Poetry - Television by Roald Dahl

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo lwoo
• Leerjaar 1

                                                       Teaching Poetry

 YAL | Exam task 2 

Shiela v/d Hoff

Lauren Welfort   

Anne Dulk

ENN-D2C-F

Learning goals

• You can understand poetry.
• You can discuss the meaning of poetry.
  
  

Target group: 2 HV/ 3Mavo

Television - Roald Dahl

• Famous children's book author 
• Students should be able to relate to the topic 
• Short lines 
• Fun use of language 

Pre reading activities 

Ask students questions:

• What are your favourite television programmes/genres?
• How often do you watch tv?
• How does it make you feel?

To prepare students: Students will read the poem in advance. 

What are your favourite television programmes/genres?

How often do you watch tv?

1. 1-3 days a week
2. 3-6 days a week
3. Every day: 0-2 hours
4. Every day: > 2 hours

How does watching TV make you feel?

Whilst reading activities 

Students use their worksheets or LessonUp to:

• Write down initial thoughts & feelings.
• Highlite unknown words/words that puzzle them.
• Teacher reads the poem out loud 
• Alternative: 

Recorded reading via YouTube

Whilst reading activities 

Pupils read along with the teacher/recorded reading. 

[Pupils check if all highlighted words are still unclear to them. If they were able to apply a coping strategy, some words should make sense to them now due to the teachers recital.] 

Whilst reading/listening students answer the following questions

What thoughts and feelings come to mind whilst reading ''Television'' by Roald Dahl?

What thoughts and feelings come to mind whilst reading ''Television'' by Roald Dahl?

Possible right answers: Kids are watching too much tv. Kids aren’t reading books anymore and don’t know who various authors are. Kids don’t play ‘pirate’ anymore or use their fantasy to play fantasy games.

Highlight the words that you do not understand. After having heard the poem being read out aloud, do some of those words make more sense now? Write down the words that you still don’t understand here:

Whilst reading activities 

Now we'll zoom in on the actual meaning of the poem and ask students what they make of it. 

gaping

good gracious

crouching

ghastly

oars

keen

wondrous

rump

rotter

repulsive

contented

nauseating

galore

tot

muffled

tevreden

peddels

hurkend

vreselijk

mijn hemel

gedempt

verachtelijk persoon

met open mond

billen

walgelijk

kind

wonderlijk

misselijkmakend

in overvloed

enthousiast

Look up words you still don't understand. Type the word + Dutch translation here.

What words do you associate with the word 'television'?

Whilst reading activities 

Students will do a word linking activity after reading. Either on paper or via this drag & drop exercise:

Who could have written the poem 'Television' according to you? Clarify your answer with extracts from the poem.

Read the following extract:

‘Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,

And pirates wearing purple pants,

And sailing ships and elephants,

And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,

Stirring away at something hot’

Read the following extract:

‘Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,

And pirates wearing purple pants,

And sailing ships and elephants,

And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,

Stirring away at something hot’

Tip: freeze the screen so pupils can still read the extract while answering the following question.

In your own words, what do you think this extract tells you? What comes to mind?

Why does television create for children to only be able to see and not think? Where has children’s fantasy gone to?

What image comes to your mind whilest reading the poem?
Upload yours here!

Post reading activities

Students are  going to do a number of post reading activities. 

We wanted the activities to be active, creative and fun in order to give them a positive poetry association. 

Acrostic poem

Students will make their own acrostic poem using the following format:

T __________________________________________________________________

E ___________________________________________________________________

L ___________________________________________________________________

E ___________________________________________________________________

V ___________________________________________________________________

I ___________________________________________________________________

S ___________________________________________________________________

I ___________________________________________________________________

O ___________________________________________________________________

N ___________________________________________________________________

Make your own acrostic poem!
Check ''extra help'' for the format

Story cubes/Flash cards 

If you have time left for another last activity, get the children’s minds going. Use story cubes or story Flash cards to get the children to use their imagination to tell each other stories based on the cubes or the cards that they turn over. The main idea of this activity is to reignite the imagination of the pupils, which may have been lost before television and social media was introduced into their lives.

   

Divide the group up in groups of four or five children.

Give each group either Flash cards or story cubes.

Flash cards

Children have to shake the deck of cards and somebody has to turn over the first three cards. With the different images on the cards they think of a story to tell the other people in the group. They must use every image on every card.

Story cubes

Give the children a pack of story cubes. They have to roll the different dice and then decide what the story is going to be, based on what the outcome is of their turn in rolling the dice. They must use at least 4 cubes in their story.