Lesson video

Hello everyone.

My name is Mrs. Riley, and today I'll be teaching you.

In our lesson today, we'll be exploring two different poems and we're going to have a chance to perform a poem as well.

So I hope you've got your loud speaking voices ready.

Let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is to perform a poem in front of an audience.

These are our key words.

Now, when I do this and say a word and then point at you, I'd like you to repeat it.

So let's try the first word, writer rhythm.

Lovely, thank you for joining in.

Now, rhythm is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the beat or flow of the poem.

Sometimes we might clap a rhythm in a poem.

Now don't worry too much about the stressed and unstressed syllables if you are not sure what that means, because we'll look at it in the lesson in more detail.

The next word is volume.

Volume is the loudness or softness of your voice when speaking or reading a poem.

The next key word is expression.

Expression is reading with feelings and emotion to bring the poem to life.

So it might be reading, showing sadness or excitement.

If you read with your emotions, you are using expression.

And finally, gesture.

A gesture is a movement that helps express an idea or meaning.

Like I might do this gesture for sprinkle.

If I was describing a sprinkle of something, I might do that gesture.

So in our lesson today, we have three learning cycles, and we're going to start off by exploring a poem called "Elephant Beat".

Today we're going to explore and perform a poem written by James Carter.

James Carter is a British poet, a nonfiction writer, and a musician.

Wow, all three things.

He's known for his fun and engaging poetry for children.

James Carter uses lots of rhyme, repetition, and onomatopoeia in his poems. He loves to perform his poems aloud.

James Carter's written lots of poems, but one of his poems is called "Elephant Beat".

So before we read this poem, "Elephant Beat", what does the title make you think of? What words or images come to mind when you think of an elephant beat? Could you pause the video and turn to your partner and discuss that now? Well done.

I heard lots of really interesting ideas.

Like somebody said, it makes me think of elephants stomping their feet through the jungle.

And someone else might have said, I imagine elephants dancing or making music by moving their feet to a beat.

Hmm.

Well, now it's time to read the poem on the next slides.

It's also available in the additional materials.

"Elephant Beat".

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Bobbing to the rhythm of the elephant beat as it pounds round town on those four great feet with its great gray ears and its great gray trunk.

What a blast as you pass on that great gray hunk.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Better than a tiger, better than a whale, better than a ride on a mighty snail, better than a train or a plane or a bike.

When you are bob bob bobbing anywhere you like.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Those ears may flop, that trunk may honk, that tail may swish on that great gray hunk.

Now do watch out for it may have a wash, so you might get splashed with a splishity splash.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? What a hoot it'll be all tickety boo when you are on board so come on you.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Now I'm going to give my initial response to the poem.

Your initial response is like the your first response.

When you first read the poem, what's the first thing that you think? And I'm going to be thinking, what did I like about the poem and do I have any questions about it? And then you are going to do the same thing.

So let me have a bit of thinking time.

What did I like about the poem? Do I have any questions about it? Hmm.

Well, I'll tell you what I liked.

I loved the idea of an elephant ride.

It sounds so fun.

I want to ride in an elephant and bounce around and get splashed with water.

And I wonder, my question is, I wonder what inspired James Carter to write it.

I wonder if he's ever had a ride on an elephant before.

So now it's your turn.

You're gonna give your initial response to the poem.

Think about what did you like about the poem and do you have any questions about the poem? You are going to discuss this with a partner now.

Pause the video.

Okay, well done.

I loved hearing all your questions and all the things that you liked about the poem.

So now we're going to watch James Carter himself.

So the man who wrote this poem perform "Elephant Beat".

So sit back and enjoy this performance.

<v ->Do you like elephants?</v> I do.

When I was young, my favorite song was "Nellie the Elephant".

I used to sing it stomping around the front room.

Also, my mum once told me that my dad had nearly been trampled on by an elephant at the circus.

It's true.

Here we go.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Bobbing to the rhythm of the elephant beat as it pounds round town on those four great feet with his great great ears in his great great trunk.

What a blast as you pass on that great, great hunk.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Better than a tiger, better than a whale, better than a ride on a mighty snail, better than a train or a plane or a bike when you're bob bob bobbing anywhere you like.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Those ears may flap, that trunk may honk, that tail may swish on that great gray hunk.

