Monday 28 October 2013

The Seagull (Part B)

It is a national holiday today and I grabbed the opportunity to update our project with my elementasy class. 
All kids were anxious to work on our poem. I think it is more their desire to be presented in a blog post rather than the poem itself but even this motivation is quite enough to shake them up.

We first heard the poem The seagull composed by Michalis Tranoudakis and sung by Aphrodite Manou. Then I let them read the poem for themselves. I urged them to take their time and read slowly. Young pupils get easily carried away and skip meanings and language items. When they were ready, I simply asked them whether they liked it or not. They spontaneously answered, 'Yes!!!'.  But then, the big question followed, 'Why?' I must confess I was surprised with their replies. They liked the language, the lines, the rhymes, the meanings and metaphors. Elytis describes and compares the seagull (symbol of freedom) and people's lives. 


In the next phase I thought to dare them a little bit. I asked them to translate the poem as much as they could. They came up with many words. My goal is not to have them translate but I believe they will be encouraged to see their contribution in theEnglish version.


 The reason I used the original text first was that I wanted them to get familiarised with the poem. They are preliminary pupils of elementary level and my intention is to make them feel secure and confident. However, the whole discussion was in English and they successfully transferred their ideas and opinions from their mother tongue to English.

In our next lesson I will distribute the English version and we will work on from there.



1 comment:

  1. Hi Georgia,
    I can't wait for the English version, I am listening to the song right now. I love your method. They will always feel proud of themselves for translating a little bit of Greek poetry into English.

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