lesson 4

Lesson 4

Using predicting skills when reading a poetry

We are learning to predict the meaning of a poem using clues from the text and our own knowledge to guess what a poem might be about before we've read it all. 

I can:

·       read a poem without knowing the title

·       activate prior knowledge and use clues from the text

·       visualise what it might be about

·       research interesting words

·       create my own title

·       discuss how discovering poem's title changed my understanding of poem

Good readers of poetry use clues from the poem to gain understanding:

When reading a poem we:

Look for keywords, images, or the poem's title that might give you a hint about the poem's topic or theme.

• Connect to your knowledge:

Think about what you already know about similar topics or themes. Has the poem reminded you of something you've read before or an experience you've had?.

• Make a guess:

Based on the clues and your knowledge, form a reasonable guess about what the poem might be about.

• Read the poem and refine your guess:

As you read, pay attention to how the poem unfolds. Is your initial guess accurate, or do you need to revise it?.

• Keep predicting:

Predicting is an ongoing process. Continue to make new guesses and refine your understanding of the poem as you read.

Explicit teaching:

Student task

Put following poem up on smart board and hand out copy of poem without title:

TITLE: _________________________________________________

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Circle all the words that you are not sure of the meaning

Have discussion

Create a table to put words that are unfamiliar:

(Students not to find definition until they have guessed meaning) see example:

Unfamiliar/interesting word          What I think it means              Definition   

 azure                                              blue colour                                bright blue in colour like 

                                                                                                           a cloudless sky

crag                                                  a witch?

 After looking at unfamiliar words have students create their own title using what they visualised as they read the poem.

They write down their responses and give reasons as to what they think the poem is about.

Students to share responses to poem and what title they created.

Students to find the title of the poem, by typing the first line of poem or poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson into search engine.

Students to share responses after they discover what the title.

Discuss how knowing the title change their response to the poem.

STUDENT TASK

Students to research animal poems and create their own understanding of the poem by looking at title and making predictions using their own prior knowledge and clues from the text.

How did activating prior knowledge help engage you as a reader with the non fiction text?

Discuss the benefits of activating prior knowledge with class