Journeys is the first poetry anthology for schools to support the English Framework and teach literacy through poetry. It offers value for money - in one book, progressive units cover Key Stage 3 requirements and prepare students for the Key Stage 4 emphasis on poetry.
The main features of the book include the following:
What is a poem? - A range of short poems that are widely different in form for the students to study and discuss, to introduce students to the book and provoke discussion about poetry.
Selection - Well-known but not over-anthologised poems, together with some new and exciting poems, including: multicultural poems, pairs of pre- and post-1914 poems for ease of comparison; poems showing a range of styles of verse (e.g. sonnets, haiku, limericks, ballads); poems showing different genres of verse (e.g. pastoral, elegy, lyric, epitaph, narrative); all pre-1914 and post-1914 National Curriculum set poets; a few poems written by children; thematic contrasts, showing different attitudes to topics as diverse as school, love, war and sport; humorous and accessible poems will also be included.
National Curriculum/English Framework -National Curriculum attainment is listed on a one-page chart at the front of the book.
Literacy - poetry is ideal for the very focused lessons that the strategy demands. Activities will be divided into with word level, sentence level and text level, with a literacy focus given for each poem and/or groups of poems and English Framework matches highlighted.
Activities - Each page will have between one and three poems on it and around 3-6 activities (divided into word level, sentence level and text level). The activities for each poem will focus on a particular aspect of the poem's theme or technique so that the students have a very clear grasp of what skill they are learning as they study each poem. Written, reading and speaking and listening activities will be clearly marked. Suggestions will be provided for private reading of poems linked by theme, author or form.
Progression - As Journeys covers the whole of KS3, there will be progression from one unit to the next. A chart or grid shows which units are particularly suitable for years 7, 8 and 9. The book also looks forward to KS4 and prepares students for GCSE work on poetry.
Differentiation -A step-by-step approach to the introduction and explanation of different poetic techniques will be provided as necessary.
Factfiles - Interesting information about each poet and the background to the poem is given.
Glossary - word boxes containing relevant technical terms (focusing on those used in the English Framework glossary)are given on each page/spread and gathered into the glossary at the back.
