Teaching notes and ideas
Name of resource:
Base Details
Age group(s)
Subject(s)
12 to 14, 15 to 16
English
Topic
Language Level
World War I: Poetry
Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced
EAL Nexus
Description of resource
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

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PowerPoint: presentation with analysis of the poem
Flashcards with analysis of the poem (supplied on PowerPoint)
DARTs activities on the poem
Poem PEED (Point, Evidence, Explain and Develop)
Preparation needed
You will need:
 an Interactive White Board (IWB) or projector
 a set of flashcards for each group of learners
 a copy of the DARTs document for each beginner
 a copy of the Poem PEED document for each intermediate or advanced learner
 bilingual dictionaries
You will need to:
 Make the flashcards by printing out the PowerPoint documents as six-to-a-page
handouts onto card (or, if preferred, onto paper then laminate them). Cut out
the cards and sort them into three piles according to their border colours.
Shuffle the green and blue border piles but keep the ones with the pink border
in the order as they appear in the poem. Each table should have a full set of
three piles of colour-coded cards.
 Print out Word documents as required.
Curriculum objectives
 To gain an understanding of the poem by Siegfried Sassoon
 To analyse the poem and practise writing using the PEED technique
Language/Literacy objectives
Functions
Structures
This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals
© British Council 2014
EAL Nexus
 Asking questions
 What does ... mean? Why ...? etc.
 Comparing and
contrasting
 Comparatives, e.g. better/worse than, different ...
 Describing
 Second conditional, e.g. If I were ...
 Explaining
 Present simple, e.g. The majors do not ...
 Language devices
 The rule of three (fierce, bald and short of
breath), oxymoron (speed glum), alliteration
(puffy petulant), onomatopoeia (guzzling and
gulping), metaphor (stone dead)
Vocabulary
 Words in the poem: fierce, bald, scarlet, glum, puffy, petulant, guzzling,
gulping, Roll of Honour, chap, scrap, stone dead
This resource could be used:
 whole class
 as differentiation within class
 small group
Ideas for using the resource
What to do
As with all resources relating to war and conflict, do check learners’ backgrounds
and treat with sensitivity.
 Use the PowerPoint colour-coded flashcards for collaborative group work to
carry out a matching activity to scaffold the PEED approach. Divide learners
into groups of three to six, consider the group dynamics. Each group has a set
of three piles of colour-bordered cards. The group look at a pink border card
(the Evidence) and discuss what the poet means; they then look for the green
(the Point) and blue (Explain and Develop) border cards to match this pink one.
Repeat this until all the cards have been matched up. Set a time limit.
 When the learners have finished the above exercise, use the PowerPoint for
whole class feedback. Let the class see Slide 2, the whole poem, and then
analyse the poem line by line. For example, Slide 3: A line from the poem is
shown (the evidence/quote shown in the pink box, plus the image). The teacher
This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals
© British Council 2014
EAL Nexus
asks a question such as ‘What is the point here?’ or ‘What does Sassoon mean
by that?’ When learners have some suggestions (from the matching exercise),
click to show a model answer (this is the ‘point’ in the dark blue box). Next, ask
another wh- question to encourage learners to develop their thinking and
reasoning. Finally show the last box on the slide (the ED in the light blue box).
Repeat the process as for Slides 4 to 9, to give learners scaffolding support to
analyse the rest of the poem and/or to feed back from the matching activity.
 The DARTs worksheets are to enable learners at the Beginners level to access
the poem and to give more opportunities to build vocabulary and practise
sentence-making.
 Give a copy of the Poem PEED document (without the suggestions pages) to
Intermediate/Advanced EAL learners. The learners can work in pairs or
individually to fill in the blank boxes. The first line has been filled in to give a
model. The learners have to think about the language devices that the poet has
used, when filling in the Evidence and Develop column. When learners have
completed the analysis, give the last pages to show suggestions so they can
compare. Learners can be paired up or re-grouped to discuss the analysis
further.
Other ideas for making the best use of this resource
o Another way of using the Poem PEED worksheet is to cut out the suggestions
in the ‘Point’ and ‘ED’ boxes and ask beginner EAL learners to match and copy
them into the blank boxes on the previous pages.
o Alternatively, give a copy of the suggestions pages to the Beginners. Ask them to
highlight and match the language devices used in the poem. Explain and model
an example, e.g. highlight the words ‘fierce, and ... breath’ in the Evidence
column and the ‘rule of three’ in the Explain and Develop column. They then copy
each of the PEED into their workbooks.
Possible extension activities
 Ask learners to translate the poem into a piece of descriptive writing.
 Use this resource in conjunction with the resource called ‘Sassoon’s letter’ to
compare the ideas evident in the poem to the views he expresses in the letter.
This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals
© British Council 2014