Chapter Graphic : Language of Poetry
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  Level: Year 4 and year 8
Approach: One to one
Focus: Understanding metaphors in poetry.
72k
Resources: Three short poems.

Questions / instructions:
In this activity we will be reading parts of poems that have words with special meanings. Words in poems sometimes mean something different from what they actually say. I'll read some short pieces of poetry with interesting uses of words. Here is the first piece of poetry.

     
% responses
y4
y8
Show Poem 1 and read to the student.    

Guard Dog
The guard dog howled.
The young man scowled.
He had a face like thunder.

Anonymous

   
Then point to words "a face like thunder"
 1. What does "a face like thunder" mean?
2. What does it make you think of? 		   
 
highly appropriate, rich response
1
1
relevant, reasonably full response
15
24
relevant but quite limited response
57
60
any other response
27
15
Show Poem 2 and read to the student. year 8 only

Some Days
Some days this school
is a huge concrete sandwich
squeezing me out like jam.

David Harmer

   
Then point to the words "a huge concrete sandwich squeezing me out like jam"
3. What does "a huge concrete sandwich squeezing me out like jam" mean?
4. What does it make you think of?
 
highly appropriate, rich response
–
3
relevant, reasonably full response
–
23
relevant but quite limited response
–
44
any other response
–
30
Show Poem 3 and read to the student.

My Cat
My cat
becomes a tiger.
His eyes are
wide and bright.
He shimmers
in the shadows,
then melts
into the night.

Alan Bagnall

Then point to the words "then melts into the night"
5. What does "then melts into the night" mean?
6. What does it make you think of?
 
highly appropriate, rich response
2
4
relevant, reasonably full response
12
25
relevant but quite limited response
45
50
any other response
41
21
Commentary:
Year 4 students attempted poems 1 and 3 only. A substantial number of students explained the literal meaning but could not link this to keywords like "thunder" and "melt". This meant that they could not enjoy the figurative richness of the simile. Ten to 15 percent more year 8 than year 4 students scored in the top two categories.
 
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