Many students find reading and writing about poetry mystifying.  For this reason, I have found that writing frames are particularly helpful when teaching poetry.  I use a standard writing frame for each year, adding more features until, by GCSE, students are able to write about poetry in depth and detail.  The precise content of the frame varies according to the ability of each class, and what they have already been taught.  At the simplest level, they are asked to write about two things: what the poem is about, and the poetic tecnhiques used.  A number of writing frames for different purposes and at different levels are provided in the "KS3 English Kit".

These resources are an early attempt to replace paper-based writing frames with the more seamless writing process that a computer can offer.  Please note that they are only trial versions, and I am working with a friend who is an expert in C++ to develop a much more sophisticated program called "The Poetry Processor".  This will include:

• automated writing frames for all kinds of essays and poems


• extensive help files, include definitions of key poetic terms


• a bank of prompt phrases to help students express their ideas


• a fully-featured mini word-processor

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS
1. Create a new folder on your C drive named "Poetry"
2. Click on the icon below and download the ZIP file to a temporary folder.
3. Find the folder using Windows Explorer and unzip the file to the "Poetry" folder by double-clicking on the icon.
4. To load the programs, double click on the Shortcut.  This will start the QBasic editor.
5. The QBasic Editor, though old fashioned by Windows standards, is a mouse-operated point-and-click interface which is similar to Windows.
6. Click on FILE, then OPEN, and you will see the files named POETRYSA.BAS and POETRY.BAS  Double click on to load and press F5 to start.