Make poetry interesting! Five lessons that should interest and inspire even the most reluctant students of poetry, while still providing a challenge to the most enthusiastic. Spoken word performances on Youtube, solving Tolkein's riddles, guided writing, and group performances bring poetry to life. These lessons were created in a school with students from a wide range of backgrounds, and are designed to appeal to them all. Each lesson is planned and presented in a detail that we just couldn't achieve when teaching full-time. All resources are easily editable, so you can make them your own. Each set of lessons are also available to purchase individually - visit our shop to see the whole range.

Ignite an interest in poetry by teaching about spoken word poetry performance. Four carefully selected Youtube videos of great poetry performances from Agard, McNish, Heron, and Zephaniah will appeal to even the most stony-hearted students. Add your own favourites! Students then form their own concept of the poetic by comparing these poems to other forms of performance. In Lesson Two, students rework a classic Def Jam Poetry performance by Linton Kwesi Johnson. This is the first of two lessons on Spoken Word Poetry. To see the Writing lesson, click on my user name. This lesson should be accessible and challenging for most students from Grade 5 up. It is designed so you don't have to do any extra preparation. There is a pre-starter, starter, main activity, and plenary, and each step is open-ended enough to provide a challenge for the inquisitive. You can easily adapt it to make it your own.

Visit our shop for lesson 2 and many other high quality whole lessons by clicking on the username. Group performance: a great way to encourage deeper reading of a poem. Students discover the circumstance that inspired the poem - imprisonment on Robben Island (with Nelson Mandela), and use an interview with the poet to give their performance direction. This is a whole, complete lesson, and includes everything you might need, including a worksheet. Lesson 2 gives students modelled feedback to allow them to do their best. Visit our shop for more resources like this one.

A group performance: surely the best way to experience this classic poem. Even the most reluctant students of poetry should be moved. High-achieving students will find extra challenges and open ended questions. Students discover the circumstances that gave the poet his inspiration - imprisonment on Robben Island (with Nelson Mandela) - and use an interview with the poet to give extra depth to their performance. In lesson 2, feedback is modelled to encourage groups to improve further, then self-reflection is structured Included are a very detailed presentation and a worksheet - everything you need to deliver a great lesson. It is easily editable if you wish to make it your own. If you like this lesson, please visit our shop.