Sometimes, it is difficult for students to connect with themes in poetry until they put them into a real-world context. Consider the following activity for students to storyboard with "The Bells".
”The Bells” follows a common example of depicting the life cycle from beginning to end, and it captures the very real fear of growing old and dying that most people face throughout their lives. Have students envision something that scares them: it could be moving on to college, public speaking, forgetting the lines to their part in the school play, or spiders. Have students write a poem about their fear, incorporating elements of repetition and onomatopoeia to enhance their topic .
The alarms are ringing in the field tonight
I can’t see where it’s coming from; I jump with fright.
I look out the window, lightning flashing in the sky,
I know we need to get to the cellar before the winds scream by.
I run to the hall, my parents are pulling on their robes,
I grab the dog and cat, we have to keep up hope.
The worst of it will pass, this time it won’t hit us,
We pull open the root cellar door and descend into the abyss.
The crash and roar of a freight train is overhead,
The door is banging like it might not hold; we’re filled with dread.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Crash! Roar! The wind moans,
The wood of the cellar door groans.
The alarm is still whining, but the world is quiet.
We cautiously open the door and look out.
Our house is still standing, our car is okay,
The tornado spared our house for another day.
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Student Instructions
Enhance your poetry lesson by using visual storyboards. This helps students break down complex poem themes and see connections in a concrete way.
Encourage students to pick the most emotionally powerful lines or stanzas when planning their visuals. This focuses their attention on the poem’s turning points and main ideas.
Demonstrate how things like repetition or onomatopoeia can become visual cues—such as repeated images or sound-effect bubbles. Making these connections helps students internalize figurative language.
Organize a brief gallery walk or pair-share so students can explain their visual choices, gain feedback, and see new perspectives on the poem’s theme.
Ask students to write a few sentences on how creating visuals changed their understanding of the poem’s theme. This solidifies learning and encourages metacognition.
To help students connect with the theme of 'The Bells', encourage them to relate the poem's exploration of fear and life cycles to their own experiences. Activities like storyboarding and writing their own fear-based poems using repetition and onomatopoeia can make the theme more accessible and meaningful.
Have students write a four-part poem about a personal fear, mirroring the structure of 'The Bells'. Ask them to use repetition and onomatopoeia, then illustrate each part. This modern adaptation helps students connect emotionally with the poem's message.
Guide students to identify examples of repetition and onomatopoeia in 'The Bells', then challenge them to use similar techniques in their own poems. This enhances sensory engagement and builds literary skills.
Students might choose fears such as public speaking, moving to a new school, forgetting lines in a play, or facing storms and spiders. Allowing personal choice increases engagement and relevance.
This activity is designed for grades 6-12, making it adaptable for middle and high school students working individually or with a partner.