Between Love & War

Year Level:

Year 10

Subject:

English

Time:

75 minutes

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Australian Curriculum Alignment

Learning Area: English – Stage 5 – Year 10
Strand: Literature
Sub-strand:

• Responding to literature (ACELT1641, ACELT1774)
• Examining literature (ACELT1642)
• Creating literature (ACELT1815)
• Expressing and developing ideas (ACELA1579, ACELA1576)

General Capabilities:

• Literacy
• Critical and Creative Thinking
• Personal and Social Capability

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Unit Context

This lesson serves as a “bridge” between the study of war poetry (just completed) and the upcoming unit on love poetry. Students are still cognitively fatigued from their assessments and need a lighter, more engaging introduction to the new theme. This lesson deliberately uses music, a poem with clear emotional contrast, collaborative play, and scaffolded literacy tasks to support high-needs, disengaged learners.

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Learning Intentions

• I can understand the emotional and thematic connections between war and love poetry.
• I can analyse a poem using the PETAL structure.
• I can generate meaningful ideas and express them in complete, simple sentences.

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Success Criteria

Students will:

• Identify and discuss themes of love and violence in a multimodal text.
• Use a scaffolded PETAL structure to write a paragraph.
• Collaboratively build sentences and identify poetic devices in a fun context.

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Resources

• Song Lyrics: “Somebody That I Used To Know” – Gotye feat. Kimbra (printed and audio available for play)
• Poem: “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy – with adapted glossary
• Large sticky notes or mini whiteboards
• “PETAL Dice Game” handout
• Colour-coded PETAL scaffolds (for low-literacy students)
• Word banks (emotion words, literary techniques)
• Butcher’s paper
• Wi-Fi, speakers, whiteboard/SMARTboard

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Lesson Structure

Introductory (10 minutes)

Entry Event – Music as Mood

• Play “Somebody That I Used To Know” (students follow along with lyrics).
• Class Discussion:
  “What emotions does this song evoke?”
  “Does it remind you more of a love poem or a war poem?”
  Record responses on the board under columns: LOVE, VIOLENCE, BOTH.

Purpose: Activate emotion-based thinking. Bridge emotional themes seen in war and love poetry.

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Exploration (20 minutes)

Poem Analysis: “The Man He Killed” – by Thomas Hardy

• Teacher reads poem aloud expressively. Students follow on printed copies.
• Ask: “What happens in this poem?”
  Quick popcorn retell from students (keep light and low-pressure).
• Mini pair task:
  Highlight 1 line that shows violence, 1 line that hints at emotion or regret
  Share and record a few on the board.

Vocabulary Support:

• Provide a quick glossary of tricky words (e.g. “nipperkin”, “foe”)
• Discuss language choices: irony, tone, regret

Let students vote: Is this a poem of war or love—or both?

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Literacy Focus (25 minutes)

PETAL Scavenger Hunt (Collaborative + Kinesthetic)

• Groups of 3–4 receive a “PETAL Toolkit” (dice game):
  • PETAL = Point, Evidence, Technique, Analysis, Link
  • Each group throws a PETAL dice (printed cube with sentence starters)
  • They must find a line from the poem and match it to the dice prompt.

Example:

• Roll result: EVIDENCE – "Choose one quote that shows regret."
• Group finds relevant line, writes it on butcher’s paper, and discusses why it fits.

Guided PETAL paragraph writing:

• Use scaffold: Fill in the blank PETAL template
• Whole class co-constructs one paragraph using a student contribution.

Teacher Models Example:

Point: The poem explores the senselessness of violence.
Evidence: This is shown in the line, “Had he and I but met, by some old ancient inn.”
Technique: The use of juxtaposition here highlights normalcy versus war.
Analysis: Hardy contrasts casual meeting with sudden violence to suggest how war interrupts human connection.
Link: This reinforces the idea that war affects not just nations, but individual relationships and emotions.

Students complete their own PETAL paragraph with peer or teacher support.

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Consolidation (15 minutes)

Back to the Music

• Revisit: “Somebody That I Used To Know”
  • Can we now apply a PETAL-style mini-analysis to the song verse?

Guide through a short PEA:

• Point: The song explores heartbreak and betrayal.
• Evidence: "You didn’t have to cut me off..."
• Analysis: This line uses metaphor to express emotional wounding, similar to poetic violence.

Class Chat:

• Share: “What do love poems and war poems have in common?”
• Prep question for next week: “Is a sonnet closer to a love letter or a battlefield?”

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Exit Tickets (5 minutes)

Students respond to the following prompt on sticky notes:

What’s one question you still have about love poetry?
What do you think Shakespeare might say about this poem?

Stick on the “Love vs War Wall” for next class.

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Differentiation Strategies

• Visual supports: Colour-coded PETAL diagrams, sentence starters
• Scaffolds: Tiered vocabulary and framed sentence tablets
• Group work: Mixed-ability partners for peer support
• Alternative output: Students who struggle with writing may record their PETAL paragraph orally or dictate to a scribe

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Extension Ideas

• Stronger students write a modernised version of “The Man He Killed” set in today’s world.
• Use Canva or visual tools to create a poem collage that blends love and conflict themes.

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Reflection & Assessment

Informal Formative Assessment:

• Observe participation in PETAL dice game.
• Review PETAL scaffold paragraph for engagement and sentence structure quality.
• Exit tickets provide data for readiness toward sonnets in following weeks.

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Teacher Note

This lesson prioritises re-engagement and reflects curriculum outcomes through accessible, emotionally rich poetry. By combining music, movement, emotion, and structure, we aim to re-ignite student curiosity and confidence—all while sneakily deepening their literacy skills. It's not about lowering the bar, but about building a bridge to help them reach it.

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💡 “A man may shoot the man who would have bought him a drink — and poetry explains how.”