Discussion topics Pre-listening activity Students watch the interview of Zephaniah to get an Impression of the – poet. Students briefly discuss/exchange ideas about their first impression of the poet. Video As Zephaniah is a vegan, his purpose in resorting to personification must be to make his readers / listeners empathize with turkeys. Which are the lines, in your view are the most moving? In talk means to discuss something honestly and directly. informal American English, “to turkey” Is the title a mere play on words in keeping with the tone poem’s light or does it have a more serious implication? According to The Independent on Sunday, up from the page and Zephaniah’s poems “bounce demand to be read, rapped, sung and hip-hopped aloud”. What is your idea about this statement? Zephaniah uses everyday speech and dialect, and writes words as they sound. Note the most striking examples of this in the poem. Have you ever come across poetry like this one? Do you agree with his use of language or do you think the language of poetry should be ‘unpoetic’ more ‘educated’? Differentiation All exercises can be simplified to accommodate different levels in your classroom. For example: Lowest Level - You make obvious points and your explanations are brief. You might pick out a word but you explain it in any detail. don’t Middle Level - You pick out some basic ways the writer uses language. You might pick out a word but really explain its meaning. don’t High Level You can use the correct terminology and explain in detail how your evidence – supports your point. You comment on the opinion and explain a word in some detail. reader’s Group activity Print the poem and cut it so that the rhyming couplets are on different cards. On each card there
Discussion topics Pre-listening activity – Students watch the interview of Zephaniah to get an Impression of the poet. Students briefly discuss/exchange ideas about their first impression of the poet. Video As Zephaniah is a vegan, his purpose in resorting to personification must be to make his readers / listeners empathize with turkeys. Which are the lines, in your view are the most moving? In informal American English, “to talk turkey” means to discuss something honestly and directly. Is the title a mere play on words in keeping with the poem’s light tone or does it have a more serious implication? According to The Independent on Sunday, Zephaniah’s poems “bounce up from the page and demand to be read, rapped, sung and hip-hopped aloud”. What is your idea about this statement? Zephaniah uses everyday speech and dialect, and writes words as they sound. Note the most striking examples of this in the poem. Have you ever come across poetry like this one? Do you agree with his use of ‘unpoetic’ language or do you think the language of poetry should be more ‘educated’? Differentiation All exercises can be simplified to accommodate different levels in your classroom. For example: Lowest Level - You make obvious points and your explanations are brief. You might pick out a word but you don’t explain it in any detail. Middle Level - You pick out some basic ways the writer uses language. You might pick out a word but don’t really explain its meaning. High Level – You can use the correct terminology and explain in detail how your evidence supports your point. You comment on the reader’s opinion and explain a word in some detail. Group activity Print the poem and cut it so that the rhyming couplets are on different cards. On each card there
talking_turkeys_lesplan.docx