Lesson Plan

Subject: A collection of Poems & Short Stories

Class/Grade:
Term:
No. of Period(s):
Unit: 1
Topic: Poem:
Where the Mind is without Fear
_ Rabindranath Tagore

Students will engage in:

____ Whole Group Instruction
____ Independent Activities
____ Cooperative Learning
____ Lecture
____ Study Materials Exercise
____ Hands On/ Additional Class Work
____ Technology Integration

Objectives/ Aims of Lesson:

To sensitise the learners to the interpretative value of poetry
To enhance their sense of literary appreciation
Enhancing skills of Summarising, Line by Line analysis, Annotation

Procedure Followed
1. Class Starter: Introductory interaction with the class. Time: 3-4 mins.
2. Review Previously Learned Materials/ Lesson Connections: Informal quizzing relating various
aspects of Poetry, viz. Language Art, Genres, Themes, Metrical Structure etc.*1
3. Statement of Lesson Objectives
4. Introduction to the Topic:
Heres an excerpt from Rabindranath Tagores Gitanjali (Songs Offerings), in which the great poet
visualized a true heaven of freedom and prays to God that his country should awake into such a
heaven.
About the Poet: Rabindranath Tagore
Brief Reference to the book: Songs Offerings i.e. Gitanjali
5. Recitation and Guided Discussion:
Literature: Where the Mind is without Fear
The teacher should recite the poem in a sonorous voice, with intonation and correct pauses, bringing
out the emotions of the poet and highlighting the spirit of the thematic content. It should be read with
the fervor of the visionary poet. The learners should be asked to just listen to the poem. The teacher
should recite the poem second time (learners follow line by line from the book); directing the learner to
repeat each line after her/him. To arouse the learners interest in the poem, following questions will be
asked (after reciting the poem)
To whom are the lines addressed? What kind of freedom does the poet aspire for? Whats the
poet vision of free India? Pick out the line which indicates that the poet aspires for perfection?
Explain: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; What is it that the poet values
most? Whats your opinion about the theme of the poem? Do you share the dream of the poet?
Give reasons for your answer.
After the learners have been attuned to the melody, rhythm and the spirit of the poem, the teacher
should move on to Learners Activities (Guided and Independent).
6. Learners interaction with the poem
Following steps are involved: Guided & Independent Practice:
(a) Reading the poem (b) Learning to appreciate and enjoy the poem (c) Reciting the experience
(a) Reading the poem
The poem should be read with patriotic fervor, with modulation of voice, correct pauses and rhythms
To help the learners focus on the theme of the poem, following question may be asked. What is the
poem about? The poem should be read out by the teacher again, while the learners listen to her/him
and join in the recitation.

To activate the learners listening skill and their power to recall; the teacher should make an effort to
recreate the poem together with the learners.
The teacher should encourage the learners to give their responses and prompt them as and when
necessary. In order to combine the auditory and the visual experience, the learners should be asked to
open their books and follow the poem, while the teacher reads it again. The learners attention should
be drawn to the words glossed and visual input.
(b) Learning to appreciate and enjoy the poem:
To sensitise the learners to the spirit of the poem and to help them appreciate its literary value,
following questions may be asked orally, ensuring adequate participation of the learners.
Annotations of the lines in the poem are discussed.
Study the words glossed and read the poem silently. Now answer these questions*2
(c) Recreating the experience:
The poem should be read by the teacher together with the students in a loud and clear voice, with
correct pauses and proper intonation. Through the modulation of the voice, reading the poem should
highlight the spirit of happiness, celebration, confidence, conviction and firm resolve. If implemented
properly, this kind of reading session will be truly an enjoyable experience.
7. Class Assignments *2
8. Home Assignments *2
9. Concluding the Session
10. Teacher Notes

Annexure: Materials/Text References

*1. Lesson Connections A poem uses imaginative language to express feelings and ideas. There are many types
of poetry, and not all of them rhyme. Poetic Forms and Genres: Varies from Lyric, Narrative, Dramatic to Epic, Elegy,
Ode, Ballad, Sonnet, Blank Verse etc.
Narrative poems Some poems tell stories. These poems tend to be quite long and often rhyme. Before writing and
books were common, people used narrative poetry to tell stories. The rhymes and the rhythm made the stories
easy to remember and pass on to other people.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a good example of a narrative poem.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
It tells the story of a sailor left alone on a boat when the rest of the crew dies.
Poems that follow a pattern
Some types of poetry follow a particular pattern. Haiku, for example, is a form of Japanese poetry where there must
be only three lines. The first line must have 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables and the third 5 syllables.
Revising English
Learning about poetry
Not all poems rhyme!
Shape or concrete poetry
Some poems are written in a shape (Typography) that shows what the poem is about. (The slippery
snake came sliding)
Nonsense poetry
Some poems use made up words to describe things, or just to make a nice sound.
In the froogle
Did the Boogle
Make a grabjous cheep
Shushup right now
That squalky row
Is keeping me from sleep!
Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear and Spike Milligan are good authors to read if you like nonsense poetry.
Features of poetry
There are some particular types of language you can look out for in poetry.
Rhyme
This is where words with the same sound are used.
Shushup right now
That squalky row
Is keeping me from sleep!
Now and row rhyme.
Alliteration
This is when words start with the same sound. You'll also find this used in advertising and newspaper headlines.
The slippery snake came sliding
Similes, metaphors and personification
A simile describes something by comparing it to something else using like or as.
The snake moved like a ripple on a pond.
It was as slippery as an eel.
Metaphors
A metaphor is a word or a phrase used to describe something as if it were something else.
A wave of terror washed over him
The terror isn't actually a wave, but a wave is a good way of describing the feeling.
Metaphors and similes make poetry more descriptive and interesting and are often used in other forms of writing.
Personification
Poets often give human feelings and actions to objects or ideas.
The friendly rain fell gently over the fields.

*2 Question answers Assignments from the text. Questions based on Theme, Poetic Devices, Figures of
Speech, Annotations, Summary, Glossary.