WJEC Eduqas poetry 'A Wife in London' Hardy with Boer War context and A3 extract sheet

Two lessons in one PPT on 'A Wife in London' by Thomas Hardy with Boer War context in one lesson with a table of comparison and the other full lesson to analyse AWiL by utilising an A3 sheet to 'chunk' down the learning and ask questions. A3 sheet available in original publisher file and PDF for ease of use. PPT encourages independent learning with a more pupil-led analysis rather than 'copy this'. Comprehension and creative task at the end of the poems analysis for the pupils to describe a scene of a eerie, foggy London using as much vocabulary as they can from the poem. This worked very well. Observation: Good/Outstanding lesson.

Lesson 1:
Objective: To investigate the context (AO3) of A Wife in London by researching the Boer War.
Outcomes: To engage with a clip and present this in a table.
Starter: Questioning - could use a post-it, what do you think these three images on the board are telling you? (British flag, SA flag, gold). Verbalise and engage.
Introduction to the Boer War, main facts and statistics for context.
Task with clip: Split your page in two, one side British Army, one side The Boers. Note down any key contextual facts you hear E.g. statistics, soldiers, methods of fighting.
Share your partner and pick a fact to share with the class. Telling pupils this is AO3 context - linking to GCSE exam criteria.
Plenary: Name three facts you have learnt about the Boer War.

Lesson 2:
Objective: To analyse the language and structure of A Wife in London.
Outcomes: To describe a scene of an eerie, foggy London evening in the 19th Century.
Literacy objective task.
Starter: Engage - how does this picture make you feel? 3 adjectives.
Task: Closed question activity, filling in the blanks to recap from last lesson (answers on next slide).
Then going through the A3 extract sheet. Teacher to read through the poem, pupils to write any devices they spot around the poem.
Task: Pair work with questions on the board for stimulus - most questions links to a box on the sheet, or pupils can annotate around. Challenge boxes to differentiate up.
Task: Describe an eerie, foggy 19th Century London.
Plenary: Imagine Twitter was around in the 19th Century. Summarise the thoughts of the wife either after she has received the first message or her husband’s letter. Use emoji's to illustrate this.

Lesson worked well with low set year 9 and year 10.