Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today about the poem "Walking Away." It is a lovely poem, really moving, and I hope you like it as much as I do.

So let's get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you will be able to explain how Cecil Day-Lewis conveys the significance of a past parting between the speaker and their child.

As ever, we will begin with the keywords.

They are reminiscences, insecurities, pathetic fallacy, independent clause, and dependent clauses.

Let's look at what they mean.

Reminiscences means to recall past events or experiences often with feelings of nostalgia or sentimentality.

Insecurities are feelings of doubt, uncertainty, or inadequacy about oneself or one's abilities.

Pathetic fallacy is a literary technique using descriptions of natural elements to emphasise a particular mood or emotion.

And an independent clause contains a subject and verb, it expresses a complete thought that can stand alone as a sentence, and a dependent clause contains a subject and verb, but cannot stand alone as a sentence.

Now, if you would like to take some time to familiarise yourself with the key words and their meanings, please pause the video now and join us when you are ready.

So today's learning, there will be two learning cycles.

We are going to start by understanding the poem "Walking Away," and then we are going to look at key ideas and contexts In the poem.

We will start by exploring the title.

So there's the title "Walking Away," and I would like you to have a think about what questions you would have about the poem based just on the words of the title.

You can pause the video while you have your discussion.

So that was a great discussion and I heard ideas like this that you might ask yourself who is walking away? And what are they walking away from? That's really good, but I also heard you have ideas that are more abstract, like is this poem about escape or closure? Because we sometimes talk walking away from something, drawing a line in the sand and walking away from a situation.

And I also heard this idea about is this poem about freedom or loss? So really, really great ideas, well done for that.

Now, it's time for you to read the poem "Walking Away." So open your anthology and find the poem, and after you've read the poem, I would like you to do this, I would like you to find evidence to support these ideas.

You're gonna find three examples that show the setting of the poem, two examples that show the characters in the poem, and one example which shows the mood of the poem.

So pause the video and happy reading.

So welcome back, really good focus, really good discussion.

I hope you enjoyed reading that poem.

So let's look at what you found.

Three examples that show the setting of the poem.

It's a school football match and your evidence is words like touchlines, football and school, very well done.

Two examples that show the characters in the poem, it's a parent and a son.

Yes, the seed and the parent are the two words you should have found there and one example which shows the mood of the poem.

The mood is sad and deals with themes of loss.

And you are absolutely right, partings is the best evidence for that, well done.

Let's move on.

Now, let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these quotations indicates where the poem is set? Is it A, partings, B, parent, C, touchlines or D, seed? Have a think and then I'll reveal the answer.

It's touchlines, because the word touchlines is from the semantic field of football, that's why we know we're at a football match.

Now, it is really helpful when you have read a poem to summarise it, and that's what our Oak students have been doing.

So Jun said that the poem is about a parent watching his son play football at school.

And Alex said that the speaker is reminiscing about a memory of their son playing a school football match.

And Aisha said that the speaker reflects on the feelings of loss they felt watching their son walk away from them at a football match.

So who do you think gives the best summary and why? Have a think and then we will share our ideas.

Well, you might have thought something like this, that Jun.

Now, he summarised what's happens in the poem, but he doesn't really give details about the key ideas and messages of the poem.

And Alex, he summarises what happens and he does link to the idea that it is a memory, but he doesn't really refer to the mood or the emotions of the poem.

And Aisha said, which he includes a summary, and she links to key ideas and emotions, but her phrasing is maybe not as clear as it could be.

It's quite long that sentence, and we're going to look at how all of them could improve their summary.

Now, all three summaries by the Oak pupils used a simple sentence and they could have added extra detail by using a compound or a complex sentence.

Now, a compound sentence uses a connective or a semicolon to join two independent clauses.

So there's the simple sentence, the man wrote a poem and here are two sentences that are more detailed.

The man wrote a poem because he was feeling sad and the man wrote a poem; it was published in a magazine.

And you can see in the first one there are two independent clauses linked with a connective because.

And in the second one there is the two independent clauses.

The man wrote a poem and it was published in a magazine are joined by the semicolon.

So now let's look at how a complex sentence can be used to add more detail.

A complex sentence uses a connective or a comma to join one independent clause and one dependent clause.

So we're working again with the same simple sentence, the man wrote a poem.

And again, here are two sentences that are improved by adding more detail.

The first one, feeling sad, the man wrote a poem.

And the second one is the man wrote a poem which was published in a magazine.

And feeling sad is the dependent clause in that first sentence and the man wrote a poem is the independent clause and you have the comma there separating the two clauses.

And then in the second example you have the man wrote a poem, which is an independent clause, and was published in a magazine, which is a dependent clause and that is linked by the word which.

Now, what we can do is combine the students' summaries using compound and complex sentences.

