Letter writing: planning, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter as stimulus
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can plan an imaginative letter that recounts an experience in the trenches of World War One using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter to his mother as stimulus.
Key learning points
- Letters were a vital form of communication during World War One.
- Receiving and sending letters brought small moments of joy to those on the front, and those at home.
- Owen is best remembered for his poetry about World War One, but he also sent many letters home.
- Owen’s letters are different in structure, audience and tone from his poems, but still convey the horrors of war.
- Arguably, Owen’s letter is structured into three sections: scene-setting, recounting an event, conveying his attitude.
Keywords
Recount - to describe something that happened, to tell its story
Court-martial - to be tried for a crime in which you are deemed to have broken military law
Execrate - curse, hate, detest
Structure - how something is put together; the most basic structure in a text is its beginning, middle and end
Tone - a writer’s attitude or emotional stance; encompasses the mood, feeling and overall atmosphere
Common misconception
Poems are carefully crafted and use methods, but nonfiction letters won't have a structure or include methods.
Almost all writing follows some sort of structure even, for example, a shopping list. Methods are tools writers use to convey their messages. Every single word, technically, is a method.
Teacher tip
In LC2, consider how long you wish your pupils to spend discussing their ideas for their letter. Consider what you want this discussion to look like - 'Think, Pair, Share' is just one example. Consider if your pupils might need an additional stimulus - an image, a clip - to support their planning.
Equipment
A copy of Wilfred Owen's 1917 letter to his mother is available on the worksheet for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A writer’s attitude or emotional stance is also known as their .
Q2.Before his death in 1918, how did poet Wilfred Owen communicate with his mother?
Q3.Another way of saying a writer's attitude is...
Q4.Wilfred Owen's poetry is known for its __________ portrayal of trench warfare during WWI.
Q5.What are we looking for when we focus on writer's use of structure?
Q6.What does the term 'front line' mean?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords on the left with their definitions on the right.
Q2.A text's most basic structure can be considered as a beginning, middle and end.
Q3.In Owen's letter to his mother he write about a soldier being "court-martialled". How did Owen feel about this?
Q4.Starting with the first, put the structure of Owen's letter to his mother in the order it appeared in the letter.
Q5. brought small moments of joy to soldiers as well as their loved ones at home.
Q6.In his letter to his mother, Owen describes that he as "suffered seventh ".
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Letter writing: planning, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter as stimulus, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Letter writing: planning, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter as stimulus, 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 Literary perspectives from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.