Introduction

lntroduction to Anthology 'Poetry Scores a Goal' I am planning to teach the following anthology within a single-sex all boys High School, to a Standard Year 11 English Class. This class consists of students who speak languages other than English and who have been in Australia no longer than five years; as well as students who are Australian born, fluent English speaker, thus a variety of poems have been selected to suit the needs of all students.

As an English teacher, it is vital to engage with the student’s interests and plan a curriculum that has all students actively participating and enjoying each lesson. These Year 11 students have a tendency to be resistant to the topic of poetry and the idea of learning to analyse and compose poetry; therefore it would only be natural to compile an anthology of poems that relate to the interests of the students. The following anthology has been compiled around the topic of sports, titled ‘Poetry Scores a Goal’, as this was one of the main interests among all the boys within the class.

Ralph Fletcher (2006) writes in his book //Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices// that male students have a tendency to be disengaged within the writing classroom. He believes that boys "get an unfriendly response from their teacher when they try to write about high-interest boy topics, which includes teams and sports". Allowing students the choice to write about such topics can create an environment that will engage male writers. Furthermore, Fletcher believes that incorporating visual imagery with any written text allows boys to be more active learners. Fletcher proclaims that girl’s brains are more verbal, whereas boys are more spatial, therefore including visual imagery allows boys to feel more invested in an activity.

Some may wonder what poetry has to do with sport. Where is the beauty in writing about kicking goals? One may be surprised when they read the enticing language that draws you into feeling the “ball flying sweetly off your foot and through the goal, or the //swish// as it drops through the net or the smell of the leather on a warm day” (Mahoney, 2009). Blair Mahoney suggests if people have the capacity to produce stunning and eloquent language that has you falling in love with the topic, then top-level sports are surely their equivalent when it comes to physical endeavours.

As an English teacher there would be no better idea than to bring sport and poetry together. The following anthology consists of poems that range from different sports, feelings and emotions as well as the level of difficulty in understanding, in order to engage with all the students in the classroom. The anthology includes works written by a range of poets; some of these include the works of Gregory Pincus, Robert Francis and Ogden Nash as well as pre-twentieth century poets such as Henry Newbolt, Walt Whitman, AE Housman and Sir Phillip Sidney. Some of the following works within the anthology also look at the views of a spectator and present the idea that ‘winning isn’t everything’.

Resources Fletcher, R. (2006), //Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices.// Portland, ME: Stenhouse. Mahoney, B. (2009), //Poetry Reloaded.// Cambridge University Press, Melbourne: Victoria. //Photograph from//: scotiaglenvilleschools.org/.../sportsimages.jpg