This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals Mid-Term Break Mid-Term Break presentation Subject(s):English – Northern Irish poetry Age group(s): 12-14, Topic: Poetry, Christmas EAL Nexus resource Licence information | This resource is free to use for educational purposes. © British Council 2015 Source | This resource was originally developed by Anne Rowan and has been adapted by EAL Nexus.

We are going to look at a poem called Mid- Term Break. What do you think the poem could be about? Mid-Term Break

Find the connections a car bumper a porch crying bells a snowdrop a bruise bandages a baby a poppy a pram

You are going to hear the poem Mid-Term Break read to you twice. The first time listen for the words on the ‘Find the connections’ slide. Tick them off or write them down as you hear them The second time listen for the connections between the words, and for what happens in the poem. Is the poem what you expected? Discuss AT I thought … would be connected to … I expected/ didn’t expect … The … is connected/related to the … in that/ because …

. Now read your copy of the poem. Take turns to read a line each. Stop after the second and fifth stanzas and : Underline any words you don’t understand Discuss and write down what you understand about what happened Discuss and write down any questions you have I understand/ think this means that s/he/a/the … I don’t understand this word/ stanza. Is/Does/ What / Why … ? I wonder if s/he/the/ it … ?

Vocabulary Sick bay – A room where pupils go if they are ill Knelling - Slow steady strokes of a bell at a funeral service Cooed - The soft murmuring sound of a young baby Stanched - Stopping the flow of blood

Look at the pack of matching cards/Worksheet 1 Match the stanzas of the poem with the descriptions, then put them in order. The first pair is done for you here.

Mid-term break I sat all morning in the college sick bay Counting bells knelling classes to a close. At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home. In the porch I met my father crying - He had always taken funerals in his stride - And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow. The boy was in the sick bay waiting to be picked up by his neighbours. When he gets home his Dad is crying and is shocked. The neighbours say he is finding it difficult to cope.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram When I came in, and I was embarrassed By old men standing up to shake my hand And tell me they were 'sorry for my trouble' Whispers informed strangers that I was the eldest, Away at school, as my mother held my hand In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs. At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses The baby has no idea what has happened. The boy is shy when people shake his hand. People tell him they are sorry his little brother died. He was at school when his brother died. His mother is angry and sad. The ambulance arrives with his baby brothers body

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him For the first time in six weeks. Paler now, Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple. He lay in a four foot box, as in his cot. No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four foot box, a foot for every year. He goes to see his little brother. There are candles and snowdrops in the room. His brother has a bruise on his head. He is lying in a coffin. We find out he is only four.

Pair work Questions 1.What time did the neighbours pick the boy up? 2.When he arrived home what was the boy’s father doing? 3.When was the last time the boy had seen his little brother? 4.What two items where beside the bed? 5.What age was his little brother when he died?

Peer Assessment – answers to questions 1.The Neighbours picked the boy up at two o’clock. 2.When he arrived home the boys father was in the porch crying. 3.The last time the boy had seen his little brother was six weeks before he died. 4.A candle and snowdrops were beside the bed. 5.His little brother was four years old when he died.

Northern Irish Saying… SayingMeaningIn this poem this means To take something in your stride To cope with something easily The father usually coped well with funerals it was a hard blowWhen something is devastating It was a shock to the father that the son had died Sorry for my troubleSorry for the loss of your family member The people were sorry that the little boy had died Poppy bruiseA bruise which resembles the poppy flower The boy had a bruise on his forehead. Sometimes people will use these saying in Northern Ireland. Seamus Heaney has included some of these saying in his poem.

Group Storyboard You will now be split into groups. Each group will be given two verses of the poem. Task: Create a storyboard of the poem. Use the worksheet you have been given.

Storyboard Pictures goes here Text goes here

Poetic Devices in the Poem Rhyme This is when two or more words have similar sounds or the same sound Example: Cat + Mat Personification This is when an object or feeling is given a human quality Example: The table cried Alliteration This is when two more words start with the same letter. Example: Silly Sausage Can you pick out examples of these devices in the poem?

Poetic Devices Answers RhymeAlliterationPersonification No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four foot box, a foot for every year. Counting bells knelling classes to a close A four foot box, a foot for every year. … as my mother held my hand in hers Candles soothed the bedside

Feelings: They Felt… Sad Happy Angry Worried Confused Miserable Ashamed Embarrassed

How do think these people are feeling in the poem? FatherMotherBrother

How do think these people are feeling in the poem? FatherMotherBrother Sad Miserable Sad Miserable Confused Worried Angry Confused Scared Worried Sad Embarrassed

Seamus Heaney information gap – fill the blanks Before you start discuss and write down anything you know about Seamus Heaney. Get a point for everything you get right. Now in pairs you’ll be given a blue or green sheet about Seamus Heaney. Don’t let your partner see your sheet! Work out the questions you’ll need to ask to fill your gaps, then ask your partner. They will ask you some different questions. When you’ve finished check that you’ve made the same text.

Who was Seamus Heaney? He was born in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on April He wrote many famous poetry collections He was a professor at Harvard and Oxford universities He won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature He died in Dublin, Ireland, on August , at the age of 74