Introduction
In this lesson students will collaborate in a creative writing task. First they will listen to a song and write down words and phrases they hear. Then they will work in pairs to write a love poem that is ‘cliche’ on purpose, following a simple template and using rhyming words. The learners will then write another poem that is funny. This technique removes the fear that some learners have about writing poetry. Learners will read or display their poems for others at the end of the lesson.
Lesson outcomes
- develop learners' creative writing skills by writing a love poem
- practise vocabulary related to love
- develop awareness of rhyming words
Materials
- Lesson plan
- Student worksheet
- Presentation
- (not provided) A love song
- Lead-in (5 minutes)
- Choose one or two English language love songs to listen to. Songs which could work well for this level (slow, simple lyrics) are Perfect (Ed Sheeran, 2017), Just the way you are (Bruno Mars, 2020), Together (Al Green, 1972).
- The learners listen carefully and write down words or phrases related to the theme of love. Allow learners to compare in pairs.
- Ask learners if they think that love song lyrics are *cliché/cheesy (UK)/corny (US) or not. *You can translate these words to the learners L1 to help them- it’s important they know the meaning - learners are going to write in this style.
- A serious love poem (15 minutes)
- This activity uses a template to help learners write a simple love poem.
- Put learners in pairs. Show slide 2 or student worksheet task 1a. Read the start of the poem aloud. Then check learners know what rhyme means by asking them to say some words that rhyme with me. Accept any answers. Then ask them to choose which option a-e could rhyme with me (answer: e – my destiny). Learners complete task 1a.
- Show slide 3 or read out answers: 1-e, 2-c, 3-d, 4-a, 5-b. Ask learners which they think is most cliché/cheesy/corny. Ask which they want to choose for their poem. They write in their choice.
- Show slide 4 or now look at the rest of the poem. Read it out, pausing to elicit answers from the class at each gap (If the class has no ideas, you could use the words here: beautiful forest, light and warm, sun, intelligence, strength).
- Learners now complete the template in pairs. Explain to learners that at the end they can repeat the start, use another option, or write their own. Encourage learners to use words/phrases from the song you listened to in the lead-in. Monitor and help with vocabulary when needed.
- Make new pairs and ask each learner to read their poem aloud to their new partner.
- A funny love poem (15 minutes)
- This activity helps learners write another love poem, this time, a funny one.
- Put learners in pairs. Show slide 5 or student worksheet task 2a. Read the poem aloud. Elicit how it’s different from the first poem (it’s funny, not serious).
- Tell learners to match the words in bold them to the options in the box. Check answers (a- Ali, b – puppy, c – silly ears, d – ran for the bus, shouting).
Learners now complete the template individually (because it needs to be about a person important to them). Allow dictionary access. Monitor and help with vocabulary and ideas when needed.
- Sharing (15 minutes)
- This stage gives learners the chance to share and feel proud of their poems.
You could either:
- Make a classroom display of the poems and ask learners to walk around, reading the poems. Ask them to choose their top 3, and be ready to say why.
- Put learners in groups of 5-6, and ask them to ‘perform’ their poems for each other. Give learners time to practise reading aloud in pairs before performing.
- Reflect (5minutes)
- This stage gives learners the chance to reflect on their work.
Show slide 6 or write up the following questions on the board:
How confident were you writing a love poem before today? 1-----10
How confident are you now? 1--------10
Which of the poems did you most enjoy writing?
Do you think you could now write a poem alone?
Learners share with a partner, then do some whole-class feedback where you invite learners to share their reflections. Hopefully the class feel more confident writing poetry now. The templates can help to take away that fear.