Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter'
I can write a descriptive paragraph inspired by Bruegel's painting 'The Hunters in the Snow' and Walter de la Mare's poem 'Breughel’s Winter'.
Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter'
I can write a descriptive paragraph inspired by Bruegel's painting 'The Hunters in the Snow' and Walter de la Mare's poem 'Breughel’s Winter'.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Walter de la Mare's 'Brueghel’s Winter' is an ekphrastic poem.
- An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
- You can look at a poem as a whole and consider how the descriptions work together to create a particular tone or mood.
- You can look at the descriptions individually and consider the effect they have.
- You can consider the tone you wish to create in your own writing, and then select words and phrases to create this tone.
Keywords
Dominant - most powerful, overbearing, influential
Ekphrastic - a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it
Tone - the attitude and emotion of your voice - written or verbal
Dejected - depressed, downcast
Ominous - something suggesting something bad is about to happen
Common misconception
The use of adjectives is a simple technique, so there isn't much point analysing a writer's use of them, or planning for them in your own writing.
Adjectives are a wonderful way to express tone, nuanced meaning and atmosphere. As such, they can be rich for analysis, and have a powerful effect on your own descriptive writing.
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the Myths, legends and stories that inspire unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need a copy of Walter de la Mare's 'Brueghel's Winter' which can be found in the additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
16th century landscape painter
English 20th century poet; wrote 'Breughel’s Winter'
American poet; wrote two poems inspired by Bruegel
British-American 20th century poet; wrote 'Musée des Beaux Arts'
downcast, depressed
suggesting something bad is going to happen
thin
silent
menacing, scary
mountains
scene
quiet
shapes
huntsmen