Verse scansion is a craft that is unknown to many and unheard of by just as many. However, the ability for students to scan lines of verse, and then produce lines of original verse that will scan, was of great importance to Charlotte Mason. Many of the master poets that students will read and be called to emulate in Miss Mason’s method wrote, or still write in some cases, in metered verse and apply the principles of scansion to their lines. To best learn and apply the writing styles of poets from George Herbert to Paul Laurence Dunbar, the ability to scan verse is of great value. 

In this lesson manual, teacher Jonathan Kiser walks students and teachers through the scansion process. As scansion is not often taught now, this manual starts from the beginning, outlining the concepts and definitions of terms like meter and poetic feet, before moving into exercises. These exercises are made up of lines from Classic works of Poetry as well as original lines from the author, and show the range of metered verse. The manual can be implemented over the course of a school year for a Form III student, which is when CM students would first be expected to recognize and write lines that would scan, however some students may need more time and others less. It can also be used to introduce the upper Form student to this important skill as well. All the exercises are included as a separate Student Book for convenient printing.

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