Analyse a poem (Spring themed whole lesson)

Loveliest of Trees the Cherry Now by A E Housman

Whole lesson: suitable for a whole class reading session with opportunities for an extended activity (into writing, a performance during the afternoon or part of a a range of activities during a poetry-themed day or event at your school.)

This is a must if you are lucky enough to have cherry trees in bloom in or around your grounds.

The slide show enables the teacher to introduce key vocab and set the poem in context (time written, poet and his life)
Introduces the poem - to be read out the whole way through, without pause (as a whole class/in pairs) and then there is a line by line analysis of the poem, designed to be done as a whole class, with plenty of opportunities for talk partner discussion as part of this exercise.
Some prior knowledge of poetic techniques and language is assumed. (e.g personification, alliteration, a couplet) but if the pupils do not know these terms. the poem affords the perfect opportunity for them to learn them.

This lesson meets the National Curriculum requirements: participate in discussions about poems, prepare poems to read out loud and perform; learn a wider range of poetry by heart.

I have delivered this in Year 5 and it was really successful - but I could equally see this working in any age group - through the simplicity or complexity of the discussion. There is so much that can come from it - reading into writing - biography of the author, descriptive writing of a cherry tree, a poem about an element of a season the children find equally as attractive (there are slides to support this objective).
Cross-curricular ideas - supporting science objectives - observing life cycles in own locality - I could see children sketching blossom, photo evidencing the change in seasons, pressing flowers - using pressed flowers for art work later …

No separate lesson plan is needed as the slides are very self explanatory.

I hope you enjoy using this resource. I would be grateful if you could leave a review.