'Poppies' by Jane Weir

This is an interesting modern poem which features in both AQA and Edexcel's anthology of Literature exam poems. The poem, if you don't know it, explores the feelings of a mother whose son has gone to war as a soldier. It is a moving poem about loss which can be linked to other poems which share this theme.

The lesson begins by asking students to define a list of key words which appear in the poem and then challenges them to link them together, thus predicting what the poem could be about. They are then introduced to the 'WPSLOMP' method of analysing poetry which they can then apply in pairs before colour coding devices that the poet uses for effect (metaphor, simile, sensual imagery and caesura). The ideas they pull together for this can then be pulled together as a class and there are slides which reveal the devices for them to then write about.

The lesson ends with a chance for students to write independent essay paragraphs with AQA's exam success criteria but this can be adapted for your course. There are 3 options on how to approach essay writing: 'layers of meaning', PEA, or the 'reading ladder' which follow the same idea. There is then an opportunity to self or peer assess according to the key skills.

Attached is;

- A powerpoint with the lesson clearly outlined
- A handout of the starter activity which can be cut up
- Essay PEA styles sentence starters writing frames for weaker students

Within this powerpoint are also links to online analyses of the poem as well as the BBC Bitesize video.