This is one of a series of lesson ideas provided by Gill Chesney-Green from Derbyshire in the UK.  (Thanks a plenty Gill! - Kim Flintoff - Webmaster)

LESSON:   SHE SAID - Poetry stimulus 

AIMS:   Exploring poetry as stimulus for drama

OBJECTIVES: Devising drama and using conventions

STRATEGIES: 

• Pair work
• Small group
• Discussion
• A range of drama conventions

She Said

She said – You were very nice, quiet and polite,
She said – You were considerate, well brought up,
She said -   You were happy and kind
She knows you live 200 miles away,
She just can’t understand us.

She knows I don’t see enough of you,
She certainly makes sure of that
She said I think of you too much,
She just can’t understand us.

She said phone calls were too frequent,
She said they must stop; then relented and
She said two calls a week was enough,
She said ten minutes is sufficient for any news you’ve got.
She listens in I know she does,
She just can’t understand us.

She saw my exam results,
She said that was the limit,
She asked what was in your letters that made me so distant,
She reads them now –then gives them to me.
She said that was the only way to prevent it.
I said ‘Prevent what?’
She said she didn’t understand me.

She said my letters were to be approved at first,
She said she’d read then post them,
She said she would,
She said any arguments were in vain,
She said I was too young,
She said you’d get tired then what would I do – no qualifications no job,
She doesn’t understand us.

She said she’d posted my letters,
She said you haven’t written back,
You are getting them aren’t you
She said you would she said
She said – she lied.

She’s hurting me,
She’s hurting you and your family,
She said –she says –she has said,
She will say – she will say no longer!
She cried when I left!
I don’t understand her.

Discussion

Read through the poem with the class.

   Who is ‘she’? What is ‘she’ like?
   How old is the writer? What clues?
   What sex is the writer? What clues?
   What is the message of the poem?
   If we were to interview ‘she’ in the poem, what would she say?
   If we were to interview the writer, what would s/he say?
   If we were to use this poem as a start for drama, what would we want the drama to be about?

Pairs

Devise a conversation between ‘she’ and a friend to show what  her worries are. Does she sound convincing? How can she be made to be convincing?

Small groups of three/four

Devise a scene to show how the two originally met. Remember,  one of them lives 200 miles away. 

Discussion

What other lines from the poem give a lead-in to drama? What  would you want the drama to show? What audience would you  devise for? What would make this drama worth seeing?
What conventions would you use to explore the material?

• Flashback
• Hot-seating
• Mime
• Role on the wall
• Telephone call
• Narrative drama
• Thought tracking
• Still image
• Diary or letter writing

RELATED ACTIVITIES: 

Use story boards to outline the dramatic action. Remember to decide what the point of each scene is.

ASSESSMENT POSSIBILITIES: As syllabus

CROSS- CURRICULAR LINKS: English any work with poetry

RESOURCES:  Copies of poem and storyboard sheets.
 
 

Scene:     Point of scene to show:	Main action:
	Characters: