Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Department of Education
Regional Office No. VIII
Division of Northern Samar
Lavezares II District
MARAVILLA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Barangay Maravilla, Lavezares, Northern Samar
by Mark P. Bonabon
Secondary Grades Teacher I
It is almost consensual among high school teachers and learners that of all the
literary genres, poems which are especially included in the curriculum are the most difficult
to read and thus to teach. In the pursuit to investigate these problems, it is imperative that
issues on teaching and reading poetry in the classroom should be pointed out and
addressed, in the first place. Related literature shows that these problems are ascribed to
the key elements of the educative process: learners, teachers, curriculum, and
methodology.
To provide workable and practical solutions to these problems, the researcher
conceptualized and formulated an innovative technique called Poetry Reading Buddies
(PRB). It is an enriched and eclectic technique which proposes activities which are
assigned to the four phases of poetry reading: pre-reading (picture prompts, title-guessing
rebus game, and authors biographical video capsule), while-reading (reading-alouds with
background music, vocabulary notebook and word wall, pair-think-share comprehension
questions, and stanzaic or thought-unit paraphrasing), post-reading (differentiated
transcreation activities), and follow-up (creating digital poetry, and reflective literary
journal). It implements an enriched reading buddies scheme where students engage in
varied collaborative activities; proposes varied activities that cater to the students varying
interests and differentiated learning styles; employs visual, audiovisual and multimedia
materials to enrich the learning experiences; and caters to developing the learners 21st
century skills: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.
To fully understand the principles and activities integrated in this technique, a
sample lesson plan is appended at the end of this paper.
The results of this study could provide helpful inputs on enriching poetry reading
and teaching encounters, and on improving the school reading programs.
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Parmar and Barot (2013), in their study, Problems of Teaching Poetry in English,
point out that these problems could be attributed to four key factors: the students, the
teachers, the instructional materials, and the curriculum.
As for the students, their lack of strong intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to read
poetry is the foremost reason why they find reading poetry uninteresting and boring.
Linaberger (2004) states that poetry can be so intimidating to some students because of
the complex poetic concepts and language which may be difficult for them to grasp.
Relatively, Young (2007) remarks that "cultural attitudes are often dismissive of poetry"
and describes the bias that many of students feel and express in their comments, such as
poetry is deep, mysterious, or "all poets are depressed and wear black.
As for the teachers, their lack of technical and theoretical knowhow in literary
criticism compels them to venture on superficial analyses of poetry. Hence, literary
workshops, fora, seminars, and trainings should be sponsored and carried out to resolve
this aggravating problem. Also, the teachers lack of helpful theoretical inputs and the
haphazard and half-hearted practice of appropriate and effective techniques,
methodologies, and approaches in teaching poetry worsen this academic crisis. Peskin et
al. (2010) reveal that some teachers misinterpret the idea that poetry has a quite subjective
and personal nature. This view, if taken to an extreme, means learners could only
comprehend poetry through their own silent and unexpressed perceptions. Such a view
can weaken the whole educational process and reduce it to a fruitless endeavor to teach
an unteachable subject.
As for the curriculum, the anthology of poetry and the related learning activities
that are integrated in the curriculum should be appropriate and relevant to the needs,
interests, and culture of the learners. Curriculum planners and implementers should
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venture on researches to ascertain that the curricular contents are parallel to the learners
capabilities. Relatively, the inappropriate selection of the texts as a major reason of
students failure in understanding and appreciating English poetry is also pointed out by
Khatib (2011) in his article, A New Approach to Teaching English Poetry to EFL Students.
Moreover, Khatib mentions that the ineffective teaching methodology is also at
the heart of these problems. Therefore, teachers should conduct action researches to try
out innovative methodologies that could address the overriding poetry reading and
teaching dilemma, taking into account that these methods, approaches and techniques
are in compatible with the K-12 basic education program. Moreover, to implement these
methodologies, the teachers should coordinate with the school administration to request
the purchase and the provision of these materials, facilities, and/or amenities necessary
to achieve the curricular goals and lesson objectives.
