Here is a draft poem in the style of 'In Mrs Tilscher's Class' but about my own primary school experiences: In Miss Allen's Class You could spend all morning tracing the routes On the huge world map by the window, Listening to Miss Allen name each country In her lilting Irish accent. "Ireland, England, France," she'd say with a smile. Recess was a whirl of playground games, Chasing friends around the climbing frame. Sandwiches and juice to refuel us Before more lessons in the sunny room. Miss Allen filled our minds with knowledge, Her passion for learning was contagious.

1. In Mrs Tilcher’s Class
LO: How to analyse an unseen poem

2. Match the terms to their definitions
and an example. Use a different
colour for each term.
Poetry Terms
Warm-up

3. Simile A word with the function of
describing a noun
Metaphor
The not so clever cat
Ate the polyester mat
A comparison where the
person/thing ‘is’ something else
The enormous, grey elephant
began to paint
A string of words beginning with
the same of similar sounds
Alliteration I’m wondering where
I’ve left my feet, and why
my hands are outside clapping.
She was as clever as a
professor, with eyes that
sparkled like a diamond
Onomatopoeia Words which imitate the sound
A non-human thing or idea is
given human attributes
A comparison using ‘as’ or ‘like’ The day was a picture, a
painting of perfection.
The clash of the clouds, the
whoosh of the wind
A line ending in which the sense
continues into the following
stanza
Enjambment
Rhyme The terrifying teacher terrorised
the trembling twins
The same or similar sounds at
the end of two or more words
The frost froze spitefully over
the pavement and waiting with
glee for an unsuspecting
pedestrian
Adjective Personification

4. Simile A word with the function of
describing a noun
Metaphor
The not so clever cat
Ate the polyester mat
A comparison where the
person/thing ‘is’ something
else
The enormous, grey elephant
began to paint
A string of words beginning
with the same or similar
sounds
Alliteration I’m wondering where
I’ve left my feet, and why
my hands are outside clapping.
She was as clever as a
professor, with eyes that
sparkled like a diamond
Onomatopoeia Words which imitate the sound
A non-human thing or idea is
given human attributes
A comparison using ‘as’ or ‘like’ The day was a picture, a
painting of perfection.
The clash of the clouds, the
whoosh of the wind
A line ending in which the
sense continues into the
following stanza
Enjambment
Rhyme The terrifying teacher
terrorised the trembling twins
The same or similar sounds at
the end of two or more words
The frost froze spitefully over
the pavement and waiting with
glee for an unsuspecting
pedestrian
Adjective Personification

5. Learning Checklist
AO1 and AO2
1. Respond with insight and imagination; select
text detail to support interpretations.
2. Explain how the writer uses language,
structure and form to present ideas, themes
and settings.

6. Things to
notice in a
poem!
What tone of voice
should it be read in?
How do the
images support
the meaning?
What effect
does the poem
have on you?
How has the poet
recreated sound?
Has the poet
used any
patterns?
What is the
poem about?

7. When you read a poem,
always remember to SMILE
• Structure (including form,
rhyme and rhythm)
• Meaning (including storyline
and viewpoint)
• Imagery (including the senses,
simile, metaphor, adjectives
and personification)
• Language (including word use
and onomatopoeia)
• Effect (including mood,
emotion and tone)
S
M
I
L
E

8. 1) Read through the poem once.
2) Read through the poem again, working out a general impression of
the poem – What is the poem about?
* What happens in each stanza – note this down next to each stanza
* What is the poem about as a whole? Does it deal with a particular
topic or issue?
3) Look at the language used to express ideas for an idea of tone
* Is the tone of the poem happy/sad/positive/negative? How do you
know (which words create this tone – underline them)? Does the tone
vary at any point in the poem?
Skimming the Surface of a Poem

