Giving Wind a Voice

Overview

Lesson 4 of 18 in Poetry: Craft, Revise, Perform. Students explore personification by treating a natural force as a character, then draft and perform a short poem with a distinctive voice.

Learning intentions

• WALT give a non-human subject human actions, feelings or speech.
• WALT choose strong verbs and line breaks to create imagery and effect.
• WALT reveal a mood through consistent personification.
• WALT perform poetry clearly for a partner.

Success criteria

• I can sustain personification across at least four lines.
• I can use strong verbs that fit my character.
• I can reveal a mood, such as mischievous, angry, lonely or joyful.
• I can choose line breaks that support the voice.

Curriculum links

• Phase 2 Creating Texts: craft ideas, language and structure for a particular purpose and audience.
• Language: use figurative language and precise vocabulary to create imagery and effect.
• Oral language: listen, respond and communicate ideas clearly when sharing a text.
• Key competencies: thinking, managing self, relating to others and participating and contributing.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 minutes – Move like the weather. Open with the movement warm-up slide. Play a short wind sound or use a fan while students move ribbons or their hands as if they are wind, rain, fire, a river or a storm. Ask: “If this force were a person, how would it move?”

2. 4–10 minutes – Read and notice the model. Display and read the mentor poem on the model poem slide:

The Wind The wind knocks at my window, impatient for an invitation. It steals the washing from the line, dances with the trees, then whispers secrets through the keyhole of the night.

Read it once aloud, then invite students to echo the final two lines. Think aloud: “Wind cannot literally knock or whisper, so these choices make it seem mischievous and secretive.” Ask students what kind of character the wind seems to be and which words create that impression.

3. 10–15 minutes – Identify personification. In pairs, students sort examples into “human action, feeling or speech” and “not personification” using the literary devices reference cards and the examples on the personification sorting slide. Discuss: “What kind of character is your natural force?” “Would it stomp, glide, gossip or complain?” Clarify that personification gives human qualities to something non-human.

4. 15–24 minutes – Draft a four-line poem. Distribute the natural-force poetry drafting sheet. Students choose wind, rain, fire, a river or a storm. They list possible human actions, feelings and speech, then draft at least four lines. Encourage them to check: “Does every action fit the character?” Students highlight their three strongest verbs and experiment with line breaks. Circulate, prompting students to show a mood rather than simply name it.

5. 24–28 minutes – Perform to a partner. Students read their poem aloud to a partner, using pace, volume and expression to show the natural force’s character. Partners respond: “Your personified character is feeling ___ because the words ___ show this.” The writer makes one quick improvement to a verb, line break or performance choice.

6. 28–30 minutes – Exit ticket. Students complete the final box on the natural-force poetry drafting sheet: write their strongest verb, name the mood, and explain how one line shows that mood. Invite two volunteers to share a favourite line.

Resources

• the poetry lesson slide deck with the movement hook, model poem, teaching points, sorting examples, drafting instructions and exit prompt.
• the natural-force poetry drafting sheet with planning boxes, four-line drafting space, verb highlighting and exit reflection.
• Ribbons or strips of fabric.
• Fan or short wind recording.
• the literary devices reference cards.
• Pencils and highlighters.
• Whiteboard and markers.
• Timer.

Assessment

• During drafting, check that students sustain personification across four or more lines and use verbs that fit a consistent character.
• Listen to partner feedback: the partner should name the mood and cite a word or line as evidence.
• Collect or scan the exit responses to identify students needing further support with personification, strong verbs or mood.

Differentiation

• Support: offer action-picture prompts, a verb bank such as stomp, glide, grumble, chase, whisper and sentence starters: “The ___ complains…”, “It feels…”, “It…”.
• Support: compose one example orally with a small group before students write; allow students to dictate ideas or rehearse with a peer.
• EAL/SEN: explain unfamiliar verbs through gesture, sound and visual examples; provide a reduced choice of natural forces and allow speech-to-text or scribing where appropriate.
• Extension: create a change in the character’s mood during the poem and add sound patterning through repetition, alliteration or onomatopoeia.