Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

How are you today? I hope you're doing really well.

My name's Ms. Afzal, and I'm pleased to be here today because we are going to be exploring some more of the poetry of Laura Mucha.

Today, we're going to be looking at and performing the poem "Night Flight." Are you ready for the flight? The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can identify a range of poetic devices and perform a poem." We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Imagery, alliteration, personification, atmosphere.

It's good to hear those words.

Let's find out what they mean.

Imagery is the use of language to create a mental picture or sensory experience for the reader or listener.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together.

Personification is describing a non-living thing as if it is a person.

And atmosphere is the mood created in a section or whole of the text.

Let's look out and listen out for these words that'll be coming up in our lesson today.

So our lesson, "Exploring and performing 'Night Flight' by Laura Mucha" has two parts to it: exploring poetic devices and performing "Night Flight." Oh, I can't wait for that bit.

So let's get started, though, with exploring poetic devices.

So what do we know about the poet Laura Mucha? Laura Mucha is an ex-lawyer and award-winning poet from the UK.

Her enthusiasm for life and people deeply influences her writing.

Laura is a big believer that reading and writing are essential for our mental health and that we can turn to them at difficult times.

"Dear Ugly Sisters" is Laura Mucha's debut first poetry collection for children.

It features fun, imaginative, and thought-provoking poems that often have a humorous twist on traditional stories and characters.

Today, we will listen to two of Laura's poems from the collection, "Dear Ugly Sisters," which are both written about nature.

But first of all, let's watch Laura introduce and read the poem, "Lunch with the Birds." <v ->I went to New York because a friend was working there,</v> and I wandered around in the daytime on my own, going to lots of galleries, generally just thinking, "I love New York!" And one day I was in Central Park, and it was autumn, so there were lots of lovely autumnal leaves all over the floor.

And I was hungry, so I ordered a baguette.

And I sat outside, and I took a bite, and it was quite big.

I don't know if you've ever had a baguette, you're like, (growls) and then this massive crunch.

And then, suddenly, all these like flakes of bread landed all over me and all over the floor.

And I was on my own.

I was doing this trip on my own.

My friend was working during the daytime.

And, suddenly, all these teeny tiny little birds just came and started eating, landing on the table, the floor, one landed on my lap.

And there was something really lovely about it, as if they'd come to keep me company or we were having lunch together, and I wanted to write a poem about it.

And this is the poem that I wrote.

It is in the shape of a bird.

"Amber leaves litter the concrete.

Raindrops drip, drip, drip.

Puddles reflect branches above.

I take my first bite.

The bread is crusty, crunchy.

Crumbs cascade to the floor.

Seven birds appear, all beady eyes and dirty beaks, no taller than my thumb.

They puff their chests and shake their tails.

They bob their heads and hop, skip, and bounce.

They chase and cherish every grain, until, that is, I take my last bite, and they are gone." <v ->Wasn't that fantastic?</v> And now I would like you to discuss.

What did you like about the poem? How did it make you feel? Pause the video while you do this.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

"Night Flight" is a poem from Laura Mucha's collection, "Dear Ugly Sisters." Before we read the poem, what does the title "Night Flight" make you think of? What words or images come to mind? Pause the video and share with someone nearby.

Let's hear from Jin.

"The title makes me imagine being on an airplane at night and looking out the window at all the twinkling lights." Oh, really interesting.

Thank you, Jin.

And here's Sophia.

"I think of all the birds that might be flying at nighttime, like owls hunting for their prey." Oh, so interesting.

Two quite different ideas there.

Hmm.

I'm curious, what will this poem be about? And now I'd like you to select the statements that are true.

"Laura Mucha is an award-winning poet from the USA." "'Dear Ugly Sisters' is Laura Mucha's debut poetry collection for Children." "'Night Flight' is a poem from Laura Mucha's collection, 'Dear ugly sisters.

'" Pause video while you decide which of these statements are true.

Okay, did you select these two? Indeed, "Dear Ugly Sisters" is Laura Mucha's debut poetry collection for children, and "Night Flight" is a poem from that collection.

And now it's time to explore the poem.

I would like you to watch Laura introduce the poem, "Night Flight." I don't know if you've ever been on a plane, but if or when I go on a plane, I really wanna sit in the window seat.

It's the same with buses and trains.

I really like staring out and seeing the world.

And there's something about being high up and humans becoming, I mean, you can't see them, basically, and cars becoming like specs, and seeing everything and getting a bit of perspective, and feeling a bit like, "Oh, okay, maybe what I was worried about isn't that important," or, "Look at all the people," or, "Isn't nature amazing?" So I was doing this once on a flight at night.

