English Through Poems

Poems to Use with Secondary Students

To celebrate the 2009 Hong Kong New Senior Secondary Syllabus (NSS), we commissioned Jennifer Wong, Hong Kong poet, (‘Summer Cicadas’, Chameleon Press, 2006) to write four poems and design lesson plans on the NSS themes of Study, School Life and Work, Cultures of the World, Wonderful Things, and Technology.

The lesson plans encourage teachers to work with concepts, ideas and feelings connected with the theme, and provide guidance on how to support students’ creative work. In addition, you’ll find a list of language structures and features that as an English language teacher you may like to work on with your students.

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The Gap Years by Jennifer Wong
The Gap Years focuses on what happens to teenagers as they move into their early adult lives – what memories remain and how do they feel about the future?
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Real Time by Jennifer Wong
Real Time is written on the theme of Technology and the impact it has for our lives. However, you have to wait until the end of the poem to find out what it is about!
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Ten Months by Jennifer Wong
How do women feel when they are pregnant, and how do their partners feel about them? Read this creative journey into the mind and feelings of those who are expecting a baby.
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Shadow of Breath by Jennifer Wong
How far do cultural beliefs pervade daily life and practices? Discover the beauty of the symbols and signs of Chinese traditions in this poem written to celebrate the NSS theme, Cultures of the World.
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Download the Poems and Lesson Plans

In this section you can download copies of the four poems and their associated lesson plans. You can either download each poem and lesson plan individually or you can download all the materials together in one document. All the materials are available as either a Word document or a PDF.