LESSONS

The following contents list has a star rating beside each page. This provides a very general guide to suitability based on level of difficulty of the core activity. The key is as follows:
* The page provides a very basic activity investigating a core element of poetic meter or rhyme, suitable for students of all abilities at Key Stage 3 or 4.
** The page looks at more sophisticated elements of poetic structure and is aimed more at Key Stage 4.
*** The page contains activities which focus on the technical language of prosody, or engages students in analysis of quite challenging texts. It is recommended for more able students studying GCSE English Literature, and for years 12 and 13.

• 1 COUNTING SYLLABLES Syllables as a means of establishing line length. *
• 3 GETTING THE RHYTHM Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. *
• 5 MAKING CHANGES Variations in basic rhythms. *
• 7 SOUNDS LIKE SHAKESPEARE The iambic pentameter. */**
• 9 SWAPPING AROUND Students create new effects (in trochaic meter).**
• 11 THE SHAPE ON THE PAGE Combining different line lengths. **
• 13 MORE FOR THE STAGE Various poetic rhythms in drama writing. *
• 15 DIFFERENT LENGTHS Shifts in line length and rhythm for new effects. */**
• 17 PICKING UP SPEED Three-syllable meters are introduced. **
• 19 DASHING ALONG The sound of three-syllable metrical forms. *
• 21 SOUNDS RIGHT Students write a poem, combining various techniques, and explain its structure.**/***
• 23 MR PRUFROCK Students study an extract from Eliot's poem. ***
• 25 WATCH YOUR FEET A résumé of the terms used to describe the more common metrical feet used in poetry. It is of particular use to students studying English Literature at GCSE. ***
• 27 FEET THAT TRIP YOU UP The difficulties that can occur when trying to analyse the meter of lines that combine different types of metrical feet. **
• 29 NAMES FOR LINES The 'technical' names given to lines with different numbers of stressed syllables. ***
• 31 MOON AND JUNE Plain end-rhyme with words of one syllable. *
• 33 FIND THE RHYMES Marking up the rhyme scheme of a poem. *
• 35 DOUBLE UP End-rhyme rhyme with words of two syllables. *
• 37 HALF RHYMES Rhyme between words that look as if they do not rhyme, but do rhyme when read aloud. */**
• 39 STARTING A SONNET Marking up the rhyme scheme for the octet of a sonnet. **
• 41 MORE SCHEMES The range of possible rhyme schemes. **
• 43 BALLADS The connection between poetry and song. ***
• 45 THE LADY OF SHALOTT Extending the study of rhyme schemes. ***
• 47 SUIT THE SUBJECT Poems in which two distinct and contrasting characters or voices feature.**
• 49 RHYMING COUPLETS Students pass round and 'cap' each others' rhyming couplets. **
• 51 ACROSTICS Introduces this device at the beginning of lines. *
• 53 VERSES Compares verses to paragraphs in prose. */**
• 55 TWO VOICES Combining two types of rhythm within a poem to create a sense of contrast in tone and mood. Students write a 'question and answer' poem, creating a dialogue between two characters. *
• 57 MORE VOICES Students write and perform a group poem. *
• 59 THERE WAS A YOUNG MAN FROM… The limerick. Students are invited to write their own! *
• 60 APPENDIX