So I couldn't see anything apart from sparkling lights, and I thought, "Ugh, I wish I could fly.

I would do this all the time." And I wrote this poem.

"Tonight I fancy a flight, so I shuffle my short feathers and jump.

Clusters of city lights stretch, spread, and sprawl into sparkling starfish.

A whisper of clouds tickles my feet.

A current lifts me like a leaf.

I float, I glide, I hold my feathered wings out wide and watch the world beneath.

The occasional plane passes, the odd meteorite.

Together, we set the sky alight.

Flight is always best at night." <v ->Okay, fantastic.

</v> So Laura talks about how she loves being high up in an airplane and looking down at the world.

She talks about being on an airplane at night, looking out the window at all the sparkling lights and wishing she could fly.

This inspired her to write the poem "Night Flight." And now it's time to read the poem "Night Flight" aloud.

"Night Flight." "Tonight I fancy a flight, so I shuffle my short feathers and jump.

Clusters of city lights stretch, spread, and sprawl into sparkling starfish.

A whisper of clouds tickles my feet.

A current lifts me like a leaf.

I float, I glide, I hold my feathered wings out wide and watch the world beneath.

The occasional plane passes, the odd meteorite.

Together, we set the sky alight.

Flight is always best at night." All right, so we've heard the poem "Night Flight." Did the poem match your expectations based on what you thought about its title? Why or why not? Pause the video and discuss with someone nearby.

Here's Jin: "I thought the poem would be about an airplane flight from a person's perspective.

I like the way it is written from the perspective of a bird flying through the night." Yes, absolutely.

That's quite a potential shift in expectation from others as well.

We know that poetry comes in many different forms. Poems can be written to entertain or evoke a particular emotion or feeling, like tranquility, joy, or wonder.

Oh my goodness, what incredible words each of those are.

Poets can use a range of poetic devices or techniques to help enhance the meaning or impact of their poems. This could include how they use language, rhyme, repetition, or punctuation.

Each device serves a specific purpose, whether it's comparing two unlike things given human qualities to non-living things or appealing to the senses through vivid descriptions.

Imagery is the writer's use of highly descriptive and vivid language that appeals to the senses to paint a picture.

It includes alliteration, similes, and personification.

You'll have come across these terms before.

By making specific language choices, poets can enhance meaning in their poems and create a specific impression.

We're going to look at some of the devices used in "Night Flight." Personification is a way of describing a non-living thing as if it acts or feels like a human.

"Stars reached out with gentle hands to stroke the bird." "The moon whispered secrets to the bird's wings." The actual stars cannot stroke, they don't have hands, and the actual moon cannot whisper.

The personification in these two sentences helps the stars and moon seem more human, and this gives a magical and enchanting quality.

Can you find any examples of personification in the poem "Night Flight"? Pause the video and discuss this with someone nearby.

All right, what did you come up with? Maybe something like this, here's Jin: "'A whisper of clouds tickles my feet.

' This is personification.

It gives the clouds human characteristics as if they're tickling and whispering to the bird." Here's Alex: "'Clusters of city lights stretch, spread, and sprawl.

' The city lights can't actually move and spread out like a person can.

This is personification." Yep, it is, Alex.

I hope you enjoyed sharing your ideas about personification.

The personification helps make the environment seem like it is engaging with the bird's flight and gives a magical feeling.

Yes, I felt it.

This sentence shows personification.

Choose which of these three show personification.

"The clouds moved in the sky." "The clouds danced around the sky." "The clouds formed a thick layer in the sky." Pause the video and decide which of these shows personification.

Well done if you selected statement B.

Indeed, "The clouds danced around the sky." It's that word "danced" that's giving us a clue there.

Poems are often written to be read aloud.

This means the sounds that words make is very important.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together.

"The bird beat its wings beneath the blanket of bright stars." It's the repetition of the sound, not the spelling, which creates alliteration.

It can help create rhythm and enhance the sound and flow of the poem.

And now over to you.

Can you find any examples of alliteration in the poem? Pause the video here while you do this.

So how did you get on? Did you perhaps notice these examples here? We've got the sh sound in these words, the s in these, that l in these words, and the wh sound in these words.

Well done if you spotted these examples of alliteration.

And now take a moment to say these lines aloud and emphasize the repeated sounds.

Pause the video while you do this.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed doing that.

It's quite fun reading lines with alliteration.

Which sentence contains alliteration? "The dove flies like a soft whisper on the breeze." "The dove is a silent cloud." "Through the dark sky the daring dove dives." Pause the video while you decide which of these lines contains alliteration.

Well done if you chose the final line, which has all of these words beginning with the same sound.

