We know that teaching symbolism can be tough to teach. It’s abstract. It requires critical thinking. And students don’t want to put in the effort. But what if you could pull from a universal symbol that students can recognize pretty easily: bird symbolism. And the easiest way to access this is through bird poetry.
Additionally, students often disengage from poetry in general. But what if you could combine bird poetry and flight symbolism for a classroom win.
5 Ideas for Teaching Bird Symbolism
Gamify Teaching Bird Symbolism
Students often already understand the symbolism associated with birds like the owl and the eagle. Challenge them to see how many bird symbols they already know.
Use matching cards for a fun manipulative activity. (Get these cards inside Pencils and Prologues Membership)
Bird Symbols Gallery Walk
Create posters with images of birds and what they represent. Have students get up and walk around the room to take notes.
Bird Poetry Slam
Set up a brackets style poetry competition using only bird poems. As your students work through the poems, have them note how the birds in the poems are symbols. Set up a bracket of 8 or 16 bird poems. Check out this post on 17 Bird Poems for High School English for a list of poems to incorporate in your Bird Poetry Slam.
Bird Symbolism Research
Assign students different birds to do a quick research project on. Give them posters that only include an image of the bird and have them add the details that relate to what they symbolize. Follow up with presentations or a gallery walk.
Use Poem of the Week
Highlight symbolism during your bell ringer routine by including some bird poetry. Try this poems like “In Spring” by Rainer Maria Rilke or “River Snow” by Mark Van Doren.
Bird Adjacent Literature Circles
Use books in your literature circles that include birds as symbols. Titles to consider: Life of Pi, The Awakening, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Hunger Games. Use the essential question: In what ways do birds and flight represent the human desire for freedom?
Create a Bird Symbolism Unit
You can use each of these ideas independently for a quick infusion of symbolism into your year. Or you can use them together to build a larger more vibrant unit that pairs symbolism about birds with a full length text or with book clubs.
If you want “ready to use” materials to add bird symbolism to your school year, join Pencils and Prologues. Check out these free unit plans for the essential question: EQ: In what ways do bird and flight represent the human desire for freedom?
Related Posts
!7 Bird Poems for High School English
Teaching Symbolism in Litearature
