'Blackberry Picking' Seamus Heaney: Pre-Reading Task

This is a really great starter activity, which can be adapted to suit any poem. Before handing out the poem for study, pupils complete this worksheet with the hope that they can make informed choices as to what the poem is about, even before reading it. It takes away the idea that children can’t/don’t understand poetry.

Pupils highlight 10/15 words that stand out to them.
They then try to link these words into groups.
From this, they then make predictions about subject matter and theme.
They are also given the opportunity to look up any words that they don’t know before they come to read the poem.

I have used this pre-reading task on several occasions from KS3 to A-level and each time, I am surprised at how well the pupils are able to predict and how perceptive they can be!