Poets can use these poetic devices or techniques to help enhance the meaning or impact of their poems. In the poem "Night Flight," Laura Mucha has used imagery, similes, personification, and alliteration.

She has used these poetic devices to help create a particular impression and to make the reader or listener feel a certain way.

How would you describe the impression or atmosphere created in the poem? Pause the video while you discuss this.

Let's hear from Jin and Alex.

"I think the poem creates a magical and exciting atmosphere.

It feels a bit like an adventure where flying high in the sky is like being on a fun, dreamy journey." Oh my goodness, I love that, Jin.

And "I think the imagery and language choices create an atmosphere of freedom and fun, as if the whole sky is alive." Oh yes, I love that, too.

Hope you enjoyed sharing your impressions.

"Poets make specific language choices to create a specific impression." Hmm, is that true or false? You decide.

Pause the video here while you make your decision.

Well done.

It's true.

Laura Mucha has chosen specific words to create an image of magic and freedom.

Now it's time for your task.

I would like you to read "Night Flight" aloud to a partner.

Listen to your partner and give them feedback, and then swap roles.

Think about the impression and atmosphere you want to create and try to convey this through voice and by emphasizing some of the words and poetic devices.

So pause the video while you have a go at this task.

Enjoy reading "Night Flight." I hope you enjoyed that, and giving feedback as well.

Let's get some feedback from Andy.

"I like the way you emphasize the alliteration of 'stretch, spread, and sprawl' and slowed down on these words." And here's Izzy.

"I think you could vary your voice more to create a magical atmosphere." Oh yeah, good point, Izzy.

And now we're onto the next part of our lesson: performing "Night Flight." We are going to perform the poem "Night Flight." But first, I'd like you to watch Laura read the poem "Night Flight." <v ->I don't know if you've ever been on a plane,</v> but if or when I go on a plane, I really wanna sit in the window seats.

The same with buses and trains.

I really like staring out and seeing the world.

And there's something about being high up and humans becoming, I mean, you can't see them, basically, and cars becoming like specs, and seeing everything and getting a bit of perspective, and feeling a bit like, "Oh, okay, maybe what I was worried about isn't that important," or, "Look at all the people," or, "Isn't nature amazing?" So I was doing this once on a flight at night.

So I couldn't see anything apart from sparkling lights, and I thought, "Ugh, I wish I could fly.

I would do this all the time." And I wrote this poem.

"Tonight I fancy a flight, so I shuffle my short feathers and jump.

Clusters of city lights stretch, spread, and sprawl into sparkling starfish.

A whisper of clouds tickles my feet.

A current lifts me like a leaf.

I float, I glide, I hold my feathered wings out wide and watch the world beneath.

The occasional plane passes, the odd meteorite.

Together, we set the sky alight.

Flight is always best at night." <v ->That was great to watch Laura reading the poem.

</v> Now I'd like to ask you, how does Laura make you feel through her performance? Pause the video.

Share with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing.

We'll get some advice from Laura now about preparing for a performance.

We asked her, "What is your top tip for performing poetry?" <v ->I think, when performing, it's really important,</v> really, really important to be prepared to look silly.

If I wasn't prepared to look really silly, then I would hold back a bit and I wouldn't go as far in the performance as I could.

And in doing so, I'd probably look sillier than if I went in the whole hog.

So I think that it's really important not to worry about that, even though you probably will a little bit, but try not to as much as you can.

I also think that it's really useful to think, "Who am I performing to?" Is it one person, 10 people, a hundred, a thousand? Because the way that you perform is gonna be different depending on the number.

And who are they? Are they people you know? Are they friends? Are they strangers? I also think that it's really important to try and think about what your performing means to you.

And if you find a way to connect with it in some way, like if it makes you feel something, then it might be easier for you to show that feeling or help others feel that feeling.

But even if you don't feel anything, performing or acting is the job of doing an action.

And even if you don't like the poem or you have no feelings about it, you can still make other people have a response through your performance.

<v ->Okay, great to hear from Laura.

</v> So what top tips did Laura give about performing and which ones do you think will be most useful for you? Pause the video while you discuss this.

So which of the following are Laura's top tips for performing poetry? "Be prepared to look silly." "Think about who you're performing to." "Do not perform the poem if you don't like it." "Try to connect with the poem in some way." Pause the video while you decide which of these are Laura's top tips for performing poetry.

Well done if you selected "Be prepared to look silly," "think about who you're performing to," and "try to connect to the poem in some way." Now let's get some more advice from Laura before we perform the poem.

We asked her, "How do you perform a poem that you haven't chosen?" Watch this video in which Laura answers this question.

