Poetry Questions

What do you like about the poem? Is there anything you dislike? How does it make you feel?

What patterns can you find? Is there any rhyme, alliteration or assonance? Is anything repeated?

What interesting words or phrases can you find? What do they mean? Are there any metaphors or similes? Are there any vivid descriptions?

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Terminology for discussing poetryRhymeWe say that words rhyme if they have the same ending sound or sounds. E.g. table and fable or impossibility and activity The spelling does not need to be the same, just the sounds. E.g. sword and broad or rough and stuff

AlliterationWe spot alliteration when several words begin with the same sound. E.g. The startled snake slithered softly through the undergrowth making not a single sound.The words do not all need to be next to each other.

AssonanceThis refers to a similarity of sounds in the syllables of nearby words. So, the words may not necessarily begin with the same sound, but there is some echo of particular sounds in them. E.g. The cottage seemed a hostage to long-feared horrors. The /o/ sound is repeated here.

Simile We create a simile when we compare one thing to another. E.g. The cat was like a soft, furry doormat. The dog was as thin as a broom handle. We can use ‘like’ or ‘as ____ as a _____’ in our simile.

MetaphorWe create a metaphor when we compare one thing to another but do not say ‘as’ or ‘like’ but just say that the first thing is the second – even though it isn’t really! E.g. The cat is a slinky eel – she can slip through the narrowest gap. That dog is a bullet; he can travel faster than any other animal.

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Top tips for reading a poem aloud

Work on the tricky words. Find out what they mean and how they are said. Practise saying them.

Find the rhythm and beat of the poem. Keep them softly in your mind as you read the poem.

Slow down. Speak slowly when you’re reading a poem, so that others can hear the words.

Project your voice. Imagine someone on the other side of the room and speak to them.

Practise. Read and read and read your poem, so that you get better each time.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

I am the rain

I am the rain

I like to play games

like sometimes

I pretend

I’m going

to fall

Man that’s the time

I don’t come at all

Like sometimes

I get these laughing stitches

up my sides

rushing people in

and out

with the clothesline

I just love drip

dropping

down collars

and spines

Maybe it’s a shame

but it’s the only way

I get some fame Grace Nichols

Sun is laughing© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

This morning she got upOn the happy side of the bed,Pulled backThe grey sky-curtainsAnd poked her headThrough the blue windowOf heaven,Her yellow laughterSpilling over,Falling broad across the grass,Brightening the washing line,Giving more shineTo the back of a ladybugAnd buttering up all the world.

Then, without any warning,As if she was suddenly bored,Or just got sulky

Because she could hear no oneGiving praiseTo her shining ways,Sun slammed the sky-window closed,Plunging the whole worldInto greyness once more.

O Sun, moody one,How can we liveWithout the holiday of your face?

Grace Nichols

I am the rain - ClozeI am the rain

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

I like to play games

like sometimes

I pretend

I’m going

to fall

Man that’s the time

I don’t come at all

Like sometimes

I get these laughing stitches

up my sides

rushing people in

and out

with the clothesline

I just love drip

dropping

down collars

and spines

Maybe it’s a shame

but it’s the only way

I get some fame Grace Nichols

Sun is laughing - Cloze

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

This morning she got upOn the happy side of the bed,Pulled backThe grey sky-curtainsAnd poked her headThrough the blue windowOf heaven,

Her yellow laughterSpilling over,Falling broad across the grass,Brightening the washing line,Giving more shineTo the back of a ladybugAnd buttering up all the world.

Then, without any warning,As if she was suddenly bored,Or just got sulkyBecause she could hear no oneGiving praiseTo her shining ways,Sun slammed the sky-window closed,Plunging the whole worldInto greyness once more.

O Sun, moody one,How can we liveWithout the holiday of your face?

Grace Nichols

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

When you look at a painting

When you look at a painting

let the dancing begin.

Move your eyes round the frame

both gilded and plain.

Then let the light take you in

To all that's within

When you look at a painting

just don't stand and stare

Slide your eyes around the waists

of the colours and the shades,

let your eyes keep step

with the moods and the shapes.

