1 Hong Kong Budding Poets (English) Award Presented by NET Section & Co-organised with Gifted Education Section EDB Secondary Workshop 15 & 17 March 2006

2 Objectives To encourage the teaching of poetry To encourage the use of poetry in teaching English To introduce a variety of poetic structures and devices To develop strategies for assisting entrants in the Budding Poets (English) Award

3 Poetry Discovery Chart How to get students writing poetry … Brainstorm What you know already What you want to know

Value of poetry Fun Appreciate sounds words and patterns Variet y Express feeling and opinions Vocabulary Language skills Phonic skills Confidence Imagination Creativit y Creative writing Integratio n Spoken expression

5 Poetry and the Curriculum – In the implementation of the English Language Curriculum, “ the use of a wide range of language arts materials … (i.e.using English to respond and to give expression to real and imaginative experience) and to develop … creativity. ” ‘ English Language Curriculum Guide ’ (P1-S3) p.11

6 Some Elements of Poetry 1.Harmonic Textures 2.A Sense of Form 3.Figures of Speech 4.Rhythm & Meter 5.Line Breaks 6.Stanza Breaks

7 1.Harmonic Textures Alliteration: dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon Assonance: dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon Consonance: bare ruined choirs Rhyme: dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon

8 1. Harmonic Textures Activity One Look at the poem and definitions Use different coloured pens to identify the patterns of sound

9 1.Harmonic Textures Notice how these devices work together in the opening of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan":Kubla Khan

10 2. A Sense of Form partly visual; its look on the page partly auditory; patterns of sound pre-existing patterns; like sonnets free verse

11 From a Railway Carriage FASTER than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; And charging along like troops in a battle, All through the meadows the horses and cattle: All of the sights of the hill and the plain Fly as thick as driving rain; And ever again, in the wink of an eye, Painted stations whistle by.

12 3. Figures of Speech Metaphor, Imagery, Simile: Time is a river Time hangs heavy Time is like the breeze

13 Theme: Winter Snowflakes Snowflakes spill from heaven’s hand Lovely and chaste like smooth white sand. A veil of wonder laced in light Falling gently on a winter’s night. (see handout for full poem) ~by Linda A. Copp~

14 4. Rhythm & Meter Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; Read the two lines aloud (Activity Three) Can you find the rhythmic pattern?

15 - x x - x Faster than fairies, faster than witches, - x x - x Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches ; Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

16 5. Line Breaks Poetry is written in lines The poet can select line breaks by: counting stresses counting syllables counting feet - iambic pentameter (e.g.5 iambic feet per line) or by the poet ’ s own rules: free verse

17 6. Stanza Breaks Stanzas are visual groupings of lines. The Poet can use stanzas of any length: couplets tercets quatrains quintets sestets octaves 14 line poem can be 3 quatrains and a couplet or an octave and a sestet

18 So what about rhyme? The usual design is fine, An ending rhyme for every line. Half-rhymes are quite acceptable, Consider using these as well. But sometimes it is so sublime Within a line to bind the rhyme And flying blind, your rhyme will climb.

19 Group activity –Look at the picture on the table –What theme does that picture suggest to you? –Brainstorm that theme to develop a vocabulary and image bank –Decide upon the first line –As a group, draft an 8-line poem, bear in mind the elements already discussed –Ruthlessly revise your draft

20 Teaching Poetry Use the five senses Encourage careful observation of concrete events and scenes Encourage the use of figurative language Make each word count Consider using an existing poetry structure to create new work

21 Some Ideas for Starting Play at making similes - the moon is like a banana...the moon is like a white smile …. Repetitive phrases e.g. At the end of the rainbow I saw. … Icicles are like …. In my magic box I will put …. (list things you like … )

22 More ideas for starting students to write I am afraid of ……… I wish I was …….. It ’ s a secret but ….. I dreamed I saw …… In my pocket …. What is Yellow? ……… Alliteration … One waggly walrus … two toothsome tigers … four funny friends...

23 Teaching Resources: formsof.htm The Learning and Teaching of Poetry (Secondary 1-3) – Curriculum Development Institute (2002)

Thank You for your participation Please fill in an evaluation form … we value your comments!