Mother, Any Distance... Simon Armitage - Love/ Relationships Poetry

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to build their knowledge of the content, language, and structure of Simon Armitage’s contemporary relationships poem ‘Mother, Any Distance...’ In particular, students learn how the poet’s use of figurative language portrays the key messages in the poem, for example the maternal relationship between the speaker and his mother.

Students learn through a logical and step-by-step learning journey, including:
-Discussing and applying the key messages and meanings in the poem;
-Understanding key contextual information about the poet and his life;
-Reading and interpreting the poem;
-Understanding the poem, with a particular emphasis upon the content, language, and structural features;
- Identifying and analysing the poet's use of figurative language;
-Writing an extended analysis piece based upon how Simon Armitage presents the strength of the maternal bond in Mother, Any Distance;
-Peer assessing their partners' analysis attempts.

Included is:
- Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful, engaging and substantial; (including hyperlink to a reading of the poem)
- Copy of poem;
- Figurative Language in 'Mother, Any Distance' worksheet;
- Figurative Language in 'Mother, Any Distance' answer-sheet;
- Analysis template with in-built success criteria for creating well-structured responses;
- Comprehensive lesson plan.

There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 9/10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities.

All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.