New
New
Year 7

Planning ideas for a poem about your home

I can plan a poem about my own attitudes to home.

New
New
Year 7

Planning ideas for a poem about your home

I can plan a poem about my own attitudes to home.

warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. You can gather ideas for your own poem about home by studying the stylistic choices of other poets.
  2. Figurative language uses words beyond their literal meaning to create images in the reader's mind.
  3. Imagery is visually descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind.
  4. Both figurative language and imagery are useful in creating a vivid image of home in your reader's mind.
  5. You should plan out sentences when constructing a plan for your writing.

Keywords

  • Stylistic - relating to style, including the methods and techniques used in a piece of work

  • Figurative language - uses words beyond their literal meaning to create images in the reader's mind

  • Imagery - visually descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind

Common misconception

Students may not understand the subtle difference between imagery and figurative language.

Whilst imagery can include figurative language and vice versa, imagery does not always have to be figurative.

Tell students about what you would write about and which style you would choose to express that topic. This is another useful model for students but also encourages an open and safe atmosphere in the class.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You may want to have copies of the poems 'Childhood Tracks' , 'Search for My Tongue', 'Anthem of the North', 'Island Man', 'My City' and 'Filter' for reference in this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the below is an example of imagery?
Correct answer: The stars danced in the velvet sky.
She felt like a bird.
It was raining and I was cold.
Q2.
Which of the below is an example of figurative language?
The river glistened as we sailed across it.
The children laughed joyfully.
Correct answer: The sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink.
Q3.
Which poem about 'home' crafts each stanza using a different sensory experience?
'This Poem Is Taking Place on Stolen Land' by Emily Clarke
'My City' by George The Poet
Correct answer: 'Childhood Tracks' by James Berry
Q4.
What is the tone of 'Anthem of The North' by Lemn Sissay?
despondent
Correct answer: upbeat
sarcastic
Q5.
Which poem is about struggling to adjust to a new home?
Correct answer: 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols
'Anthem of The North' by Lemn Sissay
'Childhood Tracks' by James Berry
Q6.
Match the elements of style with each poem
Correct Answer:'Island Man',has two stanzas each describing a different place

has two stanzas each describing a different place

Correct Answer:'Anthem of The North',uses direct address to express gratitude to a region

uses direct address to express gratitude to a region

Correct Answer:'Search for My Tongue',merges two languages

merges two languages

6 Questions

Q1.
What is figurative language?
Correct answer: words used beyond their literal meaning to create images in the reader's mind
visually descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind
comparing two things using the word 'like' or 'as'
Q2.
"Home is a lighthouse." This sentence uses ...
Correct answer: figurative language.
simile.
direct address.
Q3.
In 'Anthem of The North' what does Sissay imply about the children of the North?
they are tired
Correct answer: they are ambitious
they are lonely
Q4.
Which of the below is not a stylistic feature of poetry?
Correct answer: where the poet grew up
use of sensory language
number of stanzas
Q5.
When planning the stylistic features you will use in a piece of writing, what should you do ?
write down the name of the techniques you will use
write the whole poem out
Correct answer: experiment with the phrasing of each technique you will use
Q6.
What is the effect of both imagery and figurative language?
leaves the reader confused about what you have written
Correct answer: create vivid images in the reader's mind
causes the reader to question how the content relates to them