As a High School English Language teacher, you can use this lesson plan to teach your students how to read and analyze poetry and to use these techniques to examine climate related poems.
In this lesson plan, students will be taught how to read poetry and identify elements such as theme, structure, and tone. Through this lesson plan your students will also be introduced to one of the most significant issues of our times- Climate Change.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in English Language.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
| Grade Level | High School |
| Discipline | Humanities |
| Topic(s) in Discipline |
English, Literature, Language, Poetry, Literary Analysis, Reading Poetry, Poetry Elements- Structure, Tone, Theme, Poetry Analysis, Climate related Poetry |
| Climate Topic | Introduction to Climate Change, Climate Literacy |
| Location | Global, India |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online / Offline |
| Approximate Time Required | 60 – 80 min |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Teaching Module (30-40 min)
Use the module, ‘Preparing for Poetry: A Reader’s First Steps’ by Jason Rhody, published by EDSITEment, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to take your students through a step-by-step guide to reading poetry. Follow the instructions to facilitate the students’ understanding of the techniques involved in reading and analyzing poetry. Use this teaching resource to also enable your students to learn how to prepare an essay about a poem.
Classroom Activity (30-40 min)
Choose one or more poems from the list of 21 poems, ‘’Our melting, shifting, liquid world’: celebrities read poems on climate change’ curated by UK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and published by the Guardian, to read in class. The poems can be downloaded, and copies prepared beforehand for classroom reading. You can also choose to engage your students further by playing audio files (mp3 format) of the chosen poems read out by celebrities- James Franco, Jeremy Irons, Ruth Wilson, Gabriel Byrne, Michael Sheen, Kelly Macdonald, Maxine Peake, Tamsin Greig, Ian Glen, and Iwan Rheon. Use the worksheet (from the first resource), ‘Preparing for Poetry’ by NEH to ask your students to analyze the chosen poems. Use the completed worksheets to facilitate a classroom discussion on the theme of climate change poetry. Further, encourage your students to employ the techniques learnt to prepare an essay on the chosen poem/s.
Note: In order to improve your students’ understanding of the climate change theme beforehand, you can give a brief overview using this educators’ resource by CLEAN Foundation, Canada.
Suggested questions/assignments for learning evaluation
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Classroom Activity | Teaching resources by Poetry Society, UK, to encourage your students to create poetry related to change climate
This can be accessed here. This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Website | NASA’s website to explore and encourage your students to gain an understanding of the theme of climate change. This can be accessed here. |
| 3 | Reading | A collection of poems related to climate change commissioned by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Reading; “Preparing for Poetry: A Reader’s First Steps” | By Jason Rhody, published by EDSITEment, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). |
| 2 | Reading, “’Our melting, shifting, liquid world’: celebrities read poems on climate change” | Curated by UK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, published in the Guardian, UK. |
| 3 | Reading; “Climate change background info” | By CLEAN Foundation, Canada. |
| 4 | Additional Resources |
The Poetry Society, UK. Global Climate Change, NASA. Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) |
| Grade Level | High school |
| Discipline | English, Humanities |
| Topic(s) in Discipline |
Reading Poetry Poetry Elements- Structure, Tone, Theme Poetry Analysis Climate related Poetry |
| Climate Topic | Introduction to climate change |
| Location | India |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online / Offline |
| Approximate Time Required | 60 – 80 min |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
A Teaching Module(~30-40 min)
Classroom Activity(~30-40 min)
Note: In order to improve your students’ understanding of the climate change theme beforehand, you can give a brief overview using this educators’ resource by CLEAN Foundation, Canada.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Classroom Activity | Teaching resources by Poetry Society, UK, to encourage your students to create poetry related to change climate
This can be accessed here. This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Website | NASA’s website to explore and encourage your students to gain an understanding of the theme of climate change. |
| 3 | Reading | A collection of poems related to climate change commissioned by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Reading; “Preparing for Poetry: A Reader’s First Steps” | By Jason Rhody, published by EDSITEment, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). |
| 2 | Reading, “’Our melting, shifting, liquid world’: celebrities read poems on climate change” | Curated by UK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, published in the Guardian, UK. |
| 3 | Reading; “Climate change background info” | By CLEAN Foundation, Canada. |
| 4 | Additional Resources | The Poetry Society, UK. Global Climate Change, NASA. Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)
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