When you look at a painting

let the dancing begin.

Let the rhythm unlock

the way your body rocks.

Don't be shy let your eyes jump in –

Surprise the dance floor of the painting.

Grace Nichols

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Top Tips for Learning a Poem by Heart

Read the poem aloud several times slowly.

Copy the poem out a couple of times.

Be strategic. Poems with pattern, metre and rhyme are much easier to learn by heart than free verse.

Learn and internalise the “story” in the poem.

Understand the poem by knowing every word’s meaning.

With a card, cover everything but the first line of the poem. Read it. Look away, see the line in the air, and say it. Look back. Repeat until you’ve “got it.”

Uncover the second line. Learn it as you did the first line, but also add the second line to first, until you’ve got the two.

Then it’s on to line three. Always repeat the first line on down, till the whole poem sings.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Artworks – Set 2

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Poems Set 2The Gardener

Sitting cross-leggedunder the roof of my hat hour after hour.

Hearing the leaves of brushstrokes overlapping colours.

The workings of greens and browns and blues the light over my shoulders

The patience of seed the gestures of flowers my ten green fingers.

Little Dancer

Now you must put your sinewy toes to their hardest test.

Take a deep breath,little dancer,take a deep breath.

Before you burst into butterfly from the tight

Cocoon of your dress.

Learning to Swim

Learning to swim,your girl-walking

land-accustomed body turns horizontal wriggly

Arms and legs such strange things

like wayward fins trying to get you from A to B

to C

And yes you're learning how to be a submarine dancer,a froggiea floatie a spirogyra

Kicking through the new yet familiar element called water.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Other Versions

Dancer, Dancer

I can see why you are crying,

Dancer,

is it because your feet are burning,

Dancer?

I know you're embarrassed,

Dancer,

But I am impressed

by your dancing,

it is the violins playing sweetly

saying the words,

you know the beats.

By Elaina

Melanie and Me Swimming

Splish splash went dad

As he was helping Amy to swim

Splish splash went Amy

As she kicked her legs like fins

Splish splash went the

Dark gloomy water

Splish splash.

By Jatin

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

LEI Process

Look CarefullyTake a long careful look at the whole work of art you have chosen. What do you notice? What does it make you think about?

Make a sketch of the whole artwork and close-ups of details that interest you.

Choose the one detail that gives the feeling or idea that you want to write about.

Turn away from the artwork and try to remember as much as you can of it. Jot down what you can remember.

Now turn back to look at it. Make notes to describe it in all its detail. You might start by listing things, such as the objects and colours in a painting. Take each one and go on to describe it in more detail.

Experience - Think about your own lifeThink about how this artwork relates to your own life and to things you have experienced yourself.

ImagineCan you imagine what sounds, smells, tastes and textures the artwork might have? Can you imagine what it would be like if it came alive? What would happen if you could enter the artwork? What might be about to happen in the painting?

Adapted from the suggestions in the end section of Paint Me a Poem by Grace Nichols

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Look

Look - Take a three-minute look at the artwork – time yourself. Afterwards, write down what you noticed and what the artwork made you think about.

Sketch 1 - Sketch the whole artwork.

Sketch 2 - Sketch a close-up of the details that interest you most.

Remember - Look away from the artwork and try to remember as much as you can. Jot down all you can remember.

Make Notes - Look back at the artwork and make notes to describe all its detail. You might start by listing things, such as the objects and colours in a painting. Then take each one and go on to describe it in more detail.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Experience – Think about your own lifeWhat in your own life does this artwork link to? What people or situations or events? Draw or write about your ideas here.

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ImagineCan you imagine what sounds, smells, taste and textures the artwork might have? Can you imagine what it would be like if it came alive? What would happen if you could enter the artwork? What might be about to happen in the painting?

Draw or write your ideas here.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources

Example Artwork 1

Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin

A Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat

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Example Artwork 2

Les Meninas by Diego Velazquez

I and the Village by Marc Chagall

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Example Artwork 3

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. art_P341PT1_resources