ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CENTRE, MALAYSIA ENGLISH-IN-CAMP: PROFICIENCY THROUGH LITERATURE: SESSION 2 Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia Trainer Toolkit

Session 2: The Living Photograph by Jackie Kay

Activity 1 : Movie Poster Duration : 15 minutesLearning Outcome(s): 1.1 Make friends and keep friendships by

i) Talking about oneself to others, sharing information about each other that is of interest to both parties.Learning Objective (s): Students are able to state and write at least 10 characteristics of their grandmother. Resources

Portrait Procedures 1. Give a portrait of a grandmother to each group (Handout 1). 2. Teacher refers to the portrait and asks the students questions such as the following: Who is this in the picture?

Why do you say she is an old woman/ a grandmother? How old do you think she is?

What do you think grandmothers do?3. Teacher shares personal information about his/her grandmother after eliciting answers from students.4. Teacher guides the students to discuss the characteristics and the physical attributes of their own grandmothers.

5. Students write down the characteristics and the physical attributes of their grandmother using the portrait as a stimulus.Note to teacher1. Teacher will have to describe his/her grandmother to model the activity. Please listen to and correct students spelling and pronunciation. 2. Place students work in the file provided.Session 2

Activity 1

Handout 1

Activity 1: Suggested Answers

old caring small kind

hunched funny feeble sweet

wrinkled grey hair blonde hair simple

loving quiet friendly short-tempered

Activity 2: Say it Right! Duration: 30 minutes

Learning Outcome(s): 1.1 Make friends and keep friendships by vi) Pronouncing words clearly and correctly and making statements with correct intonation, word stress and rhythm.Learning Objective(s):Students are able to 1. pronounce at least 5 out of 10 words correctly.

2. arrange the poem strips in the correct sequence. Resources

A set of word cards, CD (WordWeb app), poem strips, coloured A4 paper.Procedures:1. Teacher prepares word cards with the following words:Anglaise Flat Pleated

Old Crinkled Hunched

Unthinkable Awful Bun

broderie

2. Teacher will flash one word at a time and instruct the students to pronounce it after him/her. 3. Students who fail to pronounce the words correctly will be asked to do one of the following task: Sing a nursery rhyme

Sing an English song

Talk like Mickey Mouse

Scold your friend

Ask permission to go to the washroom 4. Then students watch a video of the poem (CD or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqdSbDtHvHk5. The first time students watch the video quietly. The second time students recite the poem together with the video. During the third time the lyrics will not be shown to the students. Students recite the poem together with the video.6. Each group will be given an envelope consisting of poem strips and coloured papers. They will discuss and arrange the lines of the poem in the correct sequence. 7. The students paste the poem strips on the coloured paper in the correct sequence.

8. Teacher will check and discuss the sequence of the poem with the students.Note to Teacher

1. Correct students pronunciation when necessary.

2. Refer to the WordWeb apps uploaded in the CD if confusion arises on correct pronunciation and also to check the meaning.3. Ensure that the students recite together.4. Switch off the video before distributing the poem strips.

Activity 3: Get me right..!!!! Duration : 30 minutes Learning Outcome(s) : 3.2 Express themselves creatively and imaginatively Learning Objective(s) :

Students are able to 1. discuss the meaning of each stanza.2. write the meaning of each stanza in their own words.Resources

A4 papersProcedures:

1. Teacher divides the poem stanzas among the members of the group.

2. Students will discuss the meaning of each stanza in their smaller groups.

3. Then, one student from the group will collate the meanings of the various stanzas from the others.

4. Students compose a tune/melody to state the meaning of the poem (if there is time).5. Finally, they present and sing the song Note to Teacher1. Teachers can help students when they are discussing the meaning and consolidating the overall meaning of the poem.2. Logical answers can be accepted.Activity 3: Suggested Answers

Stanza 1Meaning

My small grandmother is tall there,

My grandmother looks tall in the photograph.

Straight back, white broderie anglaise shirt, pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun, Grandmother wears a white embroidered shirt, a pleated skirt and flat shoes. Her hair is tied up in a bun.

a kind, old smile round her eyes

Grandmothers eyes look kind.

big hands holds mine,

white hand in black hand.Grandmother is holding the grandchilds white hand in her black one. This tells us that the grandchild may be of mixed parentage. White hand represents the poet's youth, purity, and innocence. Black hand represents that the grandmother is experienced. An old soul who has been through a lot in life.

Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.Grandmother has sharp blue eyes and they seem to look at death without fear. This reveals that grandmother is growing old and death is unavoidable.

The persona described her grandmother as tall and well-dressed with a kind smile. Her smile comes from her eyes. On her deathbed, she held the personas small black hand in her big white hand. She was not afraid to leave the world.

Stanza 2

Meaning

It was true after all that look.

The look on grandmothers face that she was expecting death was true.

My tall grandmother became small. Her back round and hunched.Grandmother became shorter as her back grew bent with age.

Her soup forgot to boil.The soup that did not boil reveals that the grandmother became forgetful and senile

She went to the awful place grandmothers go. . Somewhere unknown, unthinkableGrandmother died. Death is described as an awful, unknown and unthinkable place. This is clearly a childs view point.

The persona accepts that her grandmother has passed to the other world, as all grandmothers do. Grandmother, who was of a tall stature became small, hunched and forgetful.