So there are the student summaries and let's look at how we might combine them.

We could write, arguably a poem about loss, in "Walking away" the speaker reminisces about a memory of their son playing a school football match.

And you can see that arguably a poem about loss is a dependent clause, okay, separated from the main clause from by a comma.

We could write the speaker reminisce about a memory of their son walking away from them at a football match and uses this image to reflect on feelings of loneliness and loss.

There we're using a compound sentence linked with the word and.

And we can actually combine all three summaries using a compound complex sentence.

Let's see what that would look like.

Arguably a poem about loss and loneliness, that's your dependent clause, the speaker reminisces about a memory of their son walking away from them at a football game and explores the insecurities parents face about their children growing up.

And there is the, and connecting two parts of those sentences, making that a compound sentence.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Understanding which of the following is a complex sentence.

Is it A, the speaker of "Walking Away" navigates the poignant journey of witnessing their child's departure, capturing the feelings that occur after the loss of a loved one? Or is it B, "Walking Away" describes the speaker's attempt to unpick a raw and complex memory so they can process the sense of loss it has left them with.

Or is it C, "Walking Away" is a poem about how a particular memory can leave it a lasting impression on someone.

Have a think and then I'll tell you the answer.

Did you say that it was A? Yes, it's A, let's look at it in a bit more detail.

So remember that a complex sentence has one dependent clause, which is there capturing the feelings that occur after the loss of a loved one because that clause can't stand on its own, well done.

Let's move on.

Now, I would like you to practise writing your own summary of "Walking Away." There's some ideas below which you are going to use to add detail and you're going to use a range of sentence types.

But first I'd just like to read to you the ideas and I would like you to start thinking about which ones you would like to use and how you might combine them.

So the poem delves into the theme of parenthood.

It explores the insecurities that come with parenthood and independence.

It captures a poignant moment.

It signifies the beginning of the child's independence.

The parent feels powerless.

The poem is about a father watching their son walk away from them.

The poet uses setting to indicate that the son is still young.

The setting also indicates the son is ready for his independence.

So when you are ready, pause the video and start writing your own summary of the poem "Walking Away," off you go.

Well done, welcome back, what great focus.

Now, before I ask you to look at your own response, I'd like you to read a sample response.

Now, you could have written something like this, "Walking Away" is a poem that captures a poignant moment.

It describes a father watching their son walk away from them after a football match.

Delving into the universal theme of parenthood, it explores the insecurities that come with letting children explore their independence.

The poet uses setting to indicate that the son is still young, yet he is old enough to be ready for his independence.

As they watch their son walk away, the parent feels powerless because they know that this moment signifies the beginning of the child's independence.

So let's unpick that response in a little bit more detail.

It uses both complex and compound sentences.

There's your complex sentence delving into the universal theme of parenthood is the dependent clause and it also uses compound sentence.

The poet uses setting to indicate that the son is still young, yet that's the connective that i used.

He is old enough to be ready for his independence and it also uses complex and compound sentence.

As they watch their son walk away, there's the dependent clause, the parent feels powerless because they know that this moment signifies the beginning of the child's independence, there's the connective because.

So that was a very effective response.

Now, I would like you to have a look at your own response and check that you have used a compound sentence.

Look for either a semicolon or a conjunction.

And I would like you to look for a complex sentence and this time you are looking for one independent clause and one dependent clause.

Now, you're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So do that now and then join us when you're ready.

So well done for such a good start to the lesson.

We've learned a lot about the poem and now what we're going to do is look at key ideas in the poem and the context of the poem.

So I'd like to start by giving you a little bit of information about the poem.

It's thought that it's semi-autobiographical.

And here's some information about Cecil Day-Lewis, the poet.

His mother died when he was young and he was raised by his father and the poem was originally subtitled for Sean, who was his first son.

Now, how might that information, that contextual information influence our interpretation of the poem? Have a think.

Well, you might say something like this, is that he really emphasises the the value of a father-son relationship and maybe he is addressing a memory of his own son's independence.

Now his son Sean, was sent to boarding school and so there are hints that maybe Day-Lewis had regrets about this decision.

Now, we're going to track these key ideas through the poem.

So we're gonna start with the value of the father son-relationship.

And these four bullet points are asking you to find missing words.

So you can see on the first one there is a quotation from the poem, it's on line one and it says father has treasured this blank for a long time.

And so you are looking for what the missing word would be there and the second one has a slightly structure.

So what is missing is the quotation, which is on line four, and then it says has been present for his son's milestones.

So have a think about what you think the missing words would be on those blanks, off you go.

Okay, did you say something like this, that 18, he's treasured this memory.

We know this because of the number 18.

It happened a long time ago.

And first would be the right quotation to go there.

The father has been present for all the key dates in his son's life.