Hughes (2007), in her journal article, Poetry: A Powerful Medium for Literacy and
Technology Development stressed that if we want our students to understand how
literature, and poetry in particular, brings them to a deeper understanding in life, we need
to find meaningful ways to engage them with poetry. She also states that poetry is meant
to be lifted from the printed page and explored in multi-modal ways (visually, gesturally,
aurally). Also, in her dissertation, Poets, Poetry and New Media: Attending to the
Teaching and Learning of Poetry, Hughes (2006) points out the importance of hearing the
poem read aloud, engaging with it, and probing for deeper meaning through discussion
with others. Relatively, Poetry Reading Buddies seeks to meet all those ends.
As to reading buddies, Tiessen and Dust (2006) state that aside from the
academic focus, the partnership between the learners accentuates the development of
their social skills. They found out that these learners are more responsive to the
reinforcement and feedback provided by their buddies than they are to that provided by
the teacher.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study will seek to determine the effects of Poetry Reading Buddies (PRB)
technique to improve the cognition and 21st century skills of Maravilla National High School
Grade 9 students. Specifically, it will aim to answer the following questions:
1. How can PRB technique improve the cognition of the participants?
2. Does the technique improve the poetry reading test results of the participants at the
following levels of Andersons cognitive domain?
a. remembering
d. analyzing
b. understanding
e. creating
c. applying
3. Does the technique help improve the participants 21st century skills (creativity, critical
thinking, collaboration and communication)?
The participants of this study will only be Grade 9 students of Maravilla National
High School, Barangay Maravilla, Lavezares, Northern Samar for the School Year 20162017.
The researcher will employ only the PRB technique as implemented through the
lesson, The Seven Ages of Man by William Shakespeare. A lesson plan is appended at
the end of this paper as a guide.
As to poetry pre-reading or post-reading test, the participants will answer only
twenty-five (25) items, five (5) items for each cognitive level: remembering, understanding,
applying, analyzing, and creating. These parallel tests will be conducted before and after
the lesson sessions respectively.
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METHODOLOGY
Sampling
Complete enumeration method will be employed in this study. The participants of
this study will be all Grade 9 students of Maravilla National High School, Barangay
Maravilla, Lavezares, Northern Samar for the School Year 2016-2017.
Data Collection
To collect the necessary data, the researcher will take the following procedure:
1. Profiling
a. Informal Reading Inventories (IRI) At the beginning of the school year, the
participants shall take the assessment to determine their entry reading level. They
will be categorized into frustration, instructional and independent readers. The IRI
questionnaire will be appended at the end of the paper.
b. Learning Style Inventory The participants shall also take this assessment tool to
determine each participants dominant learning style. They will be categorized into
visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. The Learning Style Inventory
questionnaire will be appended at the end of the paper.
2. Poetry Pre-Reading Test Before the conduct of lesson sessions, the participants shall
take the diagnostic test to determine their strengths and weaknesses as regards the
five (5) levels of cognitive domain. For every cognitive level, five (5) questions shall be
answered. The test questionnaire will be appended at the end of the paper.
3. Lesson Sessions Using the PRB Technique There shall be three (3) sessions; each
session takes an hour to finish. The reading buddies should have the same learning
styles, but should have different reading levels (e. g., independent reader with
Ethical Issues
A consent letter will be sent to the participants and their parents and/or guardians
to ask permission for the conduct of research. The same letter shall be presented to the
Maravilla National High School administrator.
To address the issue on confidentiality, the participants may or may not write their
names on the test papers and other research instruments. The researcher shall designate
a number for each participant which they should write on their papers instead of their
names.
FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE
Frustration
Instructional
Independent
TOTAL
FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
TOTAL
PRE-READING
POST-READING
TEST MPS
TEST MPS
RANGE
Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analyzing
Creating
WHAT ACTIVITIES
SKILLS
Creativity
Critical Thinking
Collaboration
Communication
TIME ESTIMATE
COST ESTIMATE
PhP 200
PhP 200
PhP 200
PhP 500
PhP 200
Technique Critiquing
PhP 200
PhP 500
TOTAL
24 days
PhP2, 000
Action Plan
The results of this study could provide helpful inputs on enriching poetry reading
and teaching encounters, and on improving the school reading programs.
To do this, the researcher will gather, analyze and interpret the data from the
Poetry Reading questionnaires and the Technique Critique forms, considering specific
PRB activities that help improve their cognition and 21st century skills. Hence, suggestions
on modifying, adding, removing irrelevant activities will be considered. Moreover, those
helpful activities could be adapted and integrated in the school reading programs to
specifically address the problems on poetry teaching and reading.
LIST OF REFERENCES
Hughes, J. (2006). Poets, poetry and new media: Attending to the teaching and learning
of poetry. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Western Ontario.
Hughes, J. (2007). Poetry: A powerful medium for literacy and technology development.
University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
Khatib, Mohammad (2011). A new approach to teaching English poetry to EFL students.
Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran.
Linaberger, M. (2004). Poetry top 10: A foolproof formula for teaching poetry. The
Reading Teacher, 58(4).
Parmar and Barot (2013). Problems of teaching poetry in English. Indian e-Journal on
Teacher Education (IEJTE) Bi-Monthly e-Journal.
Peskin, J., Allen, G., & Wells-Jopling, R. (2010). The educated imagination: Applying
instructional research to the teaching of symbolic interpretation of poetry. Journal
of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(6), 498-507.
Young, L. (2007). Portals into poetry: Using generative writing groups to facilitate student
engagement with word art. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(1), 50-55.
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APPENDIX A
A Semi-Detailed Lesson Plan in English 9
Time Frame: 3 hours
No. of Students: 40
I. Objectives:
A. elicit meaningful responses through picture prompts and rebus game
B. remember the authors biographical details after viewing a video clip of the authors
life story
C. enhances the skill on reading-aloud with background song
D. broadens the mental lexicon by keeping a vocabulary notebook
E. paraphrase a poem by thought unit
F. draw or paint a scene from a poem
G. give tune to a poem and sing it
H. present a pantomime or one-act play based on or inspired by a poem
I.
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Picture A
Picture B
Picture C
2. Working in dyads, the students study and interpret the pictures. Each student shares
his/her impressions and insights about them with his/her partner.
3. After a minute, the teacher asks two to three dyads to discuss with the class their
insights and impressions about the pictures.
4. The teacher synthesizes the students ideas and tells the class that their responses
have some close bearing on the theme and/or subject of the poem to be discussed.
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Title-Guessing Rebus Game (15 min). It is a riddle which provides pictures of objects
and/or symbols whose names resemble the sounds of the intended words and/or syllables
which comprise the poems title. This game seeks to test the students abstract reasoning
and spatial skills.
1. The teacher shows or posts the set of pictures which present the rebus game.
2. Working in dyads, the students figure out the answer to the riddle. The pair to guess
out the answer first is given bonus points.
3. A member of the winning dyad shows to the rest of the class how they figure out the
answer.
PICTURE(S)
CORRESPONDING
WORD(S)
CORRECT WORD
the
sea + Venn
seven
A + (Jesus us)
ages
off
of
man
man
Moviemaker. Ideally, the video is shown twice on projected screen to accommodate the
whole class. This enrichment activity seeks to input key biographical details of the author
that would later aid the students in the literary analysis.
1. The teacher facilitates the video clip viewing.
2. Working in dyads, the students answer a brief completion test which assesses their
grasp of the video clip. Sample completion test items may include:
a. William Shakespeare was born in _______________.
b. He was believed to be born on _______________.
c. He was married to _______________.
d. One of Shakespeares twin sons named _____________ died.
e. In 1599, he built the largest open-air amphitheater named _______________.
f.
