Taking its lead from the create and responding skills students have developed through Junior Cycle and teacher feedback on studying poetry in the classroom, Verse Higher Level and the Poetry Skills Portfolio utilise active learning methodologies to build up students’ knowledge and essay writing skills, breaking down the barriers to exam success
- Contains all eight poets prescribed for examination in 2027.
- A key image accompanies each poem to aid visual learners.
- Timelines for each poet offer relevant biographical details to give context to their work.
- Pre-reading questions for all poems serves to engage students immediately.
- Comprehending and responding questions lead students to their own understanding of each poem and assist with differentiation in the classroom.
- Creating questions contain innovative writing assignments prompted by the poem, which allow students to practise for Paper 1, with common formats such as letters and blog posts.
- Exploring sections after each poem offer immediate, clear analysis in a concise format. Relevant quotations and biographical details are integrated in the commentary, providing a model for essay answers.
- End-of-chapter theme sections contain handy reference tables showing the main themes within each poem.
- End-of-chapter language and imagery sections offer notes on key literacy techniques used by the poet.
- Sample essay plans and paragraphs develop skills in building structured answers for the exam.
- Unseen poetry section contains guidance on approaching this question on the exam.
- Exam advice sections provide useful information on preparing for and answering questions on prescribed and unseen poetry.
- A glossary of poetic terms gives clear explanations for students.
