Valentine's Day English Lesson: Write a Shakespearean Sonnet!

This Valentine’s Day English Lesson is aimed at key stage 3 and key stage 4. In the lesson, students will learn about the history of Valentine’s Day, consider Shakespeare’s sonnets and iambic pentameter, and then write their own Shakespearean sonnet.

Learning Questions:

1. What are the origins of Valentine’s Day?
2. How did Shakespeare write about love using the sonnet form?
3. How can I write my own sonnet (love poem)?

This works really well as a one-off English lesson to celebrate Valentine’s Day, whilst also keeping students focused on English-specific skills and knowledge.

Lesson Overview:
Do It Now: What would be the worst ever Valentine’s day gift someone could get?
Starter: Brief history of Valentine’s Day followed by think-pair-share and discussion.
Main task 1: Explanation of Shakespearean sonnet followed by students reading out lines of iambic pentameter.
Main task 2: Students look at an example sonnet and then write their own sonnet.
Share and celebrate student sonnets.
Plenary: Students choose five words to summarise what they’ve learned about the origins of Valentine’s Day.

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