Talking Turkeys .

The focus is on the poem “Talking Turkeys” by Benjamin Zephaniah Show the poem and ask students to try to read it to themselves. Some might struggle because of the apparently odd spelling. Talking Turkeys.doc Discuss why it is written like this – it is written as it would be spoken (with dialect). Ask students to read it again but this time, either say it to each other or speak it aloud– this should make it easier to read. See if anyone in the group is confident enough to have a go at reading it aloud to the class – or a group of students reading a stanza each. They should try to speak it as they think it should sound. You could role model by doing the first verse. Finally, play them the clip of the poet Benjamin Zephaniah reading it, using this link to youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4AgPSjzXkw There are a few changed words but that is because it is performance poetry but it still shows how it can be “read”.