- Year 11
- AQA
Developing a personal response to an unseen poem
I can develop my personal response to an unseen poem.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 11
- AQA
Developing a personal response to an unseen poem
I can develop my personal response to an unseen poem.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- To form a personal response, you might start by asking how the poem makes you feel.
- You might then consider ideas of which word(s) or phrases stand out to you and which you don't understand.
- To develop your personal response, you might consider reframing your ideas.
- When reframing, you might talk about what is evocative, pertinent or ambiguous in the poem.
Keywords
Pertinent - relating directly to the subject being considered; relevant
Personal - belonging to or affecting a particular person rather than anyone else
Evocative - bringing strong images, memories or feelings to mind
Ambiguity - a situation in which something has more than one possible meaning
Reframe - to change the way something is expressed or considered
Common misconception
That your feelings about a poem are irrelevant.
How you respond to a poem forms the basis of your argument about a poem - it helps you to understand how a poet has created meaning.
To help you plan your year 11 English lesson on: Developing a personal response to an unseen poem, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 English lesson on: Developing a personal response to an unseen poem, 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.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the Unseen poetry unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need a copy of Helen Dunmore’s ‘Next Door’ which is available in the additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
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