His
plays
are
categorized
as
histories,
comedies,
tragedies,
and
_______________.
Session 2
D. While-Reading Activities (60 min)
The teacher tells the students that their topic is a poem titled The Seven Ages of
Man, and instructs them to open their learners material.
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Vocabulary Notebook and Word Wall (10 min). Keeping a vocabulary notebook is a
reading strategy to broaden ones mental lexicon. It is done by listing problem words which
a reader comes across in a text, guessing their meaning using context clues, checking
their conjectures against a reliable dictionary, and finally, using them in their own
sentences. This strategy
1. With their vocabulary notebooks on their desks, each dyad scans through each poetic
line for problem words.
2. Working in dyads, they copy and fill out the following table:
Problem
Context
Guessed
Dictionary
Own
Word
Clue/s
Meaning/s
Meaning/s
Sentence/s
mewling
puking in the
nurses arms
Sample
The baby is
crying
crying weakly
mewling because
his diaper is wet.
3. With the teacher acting as a facilitator, the students check on the accuracy of their
responses.
4. The students at the end of the session mount the problem words onto the Word Wall.
According to the speaker or persona in the poem, what physical and mental
changes take place as a man reaches the sixth and seven ages?
In the last line of the poem, the word sans is repeated. What do you think is the
purpose of repeating it four times?
2. The teacher calls on students to share their responses with the class.
3. The other students can comment, argue, and/or expound on the ideas presented,
observing proper decorum.
4. The teacher synthesizes the students ideas.
Thought-Unit Paraphrases
Shakespeare considers the world a stage and men and women
actors on the stage of life. They play seven roles according to
their age.
The first stage, as described by the poet, is the infant who is being
carried by a nurse. The infant cries and vomits all the time.
Later, that infant grows into a schoolboy, not willing to attend
school which is the fourth stage of a mans life.
The third stage is that of a lover who is lost in his thoughts of love.
The lover writes poetry to his ladys beauty.
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11-15
15-19
19-25
25-28
Session 3
E. Post-Reading Activities (60 min)
Differentiated Transcreation Activities. This is a set of varied activities that cater to the
differentiated learning styles of the learners.
Visual Dyads: They draw or paint a scene from the poem and present it before the
class.
Auditory Dyads: They give tune to the poem and sing it before the class.
Kinesthetic Dyads: Before the class, they present a one-act play or pantomime
based on or inspired by the poem.
Instructions Phase (5 min). The teacher gives instructions about the activities and
presents the criteria for assessing their outputs and/or performances.
Preparation Phase (15 min). The visual dyads create their paintings or drawings
inspired by the poem. The auditory dyads experiment on suitable tunes for the poem,
and then rehearse. The kinesthetic dyads conceptualize pantomimes or one-skit plays
based on the poem, and then rehearse.
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Presentation Phase (1.5 min each dyad). Each dyad presents its output or
performance. While doing so, the other students do their evaluation of the output or
performance (peer assessment).
Feedback Phase (10 min). The teacher and the students give comments about the
outputs and performances by pointing out the strong and weak points, and give
suggestions for improvement and recommendations.
F. Follow-Up Activities
Creating Digital Poetry
Students can use Moviemaker or any picture or video-editing application to create
their own digital poem based on the poem discussed. Students can use scanned or
downloaded images or, even better, take their own photos with a digital camera. They
organize their images and use the voice recording feature to read the poem aloud. They
can add sound effects, a soundtrack of music they have created, or clips of music that
come with the program. These new media allow students to have oral readings linked with
their print version of the poem, an approach that honors the multimodal nature of poetry
and students multiple literacies.
Reflective Literary Journal. The students write their realizations, impressions and
insights about the poem.
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