This lesson is for introducing unseen poetry strategies for Year 9 or 10, and could also be adapted as a general poetry lesson for Year 7 or 8. It was originally planned for a job interview, using the lesson objectives the school gave me in advance, and has been used several times successfully since then. I have included: a PowerPoint presentation a detailed lesson plan a copy of the poem which has notes for the teacher (as comments on Word). Lesson Objectives: To enjoy the poem introduced To have an interpretation of the poem introduced Be able to recognise strategies for dealing with unseen poems Have some idea of literary terminology and start to analyse the features of the poem

This lesson is designed as an introduction to a poetry unit, with the aim of addressing and challenging students’ pre-existing knowledge of “poetry”. It was originally planned for a set two Year 9 class and led to a very engaged and interesting lesson. However, I reckon it could be used for any age up the the start of Year 12. Includes a short writing activity at the end (plenary), but otherwise is open discussion. The slides present different poems (or songs) without the title or writer, and are intended to be presented in the order they are currently in. The first one may be familiar to them, and uses traditional poetic techniques they will recognise. After that, things get weirder. With each slide, the initial questions from the teacher should be ‘Is this a poem?’, and then ‘Why?’ and/or ‘Why not?’, without telling them where it’s from or who wrote it until at least halfway through the discussion. Includes notes in presentation.

Please note: preview hasn’t uploaded properly - cover image shows actual product. Book labels to indicate who a book belongs to (e.g. teacher, school, class, year group) and which room it belongs in. Can be used for personal or student books. To fit Avery labels 3427 (8 stickers per page). Adjustable Word document. If printing more than one sheet, please print one initially to check alignment and adjust if necessary.