Ways in to Rossetti

An intriguing poet

Featuring on a number of current A Level English syllabuses, the poetry of Christina Rossetti makes for intriguing study.

On one level she is very accessible – dealing as she does with universal themes such as love, loss and the impact of beauty. However, there is an elusive quality to many poems, as they seem to allude to a world that is closed off to the inhabitants of an empirical, materialistic, post modern 21st century.

A bid for freedom

Rossetti’s experience of life in Victorian England had a clearly defined focus, developed within the constraints of what was considered acceptable for women in her position. Her strong impulse for freedom of imagination and self expression was instead met through her Christian faith.

Opening up her world

Coming to Rossetti’s work from a background of other religious beliefs or none means that the references she used as shorthand need to be worked at in a way she would not have envisaged. But once the reader sees what she is getting at, her work sings.

Help for students

In September Crossref-it.info launched an extensive guide to Rossetti’s work, in which everything that might be less than clear to modern readers is illuminated at the touch of a cursor (or finger if you are accessing the material via your mobile).

Help for busy teachers!

If you are a teacher wondering how you can engage your students with these texts, it may help to know that this week Crossref-it.info is launching

a series of six lesson sequences on a selection of Christina Rossetti's poems which take the

headache out of planning! There are a variety of different approaches suitable for different styles of learner or levels of ability, as well as keeping in mind the requirements of differing syllabuses.

Whichever way you come to Christina Rossetti, we want you to get the most from the experience. That’s why Crossref-it.info exists!

Teaching Blake and pushed for time?

Happy holidays!

I hope the current Easter holidays are providing a great break for you (and not just ‘time for illness’)! Wonderful weather would be a real bonus, but this year it seems too much to hope for…

Time to assess

Within the Easter holidays there is always that scary point as an A Level English teacher when you review the work you have covered so far and realise just how much there is still to fit in. This past term has doubtless had its fair share of staff illness and school closure, which may have thrown your carefully structured lesson plan off course.

So now an element of (controlled) panic may start to assail you. Perhaps a text still isn’t properly covered - and then there are all the revision sessions to fit it, particularly on those texts which you weren’t confident the class really ‘got’ first time around.

Ready made and reliable

Whether you are getting your students ready for AS levels or A2s, you don’t want anxiety to rob you of the remaining days of your holiday. Yes, time is now of the essence, but there are some easy shortcuts you can use.

The recently launched Crossref-it.info guide on Songs of Innocence and Experience is full of information you can send your students to for research. It has the usual interactive timeline, contextual info and clear textual analyses.

Even better, it is now accompanied by a variety of teachers’ worksheets. Devised by the English HOD of a successful state school, each provides three to five lessons’ worth of different approaches to the poems, so that you can make them accessible for the weakest to the brightest of your students.

Check them out on Crossref-it.info then you have got one less thing to worry about…

One for the Teachers

It’s that final December slog for English teachers – getting through the text before the end of term, setting the assignments, writing reports, helping with the school production, covering for absences, rehearsing for the staff ‘skit’, preparing readings for the Christmas concert and final assemblies – oh, and maintaining a personal life!

It’s at times like these that any extra help is welcome. As you get more tired so your brain gets fogged and coming up with inspiring lesson ideas becomes ever harder. You probably already know that NATE’s associated Teachit! website contains a range of ideas and practical support. You may not yet know that there are some new teaching resources on www.crossref-it.info.

The two most recently featured texts are now accompanied by free, downloadable worksheets. Written by an experienced Head of English, these cover a range of themes and approaches to ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ by Thomas Hardy and the ‘Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer. You can use them to create a series of lessons, or just take individual aspects and link them in to existing work. Just what you need when the brain fog threatens to swamp you!

Please let us know how you get on and feel free to contribute your own tried and trusted suggestions!