Gillian Clarke Poem Commentaries for CIE

Intelligent notes provide interpretations of all 15 poems from the Collected Poems anthology – in line with the demands of the new iGCSE (9–1) specification (for examination in 2017, 2018 and 2019).

An essential resource for teachers, especially those who are unfamiliar with Clarke
It gives excellent guidelines and ideas for exploring the main themes and elements of Clarke's poetry

C Hughes, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

For each poem there are:

  1. Summaries and commentaries to support comprehension and stimulate analysis
  2. Notes on form, structure and language throughout to encourage students to discover how meaning is created
  3. Differentiated questions and activities to engage students with the poems to enhance learning and enjoyment
  4. Comparison tasks to explore points of connection across the collection

Also includes invaluable exam practice and a key terms glossary!

Poems covered: ‘Baby-Sitting’, ‘Buzzard’, ‘Catrin’, ‘Clocks’, ‘Family House’, ‘Friesian Bull’, ‘Heron at Port Talbot’, ‘Journey’, ‘Lunchtime Lecture’, ‘Miracle on St David’s Day’, ‘Musician’, ‘My Box’, ‘Neighbours’, ‘Pipistrelle’, ‘Still Life’

What do teachers say about this resource? (7526)

This was a very well-researched resource containing an excellent level of analysis on the 15 set poems for CIE IGCSE English Literature. [With this resource] I would feel incredibly confident about delivering them in class. I really liked the activities section for each worksheet. The author has put some serious thought into different ways that the time-pressed teacher could deliver these poems in an interesting way that places them in a wider literary context... The chief value of this resource, for me, lies in the analysis of each poem. This gives a truly comprehensive run-through of the poems and clearly identifies aspects of form, language and structure... The worksheets give supplementary questions that could easily be used for class discussion or independent study... Reading through this resource enthused me to teach the poems.

J Hathaway, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Overall, this is an extremely helpful resource. The difficult thing about teaching the Gillian Clarke poetry is that as it is a recent addition to the specification, there is hardly anything online to help teachers teach these poems. This fills a gap in the market. The commentaries are very clear and thorough, with great detail. They will be extremely reassuring to any teacher teaching this, especially for the first time. The resource is structured well, and easy to navigate. It is an essential resource for teachers, especially those who are unfamiliar with Clarke. It gives excellent guidelines and ideas for exploring the main themes and elements of Clarke's poetry.

C Hughes, Teacher & Peer Reviewer