Impressions of war: Activity 1

Boys who fought and fell

Introduction

The activities in this section are about interpreting a poem and extending the students' understanding. They are suitable for KS3 and top KS2.

Click to enlarge the poem then print it.

Boys who fought and fell
Enlargement (57kb)	Transcript

Task 1

Read the poem aloud, if possible, in a darkened room with an overhead showing the front page of the Accrington Observer and Times newspaper to focus the students thoughts on the men who the poem is about.

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54 Kb)

Ask the pupils to brainstorm on their own how the poem made them feel.

Discuss the atmosphere in the poem and how they feel about it.

Download the worksheet that is in Microsoft Word format. The worksheet will encouraging the students to look carefully at the poem and, from some of the things that are said in the poem, get an impression of how the poet feels.

In pairs, ask the students to read the poem and using a coloured pen ask them to list the feelings the men had about going into battle in the left-hand column.

Using a different coloured pen, ask them to take a quote from the poem that supports their viewpoint and write it in the right-hand column.

Click here to see an example of a filled in sheet.

Task 2

Download a writing frame that is in a Microsoft Word format.

Using the writing frame, ask the students to write a critique of the poem to show some of the feelings the men had about fighting. Ensure that they back up everything they say with quotations.

Use the worksheet from activity one to help fill in the frame.