How to Teach High School Students Imagery
It is important for high school students to learn about imagery because they use it for several different things. They need to know about imagery so that they can write papers using specific and concrete details. They also need to learn the skill of analyzing literature and other texts. An important part of analyzing a text is understanding imagery. These suggestions for teaching students also work well with any age group.
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Instructions
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Explain the five senses to the students. The five senses include sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Have the students make a quick list of the classroom using all the five senses.
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Define imagery. Imagery is the description of places and objects using sensory detail. High school students are taught over and over again to use specific and concrete detail when writing an essay. Sensory detail (imagery) is just another word for specific and concrete.
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Go for a walk. Now that the students understand what imagery is, take them outside for a walk. Tell them to engage all five senses as they are walking. They should have a pen and paper with them so they can jot down what they see, hear, smell, taste, and feel.
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Show the students images and have them use their five senses to describe the image. Scenes of places work the best. Place on the overhead a picture of a hut on the beach, for example. Tell the students to place themselves in the picture. Tell them to walk around the hut, look at the sky, close their eyes and listen to the sounds. This is basically a form of guided imagery, with the teacher as the guide.
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Write a poem. After viewing images on the overhead, have the students write a five-line poem. Write on the board, "I see," "I hear, "I smell," "I taste," and "I feel." Students should fill in each sentence with a sensory image. Each sentence becomes a line of the poem. When they finish, have them remove the first two words of the sentence that you provided. They will be left with a poem.
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Tips & Warnings
Use powerful images for the overhead exercise. Find pictures that show homeless people, war scenes, weddings, and hurricanes. Display the final poems around the room or make an anthology.
Resources
- Photo Credit Classroom Clipart
