Using Poems with Young Learners

1. Using Poems with Young Learners Louisa Gelzenleuchter Wiebke Junge

2. Table of Contents • Poem: „Christmas Dinner“ by Kenn Nesbitt • How to use the poem at school • Criteria for selecting our poem

3. Cristmas Dinner by Kenn Nesbitt

4. How to use the poem at school • New topic: Christmas in the USA • 3 – 4 school lessons à 45 minutes

5. Lesson 1 • Hand out poem and translations folded in the middle • Teacher reads out poem • Students can open paper to see translations • Go through poem and translations  use ppt to present unknown food • read poem again  questions? • ~ 15 minutes

6. Fruitcake (sorry, the presentation was too large with pictures…)

7. candied yams

8. mincemeat

9. roasted ham

10. eggnog

11. turkey

12. aspic

13. deviled eggs

14. gravy

15. dinner rolls

16. Jell-o

17. Christmas punch

18. cookies

19. stuffing

20. gingerbread

21. Lesson 1 • Oral questions: ~ 10 minutes • What is the poem about? • Do you like the poem? Why? Why not?

22. Lesson 1 • Worksheet • Exercise 1: ~ 20 minutes • Look at the form of the poem. What do you notice? • Students look at the poem for 5 minutes • Teacher writes answers on blackboard • Students copy answers afterwards

23. Lesson 2 • Exercise 2: ~ 20 min • Compare the American Christmas dinner to your own Christmas dinner at home. • - What is similar? What is different? • - Which food do you know? Which not? • - Which food would you like to try? Which sounds strange to you? • Answers are discussed with the neighbour and ideas are written down  10 minutes • presented in class later  10 minutes

24. Lesson 2 • Exercise 3: ~ 20 minutes • Write a short Christmas poem yourself. (Think of the similarities and differences between Christmas in the USA and in Germany.)  10 minutes • A few poems are read out loud in class  10 minutes

25. Lesson 2 • Group organisation for the next lesson ~ 5 minutes •  making posters for the classroom • 3 groups: • Food • Decoration • Traditions • Homework: Collect material for poster. (texts, pictures, …)

26. Lesson 3 (+ beginning of lesson 4) • Produce posters within groups • Hang them up in class • Decorate students’ poems in classroom, too

27. Criteria for Selecting the Poem (Nuttal 1996: 170ff) 1. Suitability of content & Exploitability: • Fits with syllabus for 7th grade at Grammar School – English as a foreign language • Regional studies United States: celebrations and festivals • Intercultural context (USA vs. Germany) • No gender specific topic • Suitable for target group • Poems: relationships between form and content • Vocabulary expansion

28. Criteria for Selecting the Poem (Nuttal 1996: 170ff) 2. Readability: • Short text • Short sentences • No complicated, complex sentences • No complicated forms / tenses • Appropriate language

29. Criteria for Selecting the Poem (Nuttal 1996: 170ff) 3. Authenticity: • Christmas in the USA • American author • No shortened version (nothing left out) • No abbreviated poem

30. Criteria for Selecting the Poem (Nuttal 1996: 170ff) 4. Variety: • Group work • Creative writing • Creativity in general • Variation in media • Getting insights in different fields of the topic • Varieties of language (e.g. “gonna”) (also: British English vs. American English)

31. Criteria for Selecting the Poem (Nuttal 1996: 170ff) 5. Presentation: • Read poem with class • Go through difficult / unknown words (illustrate by ppt) • List striking features of the poem • Discussion / presentation of intercultural differences • Creative task 1: writing a poem • Creative task 2: producing posters on various topics linked to Christmas in the USA

32. Thank you for your attention and participation!