At the End of the Day

Learning Intention:

I am learning about the effects of personification in poetry so I can use it to make my own poems more interesting.

Success Criteria:

• I can create and build on descriptions using personification.
• I can identify personification used in a text and the effect it has on the reader.
• I can use personification to compose my own poem about nature.

Essential knowledge:

Ensure students are familiar with the concept of personification. For more information, a definition with examples can be found in the personification section of the NSW English Syllabus Glossary.

Vocabulary:

Divide students into small groups of 3-4 and ask them to come up with a collaborative description of a sunset. Have them consider the process involved (e.g. the sun going down, the sky changing) and how it affects the natural surroundings of their geographical area, such as changes in colour and light. Ask students what they think the theme, or ‘big idea’ is of this poem (e.g. changes in nature, the natural cycle). Have groups share their ideas with the class, then use these to create a list of descriptive phrases on the board. For example:

• The sun goes down behind the horizon
• The sky changes from light to dark
• The ocean turns a darker blue
• Trees gradually appear as silhouettes.

Ask how they could make these more descriptive using personification (e.g. the sun slowly goes to sleep) and write their suggestions next to each phrase on the board.

Read the text ‘At the End of the Day’ and ask students to identify the use of personification. Answers should include:

• Sun, exhausted
• pulls on pinks
• Mountains yawn
• Drowsy clouds
• Wind sings one last lullaby
• Trees surrender, wave goodbye
• Darkness tucks them all in tight
• Moon stands guard and beams ‘Goodnight.’

Have students use their collaborative sunset description to match the way the author has personified each aspect. Discuss the way this makes the descriptions more effective for the readers.

Creating text:

Discuss different occurrences in nature in line with the themes the class has discussed and create a list on the board. These may include:

• A thunderstorm
• The flowing of a river
• A volcanic eruption
• A sunrise
• A drought
• The movement of clouds

Inform students they are going to write their own poem about nature that incorporates personification. To do this, students should choose one of the natural occurrences that you have listed and write a list of descriptive phrases about it. Using each point, they should then think of opportunities for personification. Help them get started with a few examples, such as:

• The volcano trembled with anger
• The clouds drifted lazily across the sky
• The dry, cracked earth whispered breathlessly.

Assessment as learning:

Use the success criteria to enable students to self-reflect on their learning throughout this lesson. Provide students with a reflection rubric where they can rate their learning 1-5 for each success criteria, with 1 requiring further support from classroom teacher through to 5 feeling confident and able to help support and clarify learning with other students.

• I can create and build on descriptions using personification.
• I can identify personification used in a text and the effect it has on the reader.
• I can use personification to compose my own poem about nature.