Now do watch out for it may have a wash, so you might get splashed with a splishity splash.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? What a hoot it'll be all tickety boo when you are on board so come on you.

Fancy ride on an elephant? <v ->Okay, I hope you enjoyed that.

</v> I know I did.

So James Carter, we learnt loves elephants.

His favorite song as a child was "Nellie the Elephant".

And he told us that his dad was nearly trampled on, which means kind of stood on by an elephant at the circus.

I can't believe it.

So I would like you now to tell your partner something you liked about James Carter's performance of the poem.

What did you like about the way he performed it? Can you turn to your talk partner and pause the video now? Well done.

That was really nice to see you turning and facing each other and sharing your ideas about that performance.

Now the poem "Elephant Beat" tells a story about the adventure of riding an elephant.

It's a playful poem, which means it's intended to be fun and lively and make the audience smile and laugh.

So true or false, let's check your listening.

"Elephant Beat" is a serious poem.

Is this true or false? Pause the video now.

Well done.

It's false.

It's a playful poem, not a serious one.

Now, rhythm and poetry is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that creates the beat or flow of the poem.

The poem "Elephant Beat" has a structured rhythm which gives it a marching feel.

So can you all, perhaps you could even stand up, everyone standing up.

Well done and get your arms ready to swing.

And march, march, march, march, march.

Well done.

And stop.

Now you were just marching to a beat, to a rhythm and that you can all sit down now, that is mimicking the beat of the marching steps of an elephant.

So let's look at the rhythm in the first two verses.

Each line generally has four strong beats, which can be stressed or unstressed to create a rhythm.

We can clap to help us keep a consistent rhythm.

So here's the first verse.

Now I could read it like this, bobbing to the rhythm of the elephant beat as it pounds round town on those four great feet.

Hmm.

Now that didn't have very much rhythm, did it? It would've been really difficult to march to the rhythm of how I read that poem because it didn't really have any rhythm.

So now I'm going to try and read it again, but this time with some rhythm.

Here we go.

So I've put some bits there in different color.

You can see where I'm going to try and stress some syllables to make it a bit clearer bobbing to the rhythm of the elephant feet as it pounds round town on those four great feet.

Now, did you notice the difference? Did you notice how it had more rhythm that time? And we could even clap to help us.

And you can join in.

Ready? Get your hands ready.

Bobbing to the rhythm of the elephant feet as it pounds round town on those four great feet.

Well done.

That was really good.

Here's the next verse.

Again.

I'm going to put some parts in purple, which are like the stress syllables and I've got some hands there to show when you could clap to join in if you feel you are able to.

So here we go, the next verse.

With its great gray ears and its great gray trunk, what a blast as you pass on that great, great hunk.

Thank you for joining in with me.

So is it true or false? The poem "Elephant Beat" has a structured rhythm which gives it a marching feel.

Pause the video and decide if that's true or false.

Well done.

It's true.

So it's time for your first task.

In this task you are going to read the poem aloud with a partner and you're gonna focus on the rhythm of the poem.

Alternate every two verses.

That means you swap reading after the line fancy a ride on an elephant.

So someone will say fancy ride on an elephant and read the first two verses and then you'll swap.

And it's the next bit.

Starts with fancy a ride an elephant.

And then the next two verses.

So you'll keep swapping with your partner.

And you could use clapping to create a consistent rhythm like we just did together.

Remember to use a loud, clear voice so that anyone else who was wandering around the room could hear every word you are reading.

And speak slowly.

It's always tempting when we are reading a poem to go too fast, but it'll be much easier and a much better performance or reading if you slow down.

So I hope you enjoy reading this poem with a partner and remember to focus on the rhythm.

Good luck.

Pause the video now.

Wow, well done everyone.

I loved seeing you reading that poem together.

Great teamwork.

And I liked seeing some of you clapping and focusing on the rhythm there.

Well done.

So let's just take a moment to reflect.

Did you keep a consistent rhythm? Did you use clapping? Did the rhythm change at all? And how did it make you feel reading a poem like that with a partner to a to a rhythm? Perhaps just take a little moment to think about those questions in your head.

Well, I hope you really enjoyed that task.

You might thought it was really fun reading something with a clear rhythm and lots of rhyming words.

Or you might have thought actually it was quite hard when the beat changed in different verses, but we managed to find the rhythm again.

So we are now going to look at another poem.

