AN IRISH AIRMAN FORESEES HIS DEATH - POEM ANALYSIS : LESSONS AND RESOURCES

Unit plans with 3 sessions on poetry comprehension – An Irish Airman Foresees His Death by William Butler Yeats.

After completing this unit students will be able to:

• Analyse the poem to make a critical appreciation (session 1).
• Identify the poetic devices and explain how they are used in the poem (session 2).
• Annotate the lines of the poem with reference to context (session 3).

Lesson Preview:

• Poet and Introduction (Scaffold Notes 1)
• Summary and Poem (Scaffold Notes 2)

SESSION 1: POETRY ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL APPRECIATION
Discussion:

• Poetry Forms (Scaffold Notes 3)
• Poetry Structures (Scaffold Notes 4)
• Poetry Analysis Guide (Scaffold Notes 5)
• Poetry Analysis Template (Scaffold Notes 6)
  Collaborative Group Tasks:
• Pair-Share - Inferring the meaning of the words from the context of the poem (Exercise 1)
• Ask-Write - Writing the lines that refer to the given ideas (Exercise 2)
• Write-Advance – Critical appreciation of the poem (Exercise 3)
  Assessment - Poetry Analysis Rubrics (Scaffold Notes 7)
  Differentiated Tasks - Writing poems with elegy elements (Exercise 4)
  Plenary – Answering poetry elements questions (Exercise 5)

SESSION 2: POETIC DEVICES IN POETRY AND THEIR USAGE
Discussion:

• Comparison Devices (Scaffold Notes 8)
• Sound Devices (Scaffold Notes 9)
• Figures of Speech (Scaffold Notes 10)
  Collaborative Group Tasks:
• Pair-Share – Meaning of expressions used in the poem (Exercise 6)
• Ask-Write - Identification and explanation of poetic devices (Exercise 7)
• Write-Advance - Comparing and contrasting the speaker before and after (Exercise 8)
  Assessment - Poetic Devices in Poetry Rubrics (Scaffold Notes 11)
  Differentiated Tasks - Answering differentiated questions based on poem theme (Exercise 9)
  Plenary – Answering poetic devices questions (Exercise 10)

SESSION 3: POETRY ANNOTATION AND REFERENCE TO CONTEXT
Discussion:

• Annotation Guide (Scaffold Notes 12)
• Annotation Template and Prompt (Scaffold Notes 13)
• Explanation Prompts for Figures of Speech (Scaffold Notes 14)
  Collaborative Group Tasks:
• Pair-Share - Summarizing the meaning of the poem (Exercise 11)
• Ask-Write - Identification of annotation elements (Exercise 12)
• Write-Advance - Annotating the lines of the poem (Exercise 13)
  Assessment - Annotation Rubrics (Scaffold Notes 15)
  Differentiated Tasks - Writing comprehension questions (Exercise 14)
  Plenary - Answering multiple choice questions (Exercise 15)

Home Learning: Comprehension questions (Exercise 16)
Common Core Standards - ELA.LITERACY.RL.6-8.1-4
Skills - Social and Cognitive

Here are some possible uses for these in your classroom:

• To challenge early finishers
• For effective tutoring
• As ESL stations and sub tubs
• As holiday work and homework
• For small group collaborations
• For an end of unit assessments
• For reinforcement and enrichment