Higher Level English Interview - Stuck on a question

Eimee90

Hi guys, I've an English job interview coming up in a school I worked in before, A question I got asked was how would I teach prescribed a poetry lesson in two classes. I answered terribly, I couldn't structure my answer without sounding silly and formal. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to answer such a question.

thanks very much

Eimee90

if anyone has any ideas , would really appreciate it

Jamfa

elsa21 wrote: »

Hi guys, I've an English job interview coming up in a school I worked in before, A question I got asked was how would I teach prescribed a poetry lesson in two classes. I answered terribly, I couldn't structure my answer without sounding silly and formal. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to answer such a question.

thanks very much

You might find some idea in this blog: https://levdavidovic.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/15-or-16-things-that-i-do-in-my-english-class/

Hermia

Are you talking about teaching one prescribed poem over two classes? Obviously you do a bit of background on the poet first....

Then I read the poem to the class two or three times, before they've had a chance to even see it. They've got mini whiteboards (piece of paper would do) and must draw what they hear. Doesn't matter if it's literal or figurative and can be a cohesive picture or lots of different pictures. This works so well with leaving cert classes, they love it, mini whiteboards are a hit though!

Then they show their boards to the class, you can do pair work here if you like but with more confident classes, they love showing off their work as some of them come up with really random things! But I've learned so much from them about poems doing it like this, they grasp the imagery in original and thought provoking ways and it helps them to remember specific images in a much clearer way.

So even before they've read the poem themselves, they have these images in their head, they've connected personally with the poem. And they've LISTENED to the poem, poetry is made to be heard.

We then read around the class, each student takes a line and stops at any point of punctuation and the next student takes over. This helps them to understand the rhythm and pace of the poem, run on lines etc eg, we all have a laugh when Jimmy down the back has to read an entire stanza as there's no punctuation. Why has the poet done that? Any specific words emphasised? Or everyone on this side of the class only had one word to read each. Why?

Then I would get them to write a personal response in silence on their own before we even start to analyse on any level. If they don't like it, that's fine, but they need to explain why they don't like it.

Group work on techniques - give each group a specific technique and they must look for examples, write them down and discuss the effect and impact of the use of it. One student from each group presents to the class and then this work is photocopied and distributed to the rest of the class.

It's only then that I would work through the poem as a whole class and give them a few notes to write into their books but in no way excessive. We discuss aspects of the poem as we go and they might have a task to do for homework, either a few questions from the book or a longer QB type task.

I give them a grid on A3 with every poem to be studied by that poet on it and they fill it in as they go. Poetry is one of my favourite things to teach because there is room for so much personal engagement.

Hope that helps!

Hermia

Just realised I went on a bit of a rant of what kind of lesson I would teach and not how to answer the question in an interview. Best way to answer it is to describe how you would teach it! You don't need to use loads of buzzwords etc what they want is for you to show them how you would engage the students with the poetry. Think about a good lesson you have taught and use that in your answer, they love this! Best of luck!

cupcake queen

elsa21 wrote: »

Hi guys, I've an English job interview coming up in a school I worked in before, A question I got asked was how would I teach prescribed a poetry lesson in two classes. I answered terribly, I couldn't structure my answer without sounding silly and formal. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to answer such a question.

thanks very much

I teach a prescribed poem over 2 classes. The first class is for reading the poem in order to gain an overall impression of it. We approach it like an unseen poem, so that might mean some individual/pair/group work, once I've read through it with them once or twice (I always read it aloud on the first day, or play a YouTube video of a reading if one is available. Personally I think the first time students hear it it needs to be a 'good' reading so I avoid asking students
who presumably at this point are unfamiliar with the poem.) The basic things I want them to grasp on the first day are the theme of the poem and how this might relate to their own lives. Ideally I would like them to be able to notice some aspects of the poet's language too.

Lesson 2 is for delving deeper into the poem. For homework on day 1 I usually set a couple of open questions and we begin by discussing those. From here we read the poem more closely, and I give some notes on it. The final task is to situate the poem amidst the poet's other work and start to make connections and comparisons.

That is my method in a few very broad strokes! It may not be perfect but it works for me and in the context of my own particular school, which is important to say. The same methods will not work in every school

Eimee90

thanks guys, these replies are fantastic

chases0102

Hermia wrote: »

Are you talking about teaching one prescribed poem over two classes? Obviously you do a bit of background on the poet first....