This time we're looking at a poem called "Night Soup".

So our second learning cycle is exploring "Night Soup".

The next James Carter poem we will explore is called "Night Soup".

And just as we did earlier, before we read the poem, I want you to discuss with your partner, what does the title "Night Soup" make you think of? What words or images come to mind? Pause the video now.

Okay, let's come back together.

Maybe you said that it makes you think of eating a special soup at night before going to bed.

Maybe you're imagining a soup that's made with magic things to help you dream.

Oh, that's a nice idea.

So now it's time to read the poem on the next slide.

It's also available in the additional materials.

"Night Soup", a simple recipe.

Take a slither of moon, a nip in the air, a sprinkle of stars, a creak from a stair.

Add plenty of dark, the slink of a cat with cold green eyes, a loop from a bat.

The patter of rain, the whine of a dog, the taste of a dream, the wisp of a fog.

The whoosh of a train, a sniff or snore, the swoop of an owl then stop no more.

Now let it go cold and serve quite late and all is left to do is wait.

I'm going to give my initial response to the poem.

I'm going to think about what I liked about it and if I have any questions and then you are gonna do the same.

So let me have some thinking time.

What did I like about the poem? What are my questions about it? Well, I really liked the idea of mixing all the elements of night, like the moon and stars and the dreams and turning it into something magic.

And again, I wonder what inspired James Carter to write this poem.

Maybe it's that he loves nighttime or maybe it's that he can't get sleep at night.

So he spends a lot of time awake, noticing all the sounds that he can hear.

Now it's your turn.

I'd like you to give your initial response, your first response to the poem.

And again, think about what you liked about it.

And do you have any questions? Is there anything that you are a bit confused or anything you'd like to ask about it? Pause the video and discuss that now with your partner.

Okay, well done.

We're now gonna watch James Carter perform "Night Soup".

So I hope you enjoy watching this performance.

<v ->Do you like nighttime?</v> I do.

It's magical.

This poem is a kind of list poem of all the weird and wonderful things that I love about the night.

It goes like this.

Take a slither of moon, a nip in the air, a sprinkle of stars, a creak from a stair.

Add plenty of dark, the slink of a cat with cold green eyes, a loop from a bat, the patter of rain, the whine of a dog, the taste of a dream, the wisp of a fog.

The whoosh of a train, a sniff or a snore, the swoop of an owl, then stop, no more.

Now let it go cold and serve quite late.

And all that is left to do is wait.

<v ->Wow, that was amazing, wasn't it?</v> So, so nice to see the actual poet, the person that wrote this poem, perform it.

So I'd like you to tell your partner something you liked about James Carter's performance of the poem.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

Maybe you liked the way he uses gestures.

That was one of our key words when he's performing, like wiggling his fingers for a sprinkle of stars.

Maybe you like the way he varies his voice.

He whispers when saying a whisper fog, which creates a mysterious and quiet atmosphere.

James Carter calls "Night Soup" a list poem because it lists all the weird and wonderful things James Carter's, James Carter loves about the night.

You could do this yourself, couldn't you? Make a list of all the things that you associate nighttime? It's about creating an imaginary magical soup made from elements of the night like the moon, the stars, the quiet sounds, and the creatures of the dark.

The poem creates a mysterious, quiet and slightly eerie, which means a bit spooky atmosphere using elements such as a creak from a stair and the slink of a cat.

There's also a touch of suspense where we're kind of a bit on the edge of our seats at the end because he hints at waiting for something to happen.

He says, sit back and wait.

Certainly creates a bit of suspense as well.

Now volume is one of our keywords and it refers to the loudness or softness of the voice when speaking or reading a poem.

If we speak too quietly when performing, the audience will not be able to hear what we're saying.

Speaking at a suitable volume is very, a very important part of performing.

We can also vary our volume.

That means change it sometimes louder, sometimes quieter, to create different effects like James Carter did in his performance.

A loud volume could show excitement or amazement.

Whilst a softer volume could show mystery or surprise.

However, we must always speak at a loud enough volume for the audience to hear every word that's really important.

So I'm gonna read the first few verses of the poem and I'm going to vary, which means change the volume of my voice for effect.

And then you are going to do the same thing.

So it's my turn first.

You can be the teacher and see if I'm doing it right.

So here are the, here are the first two verses of the poem, and I'm trying to vary my volume.