Stanza 3Meaning

But there she is still,

The word there refers to the old photograph taken with the grandmother when the persona was three years old.

in the photo with me at three,

To the grandchild, the grandmother looks alive in the photograph.

the crinkled smile is still living, breathing.The memory of his/ her grandmother is still fresh and new.

The persona at the age three had taken a photograph with grandmother. When she looks at the photograph, she feels grandmothers presence. To the persona, her grandmother is still very much alive and smiling at her.

OVERALL MEANING

The persona talks about grandmother as 'The Living Photograph'. A photograph of her at the age of three with her grandmother makes her feel that grandmother is always there for her. Grandmother when young was tall and has a kind smile. She was dressed very neatly in a white shirt and pleated skirt. She was not afraid of dying. The persona sat by her bedside and held her hand as grandmother drew her last breath and went to the awful, unknown and unthinkable place. The persona recalls that her grandmother became forgetful. Her back became round and hunched. But, to the persona, her grandmother is still very much alive as she looks at the photograph of herself and her grandmother.

Additional Resources:

http://amandachristinewong.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-living-photograph-by-jackie-kay.htmlhttp://www.slideshare.net/Theodora-Tang/the-living-photograph-presentation-slide?qid=952f7676-8ec5-4065-82c7-4ac5ef0781cb&v=default&b=&from_search=1https://magic.piktochart.com/embed/4939709-the-living-photograph

Activity 4 : Test my understanding??Duration : 45 minutes Learning Outcome(s) : 2.3 Present information to different audiences by

iii) Responding to questions and comments.

3.1 Listen to, read, view and respond to literary works.Learning Objective(s) :

Students are able to discuss and answer at least 10 out of 15 questions correctly.

Resources

Worksheet 1Procedures :1. Teacher asks students questions stated in Handout 1 and discusses the answers with them.2. One student in each group will write the answers.3. Then students watch a video clip about a grandmother.

Note to Facilitator 1. Generate critical thinking through questions such as those given below: Why do you think so? Please explain. What do the others think about this answer?

2. Do you agree with his/her answer? If yes/no, give reasons to support your answer.Session 2 Activity 4

Handout 1

Activity 4: Suggested Answers

Session 2

Additional HandoutComplete the poem. Do NOT refer to the text.

Answer all the questions.

1. State three themes of the poem.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Give four moral values that are found in the poem.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. In your opinion, how does the persona feel towards his/her grandmother? Support your answer with evidence from the poem.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. A picture is worth of a thousand words is a common proverb. How would you relate this proverb to the poem The Living Photograph?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. An elderly member of a family is sometimes sent to a nursing home. Do you agree

with this practice? Provide your reason.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. If you were to take care of your grandmother for a day, what would you do to

make her experience an unforgettable one?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you think the writer is referring to in the phrase the awful place grandmothers go?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why do you think the writers small grandmother is tall in the photo?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the first stanza, what does the word there refer to?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Which line tells you that the writer and her grandmother come from different ethnic background?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How old was the writer when the photo was taken?

___________________________________________________________________________

Why do you think the writer says that her grandmother was tall in the photo but later became small?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Question 13-15, refer to line 14-16 in the poem.

Quote evidence from line 14 to line 16 that the photograph was taken a long time ago.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Explain the meaning of the word crinkled.

___________________________________________________________________________

What do you feel when you look at the photographs of those you love?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.

Remembering loved ones

Family relationship

Life and Death

Love and Appreciation

Close Family Ties

2.

We should remember our elders

We should treasure our family photographs

We should cherish the memories with our grandparents.

We must strive for close family relationship with grandparents/parents

3.

Nostalgic

Appreciative

Positive

Thankful

Thoughtful

Sentimental

Simple

4. The persona feels that his/her grandmother is still alive/living and her memories are

perpetually fresh in her/his mind.

5. Accept any correct or logical answers

6. Accept any correct or logical answers

7. The writer is referring to a lonely dark place.

8. I think it is probably because the photo was taken when the writers grandmother was

younger. Her back was not rounded and hunched then, so she looked tall.

9. It refers to the photograph.

10. white hand in black hand

11. She was three years old.

12. I think it is because at the time the photo was taken, her grandmother was younger. Her

back was straight, therefore she seemed taller. It could also be because the writer was very

young at that time (only 3 years old). As her grandmother grew older, her back became

round and hunched. So she appeared small. The writer would also have grown bigger and

taller too, therefore her grandmother no longer appears tall to her.

13. The persona says that the photograph was taken when he/she was three years old.

14. Wrinkled

15. (Accept any logical answers)

The Living Photograph

My (1)______________ grandmother is (2) ____________ there,

straight-back, white (3) ____________ anglaise (4)___________________,

(5) _____________ skirt, flat shoes, grey (6) ____________ ,

a (7) _____________, old (8)_________ round her eyes.

Her big hand (9)____________mine,

white hand in (10) ___________ hand.

Her sharp blue eyes look her own (11) ______________ in the eye.

It was (12) __________ after all; that look.

My tall grandmother became small.

Her back round and (13) _____________.

Her (14) _____________ forgot to boil.

She went to the (15) ____________ place grandmothers go.

Somewhere unknown, (16) ___________.

But there she is still,

in the (17) ____________ with me at (18)____________,

the (19) ________________ smile is still (20) _____________ , breathing.

Jackie Kay

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