical gestures? What kind of feedback did you get? I hope it was all helpful, and I hope you enjoyed this task.

And now it's time for the next part of our lesson where we'll be generating vocabulary and ideas.

As we're going to be writing poems about rain, we need to generate lots of vocabulary associated with it.

Let's look closely at these words: ominous, dribbling, cascading, waterlogged, splash, inclement, soggy, precipitation, sopping, monsoon.

Some really great vocabulary there associated with rain.

Let's explore the nuance, the meaning of this language to help us prepare ideas for our poem about the rain.

Here are some specific words that might help us when thinking about the rain.

I wonder, do you know all their definitions? Splattered, tempestuous, and torrential.

So pause the video here and share with someone nearby the definitions for these words about the rain.

Okay, what did you come up with splattered? Let's have a look.

It's an adjective and it means splashed or sprinkled; like a painting that has been ruined by heavy raindrops.

What about tempestuous? Also an adjective, and it means stormy, wild or violent.

Like when the wind and the sea are out of control, as we can see in that image.

Oh wow, I would not want to be on that boat.

How about torrential? It's also an adjective, and it means falling heavily or forcefully; like the rain in a violent storm.

I wonder if you've ever been into torrential rain and maybe you got soak, or maybe you had some excellent rainwear that kept you dry.

There are so many words about the rain.

Let's look at some more: Deluge, lashing and incessant.

Okay, so one more time.

Pause the video here.

Turn to someone nearby.

What did these words mean? Share their definitions.

All right, let's take a look at deluge.

This is a noun, and it means a flood or overflowing water; like gushing water from a blocked toilet.

Oh dear.

I do not wanna think about that.

That does not look like a happy situation.

How about lashing? Lashing is an adjective.

It means thrashing or beating; like hard rain smacking you in the face.

Oh wow.

Not sure that I want to be out in that.

And incessant.

This is an adjective, which means endless or nonstop; like rain that just never stops.

There are days like that, aren't there? Well done for having a go at exploring all of these amazing words about the rain.

Check for understanding.

Match the words to the images.

Splash, shower and monsoon.

Pause the video while you connect the words and images.

So did you get this match here, splash.

And we can see that child splashing in the puddles.

What fun.

Shower, we can see the rain is showering down there in that image.

And the monsoon is a lot more torrential rain.

And we would get this more in parts of the world where we have palm trees, as we can see in that image.

When we're describing rain, we want to be as precise as possible.

Some words describe heavy rain and some describe light rain.

So let's have a little look at this continuum of rain, from light rain to heavy rain.

So for light rain, we could say a sprinkle.

Just a sprinkle of rain.

It's very light.

Moving up to a drizzle.

It's a little bit more rain, still not heavy yet.

And then a downpour.

Okay, that's really heavy.

So we can see how our language is taking us from light rain to heavy rain.

Check for understanding.

Where would you place the following words on the scale? Left to right, from light rain to heavy rain.

So we've got lashing and pouring, and spitting and misty.

So pause the video while you decide where on the scale you would place these words.

Well done if you had spitting and misty on the left, more towards the light rain side of things.

And lashing and pouring are on the right of our scale, more towards heavy rain.

We'll use our rain vocabulary in different ways, depending on its position in a sentence, if it is a verb, an adjective or a noun.

So a verb, remember, is a doing word.

It's an action.

An adjective describes a noun.

And a noun is a person, a place, or a thing.

So let's take a look at some of our rain vocabulary, verbs, adjectives, and nouns.

So some verbs: Drench, saturate, pelt, shower, splatter, and descend.

These are all verbs.

These are all actions.

These are things that the rain does.

Adjectives to describe the rain: drenching, saturating, relentless, raging, ferocious, unyielding.

These are all words we can use to describe the rain.

And some nouns.

And these are all things such as a cloudburst, precipitation, deluge, mizzle, drizzle, and squall.

You can adapt your vocabulary to fit your purpose by changing the word class.

E.

g.

, torrent, which is a noun, can become an adjective by making it into torrential.

Check for understanding.

Match each word to the correct word class.

Cloudburst, raging, relentless and descend.

And the word classes we have are noun, a person, place, or thing.

A verb, which is a doing, being or having word.

And an adjective, which describes a noun.

So pause the video while you match each word to the correct word class.

Okay, let's see what you came up with.

A cloudburst is a noun.

Raging is an adjective as is relentless.

And descend is a verb.

Well done if you made these connections.

We can use some of this vocabulary as well as our own experiences to create a mind map about the rain.

Here are some ideas.

Tremendous deluge, rhythmic pattern against the windowpane, a ballet of droplets pirouetting through the air, splashing around in a steady drizzle, washing away worries, easing fear.

Oh, I like that one.

Relentless onslaught of raindrops.

So we can see a really wide range of language used here, nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

And now it's time for your task.

I would like you to record your ideas about the rain on a mind map, just as I did.

You might like to write down examples of words, phrases, or ideas from the lesson, as well as thinking about times when you have been caught in rain.

So pause the video here while you record your ideas about the rain on this mind map.

And I'll see you when you're finished.

Okay.

It's great to be back with you.

Let's have a look at some of Laura's ideas on her mind map.

Gentle, soothing rhythm.

Hmm, I like that.

Shimmering cloudburst.

Oh, beautiful.

Tumultuous downpour, soaking into the earth.

Yeah, that needs it.

Incessant, never-ending.

Safe shelter of an umbrella.

Watching the drips from raindrops cascade down the window.

Oh, I love that.

Thank you so much for sharing those ideas, Laura.

I hope you enjoyed creating your mind map, and these ideas are really good and come in handy for when you create your poem.

We'll be turning these into a completed pantoum in the next lesson.

I can't wait.

In our lesson today, preparing to write poetry inspired by rain, we have covered the following: A pantoum is a form of poetry that originated in Malaysia and is characterised by its repeating lines and overlapping pattern.

The second and fourth lines of one verse are included as the first and third lines of the next verse.

Repeated lines in pantoums can gain new context and meaning as they're combined within different verses.

We can make specific language choices to describe the intensity of the rain.

We can use vocabulary in different ways, depending on its position in a sentence, if it is a verb, adjective, or noun.

Well done, everyone, for taking part in this lesson.

I loved exploring pantoums with you, and I hope you enjoyed reading out that pantoum and gathering your ideas ready for our next lesson when you'll be creating your own.

I'll see you then.

Bye for now.