Take a sliver of moon, a nip in the air, a sprinkle of stars, a creak from a stair add plenty of dark, the slink of a cat with cold green eyes, a loop from a bat.

So now it's your turn.

You are going to read these verses of the poem aloud and try to vary volume for effect.

Pause the video now.

Okay, fantastic.

Well done.

I loved the way you were really thinking about the volume of your voice.

using expression, which is a keyword, and gestures, which is also a keyword, can make our performances fun and interesting for the audience to watch.

And that's what we want, don't we? We want our audience to really enjoy our performance.

So using expression when performing means reading with feeling to bring the poem to life.

These feelings may include the following, excitement, (gasps) surprise, amazement, mystery, wonder.

We can also use gestures when performing.

A gesture remember is a movement like when James Carter did a sprinkle of stars and it helps to express an idea or meaning.

So for example, you might wiggle your fingers downwards like this when saying the patter of rain.

Can you all do that with me? That's it.

Or you might do a swooping motion.

Can you do a swooping motion? Lovely when you do, when you read the swoop of an owl.

So these are two gestures you might use in your performance.

So I'm going to now read the first few verses of the poem.

This time I'm not thinking about volume, although I'll still try and be nice and loud.

But I'm thinking about expression.

So showing, am I excited? Am I a bit in wonder? And I'm going to try and use some gestures.

So my turn, and then it's gonna be your turn.

Take a slither of moon, a nip in the air, a sprinkle of stars, (gasps) a creak from a stair.

Add plenty of dark, the slink of a cat with cold green eyes, a loop from a bat.

Now it's your turn.

You are gonna to read these verses aloud and add expression and gestures.

Pause the video now.

Fantastic.

I loved how you read that with expression and used some gestures as well.

So it's time for your second task.

In this task, you are going to read the poem aloud with a partner focusing on your use of voice.

You are going to take turns reading each verse with your partner.

You are going to try to vary your volume for effect.

Remember to keep a loud, clear voice so the audience would be able to hear you.

You're gonna try to add expression.

So showing how you are feeling as you read and gestures, perhaps like the pitter-patter of rain.

And always remember to speak slowly.

It's tempting to to go really fast.

So always think about slowing down.

So working with a partner, reading the poem aloud, thinking about volume, expression, and gestures.

Good luck.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

You did that really nicely.

Let's reflect on how we read the poem.

Did you manage to vary the volume for effect? Did you add expression showing how you were feeling or any gestures with your hands? And did you remember to speak slowly? Have a little think about those, those things now.

Always important to reflect on how we've done in a task.

Maybe you added gestures for the patter of rain and you added a gesture for stop.

No more.

Perhaps you used a quieter voice for the taste of a dream or the wisp of a fog to add some mystery to the poem.

It's now time for our final learning cycle, performing a poem.

So we're now going to perform a poem.

We've already read the poems and started to think about adding expression and gestures and the volume of our voice.

So we're already halfway there.

But about performance is a show that you put on for others.

So you might have seen a performance on a stage and there might have been an audience, a group of people watching.

Let's watch James Carter perform the two poems again.

So we're going to watch him perform "Elephant Beat" and we're going to watch him perform "Night Soup".

Now as you watch, see if you can really focus on how James Carter makes his performance really exciting to watch.

Are there any tips that you can use for your own performance? So enjoy watching these two videos now.

<v ->Do you like elephants?</v> I do.

When I was young, my favorite song was "Nellie the Elephant".

I used to sing it stomping around the front room.

Also, my mum once told me that my dad had nearly been trampled on by an elephant at the circus.

It's true.

Here we go.

Fancy ride on an elephant? Bobbing to the rhythm of the elephant beat as it pounds round town on those four great feet with his great great ears and his great great trunk.

What a blast as you pass on that great, great hunk.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Better than a tiger, better than a whale, better than a ride on a mighty snail.

Better than a train or a plane or a bike when you're bob bob bobbing anywhere you like.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? Those ears may flat, that trunk may honk, that tail may swish on that great gray hunk.

Now do watch out for it may have a wash so you might get splashed with a splishity splash.

Fancy a ride on an elephant? What a hoot it'll be all tickety boo when you are on board so come on you.

Fancy ride on an elephant? Do you like nighttime? I do.

It's magical.

