Poetic Devices

Authors of poetry uses a range of different devices to create images and evoke an emotional response in the reader.

Personification

Personification is used to give inanimate or non-human objects the characteristics of humans.

My Town

The leaves on the ground danced in the wind
The brook sang merrily as it went on its way.
The fence posts gossiped and watched cars go by
which winked at each other just to say hi.
The traffic lights yelled, ”Stop, slow, go!”
The tires gripped the road as if clinging to life.
Stars in the sky blinked and winked out
While the hail was as sharp as a knife.

Personification Poem – lesson

Metaphor

Metaphor is a way to compare two different nouns. When the comparison is surprising, the metaphor is stronger. Unlike a simile, you don’t use “like” or “as”.

Examples:

At Sunset by Elaine Magliaro
The sun is a golden coin
Slipping through the bright fingers of day
Into the dark pocket of night.

Simile

Similes are used to compare one thing to another with words such as: “like” or “as”.

Examples:

Stars

They are like flashlights in the night sky;
God’s little helpers guiding us on our journeys.
Stars are as bright as a lighthouse on an icy, ocean night;
they are like guardians committed to bringing you home.

Birds

Chirping non-stop, like a machine in the trees,
Building their nest like little worker bees.
They sing their songs, like chatter-boxes.
As regular as alarm clocks,
Waking people up each day.
They are silent at night,
Like snakes advancing on prey. 

 

Video Master Class 3 – Framing

Framing is what you see in your camera when you are recording.

The framing of your shot can have a profound influence on how the viewer feels about your film.

Wide angle

A wide angle shot takes in everything and doesn’t focus on one particular thing.

Mid shot

A mid range shot gives some detail, but allows you to see the background.

Close ups

Close up shots are often used to make people feel connected to what they are seeing. It puts the character or thing right up close so you can see all the details.

 

Your task:

1. Choose a subject (thing or person)
2. Take a wide angle shot, mid range shot and a close up. Remember to change your camera setting to macro for the close up. Also, remember to keep the camera still for each shot.
3. Download your footage onto both of your computers.

MAKE  A NEW POST

1. Give it the title ‘Framing’
2. Put it in the Unit of Inquiry category
3. Import the three shots you just downloaded
4. Clearly label the shots – Wide Angle, Mid-shot, or Close up
5. Write a short piece of writing telling the difference between these shots.

 

 

Cinquain poems

Cinquain poems use a simple structure. They are five lines long with a certain number of words or syllables in each each. There are also rules for each line:

Line 1: Title                                        1 Word
Line 2: Description of the title            2 Words
Line 3: Action about the title              3 Words
Line 4: Feeling about the title            4 Words
Line 5: Synonym for the title              1 Word

Your task is to write a cinquain poems about a country that is important to you. I have written an example for you below:

Australia
Blue Sky
Playing cricket outside
Relaxed, happy, fun, harmonious
Home

Instructions:

1. Choose a country that is important to you
2. On a scrap piece of paper, record the reasons why it is important to you.
3. Try and use descriptive language
4. Use these ideas to write a cinquain poem
5. Download the Cinquain template
6. Insert a picture of yourself in the right hand side
7. Type in your poem
8. Print

Analysing poetry films

Our central idea for this unit is:

Artists seek to evoke an emotional response from their audience.

Today you are going to view some of the past winners from the Grade 5 poetry film festival and analyse:

Red Hat: The emotional response you have to the films.

Green Hat: The techniques they have used to make you feel this way.

They are only a minute long most of them so you should be able to view a few of them.

Instructions:

1. Click on the following link to view the playlist of last years winners. View the different films for 15 minutes.
2. Choose one of the poetry films that you really like and complete the I see i think i wonder record sheet. Here’s an example of one I have already started. Remember: You are focussing on the techniques used by the film maker, not just the content of the poem.
3. Embed a copy of the movie into a new post on your digital desk.
4. Record your response to the Red and Green Hat Questions.

 

Tuning into poetry

In a new post titled, Tuning into poetry, record your thoughts to the following questions. You may choose to type, record your voice using Garage Band or make a film using Photo Booth.

Remember: Follow the writing process. Refine (by adding, changing and removing) and proof read your work (spelling, punctuation, grammar).

White Hat: What do you know about poetry as a form of expression?

Red Hat: How do you feel about having to write poetry?

Yellow Hat: What do you like about poetry?

Black Hat: What are the challenges of writing poetry?

Green Hat: What did you discover last week about poetry?

Blue Hat: What do you want to know now that you have explored some poetry?

Video Master Class 1 – Perspective

Many of the same tips for photography apply when recording video.

This task will help you become familiar with your camera and help you practice using perspective.

Perspective, or point of view, put simply is the position and direction of your camera. It helps to add depth to your shots and can be used to manipulate how the viewer feels about the character/person or the location.

This perspective makes the person look tiny and the slope of the cliff really steep.

This perspective makes this cactus look extremely huge, even though it is only 10 cm tall.

Your task:

1. With your partner, take turns to play with different perspectives – Put the camera low, high, to the side.
2. Try making your partner look small or gigantic.
3. Download your footage onto your computer.

What do think they know about poetry?

White Hat: What do you think you know about poetry as a form of expression?

Below is a list of 5T’s prior knowledge about poetry:

Video Master Class 2 – Lighting

Just like perspective, light is a very important consideration when filming video.

There are two things to consider when thinking about light:

1. The technical side
2. The emotive side

The Technical Side

Just like photography, most of the time you don’t want to point your camera in the direction of the or any other bright light source. You will end up with mostly black footage or a big sun spot in the middle of your shot. Keep the light source behind your camera.

The sun removes all colour from this shot of a temple wall.

Lots of light is best as it gets rid of shadows.

Left: Not enough light and annoying shadows.
Right: Gorgeous detail and little or no shadow. 

 

The Emotive Side

Light can also play a huge role in how the viewer responds to your film. How you use light can evoke different emotions.

Check out this ‘Tips and tricks’ video produced by VideoMaker for some simple steps you can take to evoke an emotional response to your viewer.

Your task:

1. With a partner, go outside and film each other with:

• The person between the camera and the sun
• The camera between the person and the sun

2. With a partner, use the lights in the broadcast centre to create the following:

• A scary mood
• A mysterious mood
• Another free choice

Please note: There is not enough room in the broadcast centre for the whole class to go at once. Whilst you are waiting, you will experiment with using effects in iMovie to create the same sort of moods. Click here to watch a video that shows you how to do this. You will use your perspective footage for this. Click here for a video that shows you how to get your clips from iPhoto to iMovie.

 

3. Download your footage onto BOTH your computers before erasing the camera and view the results.

TOTALLY LOST? Missed out on a lesson? DON’T WORRY. View this playlist that shows you how to do everything!

 

 

Comprehension – part 1 – Inner voice

Have you ever noticed that when you are reading something for the first time, you might hear an ‘Inner Voice‘ that is asking questions, confirming what you already know, wondering about something, making connections… what else could your Inner Voice be telling you?

Practice using this inner voice by marking on the text given to you when you are asking a question, when you are wondering about something, when you are making a connection, or any other things you notice your Inner Voice telling you as you read the text.

Here are some symbols you might use: –

+  = connection

W = I wonder…

?  = question

✓  = confirmation – I knew that!

N  = New information