Find a Voice

Overview

Lesson 4 of 6 in Poetry: Craft, Revise, Perform. Students develop an original poem by making deliberate decisions about speaker, voice, audience, purpose, language, imagery, structure and tone.

Learning intentions

• WALT explore how poets create distinctive voices.
• WALT plan a poem for a chosen audience and purpose.
• WALT draft a substantial poem using deliberate craft choices.
• WALT explain and evaluate choices made in our writing.

Success criteria

• I can create a clear or intentionally ambiguous speaker.
• I can make language, imagery, structure and tone work together.
• I can make at least three deliberate craft choices.
• I can explain my choices and identify one section to improve.

Curriculum links

• Creating texts for a specific audience and purpose, using language features and structures deliberately.
• Exploring and shaping ideas through drafting, experimentation and revision.
• Responding to texts by discussing how voice, language and form create effects.
• Te Mātaiaho: English learning across the phases, with emphasis on creating texts, communicating meaning, and making intentional language choices.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–8 min – Revisit voice in mentor poems Open with the hook and mentor-poem discussion slides. Read or display brief extracts from previously studied mentor poems. Ask: “Who is speaking, and how do we know?” Discuss voice as personal, collective, imagined, formal, conversational or unreliable. Students turn and talk, then share one feature that signals voice. Provide the literary devices reference cards as an optional quick-reference resource for students who need help naming techniques.

2. 8–18 min – Model purposeful planning Use the teacher-modelling slides to think aloud from a broad idea to a purposeful concept. Model completing the voice–audience–purpose planner on the poetry planning and drafting sheet:

• Speaker: Who is speaking?
• Audience: Who needs or wants to hear this?
• Purpose: What should the poem make the audience think, feel or notice?
• Craft choices: Which imagery, tone, structure, repetition or sound patterns will help? Demonstrate changing a general idea such as “school” into a purposeful concept such as “the school building speaking after everyone has gone home”.

3. 18–25 min – Pitch two concepts Students record two possible concepts on the poetry planning and drafting sheet. In pairs, they pitch each idea in 30 seconds, naming the intended speaker, audience and purpose. Partners respond: “The strongest choice is…” and “You could make the voice clearer by…”. Students select one concept and complete their plan.

4. 25–50 min – Sustained independent drafting Students draft an original poem of approximately 20–30 lines, using the drafting instructions and quiet-writing slide. Encourage students to focus on developing a substantial piece rather than perfecting every line. The teacher conferences with individuals or pairs, using the prompts: “What does your speaker want us to understand?”, “Which choice creates the strongest voice?”, and “Where could the tone shift?” Students may write by hand or use a device. Offer a quiet writing option and allow students to listen to an audio model or use speech-to-text.

5. 50–57 min – Annotate craft choices Students return to the poetry planning and drafting sheet and annotate three deliberate choices in their draft. They label the choice and briefly explain its effect, for example: “Short lines slow the reading and create tension.” They also mark one uncertain section with a question mark and write what they might test during revision.

6. 57–60 min – Submit for formative review Use the reflection and submission slide to remind students what to submit. Students hand in their working draft and planning sheet, or photograph their work and submit it through the class system. They should ensure their name and intended audience are included. Close by inviting two or three students to share one craft choice they made, without requiring anyone to perform the whole poem.

Resources

• the poetry voice, modelling and drafting slide deck
• the poetry planning and drafting sheet
• the literary devices reference cards
• Previously studied mentor poems or brief teacher-selected extracts
• Exercise books, loose paper or writing devices
• Headphones and speech-to-text tools, where available
• Teacher conferencing checklist
• Timer and quiet-writing signal

Assessment

• Listen to partner concept pitches for purposeful links between speaker, audience and purpose.
• Check planning sheets and conference notes for intentional craft decisions.
• Formatively review drafts for a sustained voice, connected craft choices and approximately 20–30 lines. Note one strength and one possible next step for the following lesson.

Differentiation

• Year 7 students may use a stanza-by-stanza scaffold, mentor sentence patterns, shared drafting or a shorter minimum poem with developed detail.
• Year 8 students should sustain a more complex voice, shift perspective or use form purposefully, such as a dramatic monologue, list poem or fragmented structure.
• Support literacy and EAL learners with audio models, vocabulary banks, oral rehearsal, sentence starters and the literary devices reference cards.
• Provide speech-to-text, enlarged or uncluttered templates, handwriting alternatives, regular check-ins and a quiet workspace for students with learning or sensory needs. All students choose their topic and preferred publication mode.