This poem is a kind of list poem of all the weird and wonderful things that I love about the night.

It goes like this.

Take a slither of moon, a nip in the air, a sprinkle of stars, a creak from a stair.

Add plenty of dark, the slink of a cat with cold green eyes, a loop from a bat, the patter of rain, the whine of a dog, the taste of a dream, the wisp of a fog.

The whoosh of a train, a sniff (sniffs) or a snore, the swoop of an owl, then stop, no more.

Now let it go cold and serve quite late.

And all that is left to do is wait.

<v ->Okay, hopefully that's inspired you</v> with your own performance.

So let's do a quick check for understanding.

True or false.

A performance is a show that you put on for others.

Pause the video.

Well done.

It is true.

We're gonna now see what James Carter says about performing poetry.

We've asked James Carter firstly, do you like performing poetry? And also what is your top tip for performing poetry? So let's find out the answer to those two questions now.

<v ->I really love performing poetry</v> because I like taking the words off the page and bringing them into a school hall and getting everybody joining in and doing actions and having fun with words.

My top tip for performing poetry is double the volume, half the speed.

In other words, go a slow as you can because however slow you think it is, because you'll be and nervous, you'll go really fast.

So just before you start performing a poem, tell yourself go really slow.

<v ->Okay, hopefully that will really help us</v> when we do our performances in a moment.

So let's just check.

We were really focusing on that video.

What are James Carter's top tips for performing poetry? Is it A double the volume, B, go as slow as you can, or C, double the speed? Pause the video while you choose your answer or answers.

Well done.

The correct answers are double the volume and go as slow as you can.

That's what James Carter suggests when you perform a poem.

Now you are going to choose either "Elephant Beat" or "Night Soup" to perform to an audience.

You'll perform with a partner.

So you need to choose with your partner the poem that you connect with the most.

So could you first just with your partner, take a bit of time to discuss which poem you are going to perform.

"Elephant Beat" or "Night Soup"? Pause the video now.

Okay, so hopefully you've now chosen the poem that you are going to perform together and you are now going to practice performing the chosen poem with your partner.

Here are some things to think about.

You need to decide which verse you will perform.

So are you going to take turns or are you going to do some verses together? That's one thing you need to think about.

Think about the rhythm of the poem.

Maybe you might even do some clapping to help you read to or perform to the rhythm.

Decide where you might use a louder voice or a quieter voice.

So you thinking about your volume for effect.

Decide where you might add some gestures or use some expression to show how you are feeling.

So could you pause the video and practice with your partner now? Well done.

So now it's time for your performance.

With a partner you're going to perform either "Elephant Beat" or "Night Soup" to an audience.

Remember to try to do the following.

Stand up to perform, that will help you project your voice.

Use a loud, clear voice.

Speak as slowly as you can, like James Carter advised.

Vary your volume, sometimes louder, sometimes quieter, add gestures and use expression.

And then you, after you finished your performance, you could ask for some feedback from the audience.

I hope you enjoy performing and watching others perform.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

I hope you feel really proud of yourselves.

Hopefully you enjoyed performing.

It's you have to be really brave to perform a poem.

So I think you should be really pleased with yourselves.

So we are going to very quickly pause and reflect.

Did you stand up to speak? Use a loud, clear voice? Did you remember to speak slowly? I always go too fast.

Did you vary your volume for effect? Did you add any gestures and any expression? Just have a little think.

Perhaps you could think about one thing you did really well and one thing that you could improve on for next time.

Perhaps you might like to pause the video while you think about that.

Okay, well done.

So maybe you said or you gave someone some feedback.

You spoke loudly so I could hear you, which made me want to keep watching.

Maybe something to work on is I think you could add some more expression to your voice.

Now let's summarize what we've learned today.

The poem "Elephant Beat" tells a story about the adventure of riding an elephant.

It has a structured rhythm which gives it a marching feel mimicking the beat of the marching steps of an elephant.

"Night Soup" is a poem about creating an imaginary magical soup made from all the elements of the night.

When performing a poem, we can vary our volume to create different effects.

Using expression and gestures can make our performances fun and interesting for the audience to watch.

So next time you perform a poem, hopefully you can think about your volume of your voice, expressions and gestures, and that will help you to perform really, really well.

Thank you for working so hard today.

Hopefully I'll see you for some more learning another time.

Bye.