Then I read the poem to the class two or three times, before they've had a chance to even see it. They've got mini whiteboards (piece of paper would do) and must draw what they hear. Doesn't matter if it's literal or figurative and can be a cohesive picture or lots of different pictures. This works so well with leaving cert classes, they love it, mini whiteboards are a hit though!

Then they show their boards to the class, you can do pair work here if you like but with more confident classes, they love showing off their work as some of them come up with really random things! But I've learned so much from them about poems doing it like this, they grasp the imagery in original and thought provoking ways and it helps them to remember specific images in a much clearer way.

So even before they've read the poem themselves, they have these images in their head, they've connected personally with the poem. And they've LISTENED to the poem, poetry is made to be heard.

We then read around the class, each student takes a line and stops at any point of punctuation and the next student takes over. This helps them to understand the rhythm and pace of the poem, run on lines etc eg, we all have a laugh when Jimmy down the back has to read an entire stanza as there's no punctuation. Why has the poet done that? Any specific words emphasised? Or everyone on this side of the class only had one word to read each. Why?

Then I would get them to write a personal response in silence on their own before we even start to analyse on any level. If they don't like it, that's fine, but they need to explain why they don't like it.

Group work on techniques - give each group a specific technique and they must look for examples, write them down and discuss the effect and impact of the use of it. One student from each group presents to the class and then this work is photocopied and distributed to the rest of the class.

It's only then that I would work through the poem as a whole class and give them a few notes to write into their books but in no way excessive. We discuss aspects of the poem as we go and they might have a task to do for homework, either a few questions from the book or a longer QB type task.

I give them a grid on A3 with every poem to be studied by that poet on it and they fill it in as they go. Poetry is one of my favourite things to teach because there is room for so much personal engagement.

Hope that helps!

Those mini whiteboards sound great, any idea where you got them?

Starkystark

Hermia wrote: »

Are you talking about teaching one prescribed poem over two classes? Obviously you do a bit of background on the poet first....

Then I read the poem to the class two or three times, before they've had a chance to even see it. They've got mini whiteboards (piece of paper would do) and must draw what they hear. Doesn't matter if it's literal or figurative and can be a cohesive picture or lots of different pictures. This works so well with leaving cert classes, they love it, mini whiteboards are a hit though!

Then they show their boards to the class, you can do pair work here if you like but with more confident classes, they love showing off their work as some of them come up with really random things! But I've learned so much from them about poems doing it like this, they grasp the imagery in original and thought provoking ways and it helps them to remember specific images in a much clearer way.

So even before they've read the poem themselves, they have these images in their head, they've connected personally with the poem. And they've LISTENED to the poem, poetry is made to be heard.

We then read around the class, each student takes a line and stops at any point of punctuation and the next student takes over. This helps them to understand the rhythm and pace of the poem, run on lines etc eg, we all have a laugh when Jimmy down the back has to read an entire stanza as there's no punctuation. Why has the poet done that? Any specific words emphasised? Or everyone on this side of the class only had one word to read each. Why?

Then I would get them to write a personal response in silence on their own before we even start to analyse on any level. If they don't like it, that's fine, but they need to explain why they don't like it.

Group work on techniques - give each group a specific technique and they must look for examples, write them down and discuss the effect and impact of the use of it. One student from each group presents to the class and then this work is photocopied and distributed to the rest of the class.

It's only then that I would work through the poem as a whole class and give them a few notes to write into their books but in no way excessive. We discuss aspects of the poem as we go and they might have a task to do for homework, either a few questions from the book or a longer QB type task.

I give them a grid on A3 with every poem to be studied by that poet on it and they fill it in as they go. Poetry is one of my favourite things to teach because there is room for so much personal engagement.

Hope that helps!

Wow! That's amazing! I always struggle with poetry!

Hermia

chases0102 wrote:

Those mini whiteboards sound great, any idea where you got them?

One of my mates who's a primary school teacher orders resources for the school he works in so has all the know. Gave them to me for my birthday and it was the best present ever. How sad am I?? Will try to find out for you.... Have a google first though!

Starkystark

chases0102 wrote: »

Those mini whiteboards sound great, any idea where you got them?

I laminate whit card! Works a treat. Also PDST sometimes give a bundle of them out at inservice days.