Teaching Literature at Key Stage 3 and 4

Poetry

Differentiation and supporting pupils' responses to poetry

Activity 1 Attached are three poems: they are in order of 'difficulty', 'A Woman of Kai Tabu...' by Gerrie Fellows (difficult), 'Temporal Ode' by W. N. Herbert (moderate) and 'Delicatessen' by Dilys Rose. Organise student teachers into groups and give them a poem per group. Manage a group discussion on the subject and theme of the poem, and then on each of the four headings printed next to the poem. When the discussion has ended, give them 'thinking time' for individual responses, and then reconstitute the groups, with reporters from each poem feeding back on their discussion. Hold a plenary. Many preconceptions the student teachers may have about responding to literature can be challenged during this: for instance, that the teacher needs to keep 'control', or that it is important that the pupils get the 'right' answer. Important issues to explore might include: At what point did they realise the poems were 'differentiated'? (usually, not until the groups are reconstituted – and even then, many may not notice at all!) What do they notice about the content of their discussion? (All the groups are discussing the same concepts – there is a differentiation in text and support given, but not in task) How is 'expertise' developed in all ability groups by allowing them to discuss different poems? (All the groups become "experts" in their poem and are able to tell someone else something they didn't know beforehand, which can be motivating for the less able) Who benefits most from the feedback session? Who is it for? (For the reporter, not necessarily for the audience) What is the role of the teacher? (Facilitator) How important is the 'right' answer? (This is an exercise encouraging genuineness of response: the teacher can play a mediating role during discussion, but as there are no questions, there are no answers.)

An exercise like this allows student teachers to see the importance of supporting and structuring pupils' response to literature, and to see that there are times when a teacher-led approach may be inappropriate.

In terms of analysing poems, pupils are often unable to prioritise what they know: perhaps encouraged by a line-by-line analysis, they often give the same importance to a minor example of alliteration as they give to an image that has a major impact on the text's theme. Many pupils adopt a narrative or sequential structure to their analysis, discussing a play from Act 1 to Act 5, or a poem from the first line to the last. Another example of this tendency to see the text indiscriminately is that many pupils in a 'closed book' examination memorise whole poems, furiously writing them out on the inside cover of their examination book, before they feel secure enough to proceed to the question!

Templates which give pupils structure for their analysis can be very helpful, allowing them to approach response in the same way to each new text. One argument against providing too much structure suggests that it stifles creativity and genuineness of response, and encourages a 'sameness' in how pupils react to literature. However, able pupils often find a way to distinguish themselves in the depth of their analysis, while the less able are allowed to develop skills which will improve their confidence and help them to achieve more.