And parent, now what kind of method is that? It's a metaphor which implies that children grow because of their parents.

And what would you put in the blank on the last one? What does that quotation love indicate? that's right, his feelings for his son, very well done, let's move on.

So once again we are going to track key ideas through the poet.

And this time we are working with parental insecurities and regrets.

And again, I would like you to discuss what the missing words could be.

So on the first bullet pointed statement, you are looking for a quotation on line eight that tells us the father feels his son isn't fully ready to be independent.

And then on the second statement, you have the word hesitant from the poem on line 11, which suggests that the father is protective, watches him closely, indicates the father blank about him.

And then you have the word gnaws on line 17.

This moment is something he thinks about often, perhaps he feels blank or regret.

So have a think and then we'll share ideas.

Okay, so did you say this that half-fledged, it's what we say about baby birds when they haven't quite got their adult feathers.

Father feels his son isn't fully ready to be independent, it's only halfway there.

Hesitant, you could put that this suggests or indicates the father worries about him.

And gnaws, this moment is something he thinks about often.

Perhaps he feels, what did you put there? Guilt, guilt would work, guilt or regret.

Really good thinking, let's move on.

So once again we are going to be tracking key ideas through the poem.

This time we are looking at separation from child.

Again, you are going to be discussing what the missing words could be.

They will be a quotation or an explanation of the quotation.

So have a think and then we'll share ideas.

Okay, so what did you say for the first one? That "Walking Away," which is the title and it also appears on line seven and line 19, it's repetition.

Yes, that phrase is repeated throughout and it really emphasises the moment of separation.

And leaves, the quotation on line two, the use of blank.

What would that be? The changing season symbolise a change to the routine.

What would you put there? Pathetic fallacy, very good, the falling leaves of autumn.

And on line five, what is the dramatic emotive verb that implies that the father was not ready for this change? Wrenched, brilliant, and then on line 19, selfhood is contrasted with what? The father is considering who he is without the child.

What would you put there? Parenthood, excellent, really good thinking about the key ideas and how they are explored throughout the poem.

Let's move on.

So let's have a check for understanding.

true or false, It's likely Day-Lewis wanted to emphasise the value of the Father-son relationship in this poem, true or false? Absolutely, that's true, but why is it true? Is it A Day-Lewis' mother died when he was young and he was brought up by his father, or B Day-Lewis's father died when he was young and he was brought up by his mother.

Which one is correct? That's right, it's A, very well done, let's move on.

So now I'd like you to write an analysis paragraph answering the following question, how does day Lewis explore ideas of closeness and separation? And this is the checklist, clear topic sentence, evidence from the poem, analyse writer's methods, explore writer's influence, and link to context.

And here is some key vocabulary that I think will help support your response.

Day-Lewis suggest, because, implies, influenced Sean, father-son, protective, insecurities, repetition, metaphor, guilt, and worries.

So when you are ready, pause the video and start writing your paragraph, off you go.

Welcome back, what fantastic focus you showed there.

Now, here's what you could have written, in "Walking Away," Day-Lewis explores ideas of closeness and separation in a father-son relationship.

Said to be a semi-autobiographical reflection on his own relationship with his eldest son, Sean, for whom it was originally subtitled, the poem describes a scene where a father watches his son establishes independence after a school football match.

the repetition of the poem's title, "Walking Away" foregrounds ideas of separation in the poem.

Day-Lewis emphasises the pain, this separation causes the father in the description of how the memory of it gnaws away at him.

This emotive verb implies that this moment is something the speaker thinks of often, perhaps replaying it over and over, regretting their actions on that day.

The theme of regret is prevalent in the poem and could possibly link to Day-Lewis's own regrets about sending his son Sean to boarding school.

So there's a model answer.

You won't have written exactly that, but there's a good answer there.

Now, what I want you to do is this, check your work, have you included everything from the checklist, clear topic sentence, evidence from the poem, an analysis of the writer's methods, an exploration of the writer's influence, and a link to context.

Have you included compound or complex sentences? Underline any in your response and if you haven't, please redraft your answer to include one.

You're going to need the to pause the video while you check over your work.

So do that and then join us.

Now, before we say goodbye, I'd like to summarise what you have been learning today.

The speaker, a father reminisces on the moment their child left to go to school after his first football match.

The speaker feels apprehensive about this parting, worrying the son is not ready.

The moment of separation was not the worst the speaker has experienced, but was the most impactful.

The speaker acknowledges and accepts that letting a child experience independence is a crucial part of parenting.

The poem is semi-autobiographical and Day-Lewis originally dedicated it to his eldest son, Sean.

So I would like to thank you for your fantastic focus today.

I wish you a brilliant rest of the day and I look forward to seeing you again soon, bye for now.