English · Year 7

Active learning ideas

Exploring Personification and Symbolism

Active learning engages students physically and socially with abstract concepts, which is essential for grasping personification and symbolism. Moving beyond reading to performing, debating, and creating turns these literary devices from abstract ideas into experiences students can feel and see.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS3: English - Figurative Language
• KS3: English - Reading Poetry

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Concept Mapping
• 30 min · Pairs

Pair Annotation: Spot the Personification

Provide poem excerpts. Pairs highlight personified elements and note the human quality and mood created. They discuss one example with the class, citing evidence. Conclude with pairs rewriting a line without personification to compare effects.

Analyze how personification can evoke empathy or create a specific mood in a poem.

Facilitation Tip

During Pair Annotation, have students underline personified lines in one color and symbols in another so the visual separation reinforces the difference immediately.

What to look for

Provide students with a short poem excerpt. Ask them to identify one example of personification and explain what human quality is given to the object. Then, identify one symbol and explain what abstract idea it might represent.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Concept Mapping
• 45 min · Small Groups

Small Group Symbol Hunt

Distribute poems rich in symbols. Groups list images, propose symbolic meanings with text evidence, and link to the poem's theme. Groups share one symbol via gallery walk, voting on strongest interpretations.

Differentiate between a literal image and its symbolic meaning in a given text.

Facilitation Tip

For the Small Group Symbol Hunt, set a timer of seven minutes to keep the search focused and energize the collaboration.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How does personifying an element of nature, like the wind or the sea, change your perception of it?' Facilitate a class discussion where students share examples and consider the emotional impact.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Concept Mapping
• 25 min · Whole Class

Whole Class Role-Play: Bring Poems to Life

Select key personified lines. Students volunteer to act as the object, exaggerating human traits. Class identifies the device and mood shift. Follow with quick writes on emotional impact.

Construct an interpretation of a poem's central message based on its symbolic elements.

Facilitation Tip

In the Whole Class Role-Play, assign roles only after students have located the personified lines to ensure they understand the human qualities being attributed.

What to look for

Present students with a list of images (e.g., a wilting flower, a stormy sky, a key). Ask them to write down the literal object and then one possible symbolic meaning for each. Review responses to gauge understanding of symbolic representation.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Concept Mapping
• 35 min · Individual

Individual Creation: My Symbolic Poem

Students choose a personal theme and draft four lines using one symbol and personification. They self-assess for clarity of deeper meaning, then peer review drafts.

Analyze how personification can evoke empathy or create a specific mood in a poem.

What to look for

Provide students with a short poem excerpt. Ask them to identify one example of personification and explain what human quality is given to the object. Then, identify one symbol and explain what abstract idea it might represent.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should start with short, vivid excerpts to anchor the devices in concrete examples before moving to longer texts. Avoid over-explaining; instead, model how to ask ‘Why did the poet choose this image?’ and ‘What feeling does this create?’ Then step back so students practice. Research shows that embodied cognition—acting out personification—deepens comprehension, so include movement early.

Students will confidently label personification and symbolism in poems, explain their effects, and apply these devices in their own writing with clear purpose. Success looks like students using evidence to justify interpretations and adapting language to create layered meaning.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Pair Annotation, watch for students who label any vivid description as personification.

  Prompt them to check if the non-human object actually performs a human action or trait, such as ‘whispering secrets’ rather than simply being described as ‘quiet’.

• During Small Group Symbol Hunt, watch for students who assign one fixed meaning to symbols like ‘a bird always means freedom.’

  Have them revisit the poem’s context and underline clues that point to the specific meaning, then debate alternate interpretations within the group.

• During Whole Class Role-Play, watch for students who perform the lines without clarifying the human trait being given.

  Ask performers to say aloud the human quality they are embodying before acting, then invite the class to name it after the scene.

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Methods used in this brief

• Concept Mapping