Exploring Nature Poetry

Year Level

Year 6 (Australian Curriculum alignment)

Duration

47 minutes

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Lesson Title

Introduction to Nature Poetry

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Lesson Description

Students will be introduced to nature poetry by exploring a selection of poems that express the beauty and emotion of the natural world. They will focus on how poets use imagery and emotional language to convey their feelings about nature. Through reading, discussion and reflection, students will begin to appreciate the power and purpose of nature poetry.

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Australian Curriculum Links

Strand: Literature

• ACELY1711: "Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts."
• ACELT1613: "Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and create imagery through use of literary devices such as metaphor and simile."
• ACELT1783: "Create literary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected texts."

Strand: Language

• ACELA1562: "Understand the use of vocabulary to describe abstract ideas such as emotions and feelings, and explore how words can express shades of meaning."

Strand: Literacy

• ACELY1712: "Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features."

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will:

• Understand what nature poetry is and why poets write about nature.
• Identify key features of nature poetry including imagery and emotional language.
• Discuss how poets convey their feelings about the natural world through descriptive language.
• Reflect on their own feelings toward nature when engaging with poetry.

These objectives align with the Australian Curriculum v9 content descriptions ACELY1711, ACELA1562, and ACELT1613.

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Materials Required

• Selected examples of nature poems (printed or projected; simple but vivid imagery-focused poems appropriate for Year 6)
• Whiteboard and markers
• Paper and coloured pencils for student reflection activity
• Chart paper or digital presentation slides highlighting key poetic devices

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Lesson Structure and Timing

Time	Activity	Description
0-5 mins	Warm-Up: Brainstorming	Teacher asks: "What things do you notice about nature? How do you feel when you see a forest, beach or garden?" Collect ideas on the board. Introduce that poets often write about these feelings and observations.
5-15 mins	Introduction to Nature Poetry	Explain what nature poetry is – poetry that describes the natural world and expresses feelings about it. Teacher reads aloud 2-3 short nature poems focusing on imagery (e.g., describing plants, animals, weather). Encourage students to listen for words that create pictures or feelings.
15-28 mins	Guided Reading & Discussion	Read one poem together. As a class, identify imagery words and emotional language. Discuss how the poet makes the natural world come alive with words. Ask: What pictures did the poem create in your mind? How did the poem make you feel? Why? Use whiteboard or chart paper to record responses.
28-38 mins	Small Group Activity	In groups of 3-4, students read a different nature poem. They highlight words or phrases that create imagery or express feelings. Each group shares one example with the class. Teacher praises use of descriptive and emotional language.
38-45 mins	Personal Reflection – Drawing and Writing	Students draw a scene from nature they love and write a few sentences describing it using imaginative and emotional language inspired by the poems. Emphasise using words that create strong sensory images.
45-47 mins	Conclusion and Wrap-Up	Invite a few students to share their drawings and sentences. Recap what nature poetry is and how poets use words to share feelings about nature. Preview that in future lessons, they will write their own nature poems exploring imagery and emotion.

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Differentiation and Support

• Provide sentence starters for students who need more support during writing (e.g., "I see...", "I feel...", "The... looks like...").
• Allow EAL/D learners to illustrate more to express ideas if writing is challenging.
• Extension for advanced writers: Identify metaphors or similes in poems and suggest alternative descriptive words.

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Assessment for Learning

• Observe student participation during discussions and group work to gauge understanding (formative).
• Review student reflections/drawings and their descriptive sentences to assess ability to use imagery and emotional language (formative).
• Use responses to questions about the poems to assess comprehension of how poets convey feelings about nature.

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Teacher Notes & Tips

• Choose poems that are vivid but accessible, for example excerpts from poetry by Judith Wright, A.B. Paterson, or contemporary Australian nature poets.
• Use expressive reading to model how tone and pace convey emotion.
• Encourage students to connect their personal experiences with nature to the poems.
• This introduction sets the tone for the unit where students will explore a range of nature poems and eventually create their own.

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Sample Poems Suggestions for Read Aloud (brief excerpts)

• "The Wind" by Dorothy Hincksman (simple imagery and emotion about wind)
• "Bunjil the Eagle" (First Nations nature poem featuring animal imagery)
• A short stanza from "My Country" by Dorothea Mackellar (Australia landscape imagery)

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