Sunday, March 27, 2011

Teaching the Unseen BPGH

Hi All!! I am a beginning teacher in Bukit Panjang Government High School. I taught unseen poetry last year to my Sec 3s. One of the things I tell my students (not to sound morbid) is that doing unseen poetry is like doing an autopsy. You need to observe the details in the poem. To get them started I expose the students to unusual ads or music videos to get the students to be more aware of the details in the visuals and the impact on the readers. I explain to my students that poetry is similiar to pictures and movie clips except that they are in words. I usually ask the students to pick up words that stand out as they first glance through it. I then ask them why they think the words stood out to them. And usually the students find that the words that stood out to them play a crucial part in answering the questions that are being asked.

In my opinion, I feel that students are not exposed or more rightly put, they do not question what they see or read. My approach is to get them to notice details and ask questions in order to generate answers and higher order thinking.

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