Bringing poetry into classroom: embellishing the routine

Asimina PoulidouProti High School

Motives

• Need to do something new with old students

• Love for poetry, literature and nature

Objectives

• To make students see English from a different point of view

• To use English in an non-linguistic environment• To motivate students• To make them realise the importance of the

observation of nature• To express themselves• To have fun

Target group

• All classes of Junior and Senior High School

Different approach according to age and level

Description

• Internet

• Personal academic references

• Selection of poems, proverbs, quotations

• Putting them on a corkboard decorated with

pictures

• Music background (Vivaldi, Four seasons)

Step 1 - Autumn

- Brainstorming- Connotations

- Feelings- Senses

- Memories- Likes/dislikes

Grey-pessimistic imagesVs

positive ones

Step 1 - Autumn

Poems - quotationsJohn Donne, Robert Browning, Robert Frost, Albert Camus, Thomas Hood etc

Autumn is a second springWhen every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus (1913-1960), France

I trust in nature for the stable lawsOf beauty and utility.Spring shall plant and autumn garnerTo the end of time.

Robert Browning (1812-1889), England

No spring nor summer beauty hath such graceAs I have seen in an autumnal face.

John Donne (1572-1631), England

I saw old Autumn in the misty mornStand shadowless like Silence, listeningTo Silence.

Thomas Hood (1799-1845), England

Step 2 - Winter

- Connotations- Feelings- Senses

- Memories- Likes/dislikes

Christmas time otherwise

Step 2 - Winter

Poems - quotationsT.S. Elliot, Shakespeare, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Anton Chekhov, Victor Hugo,

Albert Camus, Charlotte Bronte etc.

In seed time learn,In harvest teach,In winter enjoy. William Blake (1757-1827), England

People don’t notice whether it’s winteror summer when they’re happy.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russia

Winter is on my head,but eternal spring is in my heart.

Victor Hugo (1802-1885), France

Blow, blow thou winter windThou art not as unkindAs man’s ingratitude.

William Shakespeare, (1564-1616), England, ‘As you like it’

Winter kept us warm, coveringEarth in forgetful snow, feedingA little life with dried tuber.

T.S. Elliot, (1888-1965), USA, ‘The Waste Land’

Step 3 - Spring

- Connotations- Feelings- Senses

- Memories- Likes/dislikes

Step 3 - Spring

Poems - quotationsBern Williams, H.D. Thoreau, Shakespeare, T.S. Elliot, P.B. Shelley etc.

April is the cruelest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain.

T.S. Elliot (1888-1965), USA, ‘The Waste Land’

 And spring arose on the garden fair,Like the spirit of love felt everywhere,And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breastRose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), England

The day the Lord created hopewas probably the same dayHe created Spring

Bern Williams

 

It is a natural resurrection, an experience of immortality.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), USA

 

O, how this spring of love resemblethThe uncertain glory of an April day!

W. Shakespeare, ‘The two gentlemen of Verona’

 

Step 3 - Spring

World Poetry Day

- Celebration- Perception of poems through senses & feelings

Step 3 - Spring

World Poetry DayJohn Donne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Langston Hughes, Christina Rosetti etc.

All that is gold does not glitterNot all those who wander are lost.The old that is strong does not wither,Deep roots are not reached by the frost.From the ashes a fire shall be wokenA light from the shadows shall spring,Renewed shall be blade that was broken,The crownless again shall be king.

J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973), South Africa

 Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), USA

No man is an island entire of itself; every manis a piece of the continent, a part of the main;…………………………………………………….…………….. any man’s death diminishes me,because I am involved in the mankind.And therefore never send to know for whomthe bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

John Donne

 

Results

• Differentiation of teaching routine• Nice and relaxed class atmosphere• Students motivated and willing to express

themselves• Familiarity with poetry• Another aspect of English

culture• Poems written by students

Conclusion

• Students are open to new things in language

teaching

• A happy teacher

• Happy students

• Bringing poetry into classroom can be fun

Thank you