First World War Poetry

Subject: English Literature
Level: Secondary
Age Group: 11-14
Order Number: 5104

First World War Poetry and the National Literacy Strategy

This booklet introduces students to the poetry of World War One. It uses the structure of the National Literacy Strategy - starter, exposition, group activity and plenary - to chart the history of the poetry of The War to End Wars. The booklet is illustrated with photographs of the key poets - from Brooke to Yeats - and scenes from the Western Front.

Focusing on twelve poems, it is both a textbook, a guide and a sequence of lesson plans. In short, it is a framework - flexible enough to be elaborated by the classroom teacher, but succinct enough to cover the field comprehensively as it stands.

The booklet conveys much of the suffering of World War One through the texts it contains. Teacher expositions also invite students to reflect on the brief lives of the poets and on the experiences they shared. Propaganda posters and other illustrations are included both as background material and as stimulants to further enquiry.

The booklet closes with a choice of homework tasks. This selection has two purposes: to reduce the workload on colleagues by keeping marking to a minimum, whilst simultaneously inviting students to develop their knowledge and understanding of the war through active research.

This booklet may be used as a model for integrating the National Literacy Strategy into the teaching of other literary texts.