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Teaching Poetry: 21 Steps to Understand That Poem

Teaching poetry - 21 steps to understanding that poem

What do you ask students about a poem?  When teaching poetry, some of us feel quite confident formulating questions/instructions that get students involved in, and thinking critically about a poem.  Some of us don’t – as in, “where do I begin?!” 


Whichever camp you’re in, you’ll hopefully find this guide a handy go-to.  We’ve compared our steps to turning 21 when we get the ‘key to the door’ – in this case that door leads students to a critical understanding of a poem.  Print this, pin it to your wall, and refer to it as you plan. 


Place your poem in the centre of a page and, if you can, increase the spacing between lines.  This will give students plenty of room to highlight/underline parts of the poem and make notes around it.  Many of our 21 steps can be completed using annotation.


Complete the instructions in order, HOWEVER, remember they are generic, so remove or edit any you need to in order to suit your poem.


One more thing:  we mention it in a few of the steps below, but do always encourage students to discuss the EFFECTS of what they find.


Vocabulary

  1. Find any words you don’t know.  Highlight and note definitions.

  2. Find words that relate to [topic – eg: nature, the colour red, finding one’s way].

  3. Find words suggestive of/that illustrate [emotion – eg: lack of hope, joy].

  4. Find ameliorative words (those with positive connotations).

  5. Find pejorative words (those with negative connotations).

  6. Draw lines between/list words with opposite meanings.


Language and Sound

  1. Find examples of figurative language.  What’s the effect of these?

  2. Find examples of sound devices.  What’s the effect of these?


Structure

  1. Contrast:  Place a line through the poem where the tone changes. [Eg: first verse about pretty flowers...but in the second verse, they’re poisonous or two verses about having fun with a dog...but the dog’s dead now.]

  2. Highlight the punctuation.  Note its effects.  [Teachers: have students practice reading TO the punctuation instead of pausing at the end of each line (which students naturally tend to do).  Reading to the punctuation helps the poem read more like prose, so it becomes easier for students to understand.]

  3. What’s the central image?  Find words that illustrate this.  [Teachers: is there enough here to say it’s an extended metaphor?]

  4. Find links between the beginning and the end of the poem (similarities and differences).  How does this help illustrate the poet’s meaning?

  5. In just a few words, note what each stanza is about.  [Teachers:  keep this basic, we talk about what stanzas mean in step 16.]

  6. Draw a thumbnail sketch of each verse.

  7. How have these stanzas/verses been organised?  What’s the effect of this?


Thinking Critically

  1. Look at your notes and sketches about what each stanza is about.  Add notes to explain what each stanza means.  [Teachers:  we’re talking about deeper meanings here.  Eg:  The verse might be about a snake swallowing a wedding ring, but it might mean that one partner is destroying the other.]

  2. Describe the tone of the poem.  What makes you say this?  [Teachers:  encourage students to look back at their annotations, especially with regard to vocabulary.]

  3. What does the poet leave us to wonder?

  4. What does this poem suggest about the poet (feelings, experiences, biases...)?

  5. What does the poet want us to feel (emotionally), experience (with our senses), think about, understand?  Answer this question using the word “purpose”.

  6. The main idea of this poem is that...  [Teachers, ensure students use the word “that” in their sentence because it will force them to be specific about the poet’s message.]


Teaching poetry is awesome when you have a few tools like this at your disposal. Check out our Ultimate Teaching Pack for Poetry, too!



Teaching poetry - 21 steps to understand that poem - link to TPT store.

 

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