Jock of Hazeldean

'Jock of Hazeldean' is a ballad by Walter Scott. It tells the story of a young woman who choses to marry Jock instead of the young man that everyone wants her to marry. The ballad has four stanzas and is fairly straightforward for pupils to understand. The activity works though the poem slowly.

Click here for the lesson plan.

The activity begins with a starter activity in which pupils interview each other about what media they consume. Click here for starter activity.

There are four summaries of the poem, which you should put around the classroom before the lesson begins. Click here for a newspaper summary of the poem. Click here for an animation of the poem (the video has audio description; if you don't need this, please play the video on mute). Click here for a storyboard for the poem. Click here for a link to the ballad being sung. The pupils should walk around the room and work out what happens in the poem and answer some questions. Click here for the questions.

After working out what the poem is about, pupils should be split into four groups. Each group should be given one stanza of the poem and answer the associated questions. Click here for the stanzas and questions in Word. Click here for the stanzas and questions in PDF. Pupils should then make posters about their stanza and present them to the rest of the class.

There is an optional word stress activity. Click here for the word stress activity.

A simple PowerPoint uses the poem to introduce the pupils to poetic devices. Click here for the PowerPoint.

Click here for final questions for pupils to discuss.

Finally, pupils can draw a picture and write a summary of the poem. Click here for a template for the summary and picture. Click here for the template in PDF.

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