9. In Mrs Tilscher’s Class
You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
”Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan.”
That for an hour,
then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.
This was better than home. Enthralling books.
The classroom glowed like a sweetshop.
Sugar paper. Coloured shapes. Brady and Hindley
faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.
Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found
she'd left a gold star by your name.
The scent of a pencil slowly, carefully, shaved.
A xylophone's nonsense heard from another form.
Over the Easter term the inky tadpoles changed
from commas into exclamation marks. Three frogs
hopped in the playground, freed by a dunce
followed by a line of kids, jumping and croaking
away from the lunch queue. A rough boy
told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared
at your parents, appalled, when you got back
home.
That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity.
A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot,
fractious under the heavy, sexy sky. You asked her
how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled
then turned away. Reports were handed out.
You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown
the sky split open into a thunderstorm.
S
M
I
L
E
Go through the poem and pick
out other features of SMILE you
can write about, as many as you
can in 10 minutes
In the exam you will have 10
minutes at most to do this
Page 156

10. Write your introduction
How does the poet show her feelings about her time
at Primary school?
You should consider:
• how the poet describes the sights and sound of the Primary School
• how the poet describes the experiences of Primary School
• what she realises as an adult looking back on her experiences
• the tone of voice in the poem
• the language the poet uses
• how the poem is structured
• anything else that you think important.
In your introduction it is a good idea to summarise the poem’s
meaning, tone and the response you think the poet wanted from
the reader.

11. So you’ve gathered your evidence to
answer this question. Now, how will you
structure your response? What will your
PEARLs be?
PEARLs:
1.
2.
3.
Number your evidence/annotations to
show which PEARL it belongs with. Will
you cover all elements of the question/
SMILE with this plan?
PLANNING YOUR PEARL

12. Lesson 2
Learning Objective:
using the PEARL paragraph structure

13. Starter
Brainstorm your memories of Primary School.

14. In Mrs Tilscher’s Class
You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
”Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan.”
That for an hour,
then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.
This was better than home. Enthralling books.
The classroom glowed like a sweetshop.
Sugar paper. Coloured shapes. Brady and Hindley
faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.
Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found
she'd left a gold star by your name.
The scent of a pencil slowly, carefully, shaved.
A xylophone's nonsense heard from another form.
Over the Easter term the inky tadpoles changed
from commas into exclamation marks. Three frogs
hopped in the playground, freed by a dunce
followed by a line of kids, jumping and croaking
away from the lunch queue. A rough boy
told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared
at your parents, appalled, when you got back
home.
That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity.
A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot,
fractious under the heavy, sexy sky. You asked her
how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled
then turned away. Reports were handed out.
You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown
the sky split open into a thunderstorm.

15. Answer the following
questions.
Focus on using the PEARL
paragraph structure.
Point
Evidence
Analysis
Reader response
Link back to question
Read ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ in your
Anthology and answer the following
questions using the PEARL paragraph
structure:
a) Why might Duffy have chosen to write
the poem in the second person?
b) In the first stanza, do you think the
children understand what they are
learning?
c) In the second stanza, how does Duffy
show her positive attitudes towards
school?
d) How is the image of the tadpoles relevant
to the main themes of the poem?
e) How does Mrs Tilscher finally disappoint
Duffy?
f) How does Duffy use language to appeal
to the senses?

16. PEARL EXAMPLE:
Why might Duffy have chosen to write the
poem in the second person?
Duffy may have chosen to write the poem in the second
person to encourage the reader to empathise with its
themes. Lines like ‘Mrs Tilscher loved you’ and the imagery
in the simile ‘the classroom glowed like a sweetshop’ are
childlike observations and evoke positive memories and
feelings of how safe and happy they felt in the school
environment as children. Through this personal
involvement, the reader is therefore as shocked as the poet
when the tone of the poem suddenly changes alongside
the poets realisation that her parents and teachers have
lied to her and the world is not quite as it seemed. The use
of the second person effectively places you within the
poem and encourages you to personally engage with both
the themes portayed and the feelings implied.

17. Plenary
PEER ASSESSMENT
• Swap books with your partner
• Read their PEARL responses.
• How could they improve them?
• How is their interpretation different to yours?
• Give your partner feedback.

18. Write a full answer – 30 minutes
How does the poet show her feelings about her time
at Primary school?
You should consider:
• how the poet describes the sights and sound of the Primary School
• how the poet describes the experiences of Primary School
• what she realises as an adult looking back on her experiences
• the tone of voice in the poem
• the language the poet uses
• how the poem is structured
• anything else that you think important.
In your introduction it is a good idea to summarise the poem’s
meaning, tone and the response you think the poet wanted from
the reader.

19. Task: Write Miss Allen’s class in
the style of Duffy’s poem