Refining poems: harmony and dissonance
I can refine a poem by paying close attention to its harmony and dissonance.
Refining poems: harmony and dissonance
I can refine a poem by paying close attention to its harmony and dissonance.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Poets pay close attention to how their poems sound, as well as what the words express.
- You might like a poem for its harmonious sound before you understand its meanings.
- Angelou created harmonious sounds in her poems, often relying on rhythm, rhyme, repetition and refrain.
- When writing your own poems, reading your work aloud lets you to hear what sounds harmonious, and edit dissonant sounds.
Keywords
Harmony - in music, a combination of sounds that sound nice
Rhythm - the beat, flow, or pattern of a piece of music or writing
Syllable - the number of beats in a word; for example, "rise" has one syllable, "history" has three syllables
Dissonance - in music, a combination of sounds that don't sound nice.
Rhyme - repetition of similar sounds in two or more words.
Common misconception
A poem with a good rhythm always rhymes.
Rhythm is about the flow, beat and sound of a poem. Rhyme can sometimes develop rhythm, but it is not necessary.
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Refining poems: harmony and dissonance, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Refining poems: harmony and dissonance, 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 Single poet study: Maya Angelou unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Pupils need access to a copy of 'Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou published by Penguin Random House in 1978.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
- Depiction or discussion of sexual content
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
the beat, flow or pattern of a piece of music or writing
the repetition of similar sounds in two or more words
the number of beats in a word
a repeated line, or set of lines, in a poem