The following resources are useful for a seven-lesson transition unit at the end of KS3. Help students revise skills for reading, annotating and analysing love and relationships poetry in preparation for KS4.
This unit will boost students’ critical analysis and essay-writing skills. There is also a speaking and listening task which you can assess using GCSE specifications.
Learning objectives
- Know the various techniques required for reading poetry effectively
- Explore how John Donne and Robert Frost portray love in their poems
- Explored how Andrew Marvell’s poem ‘To his Coy Mistress’ contains a biased view of love
- Explored how Aphra Behn presents sexual love in her poem ‘The Willing Mistress’
Speaking and listening task
Imagine an exam board is creating a new anthology for GCSE English. The publishers are trying to choose poems that are relevant, interesting, and accessible to students today.
They would like feedback from students, as to which love and relationships poetry they should include. In groups, choose one poem from those studied this half term.
Study and research the poem, and come up with an argument to deliver to the exam board on why you feel your particular poem should be included in the new anthology.
You should provide research and evidence about your poem (the author, when it was written, what it is about, why it is relevant and interesting, etc.) and give well-considered arguments as to why it should be included and why the other poems should be left out.
Krista Carson is a secondary school English teacher, research lead and Cambridge MEd grad. You can find her resources on her TES page Krista Carson’s Shop. Check out her blog at reflectiveramblingsofmisscarson.blogspot.com.