<v ->If I have to perform a poem that I haven't chosen,</v> or if you ever find yourself in that position, then what I try to do is read it aloud to myself and maybe research a bit about the poet or if there's any information on why they wrote that poem.

Because sometimes poems on their own can feel a bit like an island.

And then the moment you're like, "Oh, okay, this poet had gone through this, and that's why they wrote this poem" or whatever, then it sort of can make a bit more sense, generally.

I try to think about, not just for poems I haven't chosen, but for all, what I want the audience, what I want to do to the audience with the poem.

Is this a poem that I want to use to make the audience feel sad, or is this a poem that I want to use to make the audience laugh? Like, it's I, something, you.

I, with this poem, I'm going to entertain you, I'm going to make you sad, I'm going to make you stop and think.

And what is it that you, even if you haven't chosen it, how can you use that poem, do you think, to change the audience? And I try my best to connect with it in whatever way I can.

It is hard if you're given a poem that you wouldn't have chosen and you might not even like, but there are ways of working with it.

And you can generally find a way to connect with it in some way and be yourself while also creating an impact on an audience.

<v ->Great to hear from Laura.

</v> So what tips did Laura give about performing a poem that you haven't chosen? And which ones do you think will be useful for you? Pause the video while you discuss your answers to these questions.

Here are some of Laura's tips for preparing to perform a poem.

Read the poem aloud in advance.

Research the poet and why they wrote the poem.

Think about what you want to do to the audience, e.

g.

, make them feel sad or to make them laugh.

Connect with the poem in any way you can.

For example, how does it make you feel? Be prepared to look silly and don't hold back.

I like that one.

Think about who you're performing to and consider how you can use the poem to have an impact on the audience.

We've already done some of the things Laura suggests to prepare to perform.

We've read the poem aloud in advance.

We've researched a poet and learned about what inspired the poem.

We've connected with the poem and thought about the impression it creates.

We've thought about the poetic devices and how we can use these to have an impact on the audience and create a specific atmosphere.

We're going to be performing the poem to our peers in small groups.

This means it will be an informal performance, and we can make it fun.

We should consider Laura's advice and be prepared to look silly and try not to hold back.

Our facial expressions and body language can help to convey meaning as we perform.

We can show excitement, wonder, or mystery with our expressions or with body movements, actions, and gestures.

I'd like you to reread the poem.

And are there any moments in the poem that you think would benefit from a particular facial expression or gesture? Pause the video here while you reread the poem and perhaps bringing in some of that facial expression or gesture.

So I will read the first two verses of "Night Flight" aloud, including some facial expressions and gestures.

"Tonight I fancy a flight, so I shuffle my short feathers and jump.

Clusters of city lights stretch, spread, and sprawl like sparkling starfish." And now it's over to you.

I would like you to read "Night Flight" aloud.

Include some facial expressions and gestures.

Be prepared to look silly and don't hold back.

Pause the video while you do this and enjoy yourself.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Now, I wonder, will you use any of these in your final performance? And it's time for your task.

I would like you to watch Laura read the poem "Night Flight" aloud one more time.

<v ->I don't know if you've ever been on a plane,</v> but if or when I go on a plane, I really wanna sit in the window seat.

It's the same with buses and trains.

I really like staring out and seeing the world.

And there's something about being high up and humans becoming, I mean, you can't see them, basically, and cars becoming like specs, and seeing everything and getting a bit of perspective, and feeling a bit like, "Oh, okay, maybe what I was worried about isn't that important," or, "Look at all the people," or, "Isn't nature amazing?" So I was doing this once on a flight at night.

So I couldn't see anything apart from sparkling lights, and I thought, "Ugh, I wish I could fly.

I would do this all the time." And I wrote this poem.

"Tonight I fancy a flight, so I shuffle my short feathers and jump.

Clusters of city lights stretch, spread, and sprawl into sparkling starfish.

A whisper of clouds tickles my feet.

A current lifts me like a leaf.

I float, I glide, I hold my feathered wings out wide and watch the world beneath.

The occasional plane passes, the odd meteorite.

Together, we set the sky alight.

Flight is always best at night." <v ->And now I would like you to practice</v> and present your final performance of the poem.

You could perform the poem individually, in a pair, or in a group.

Think about who you're performing to and what you want them to think or feel, using your voice to create the desired atmosphere, including some gestures and movement, showing expression and emotion through your facial expressions.

Remember, be prepared to look silly and don't hold back.

Okay, pause the video here and enjoy performing your poem.

Great to be back with you.

So how did it go, presenting, practicing, and presenting your final performance of the poem? I'd like you to pause and reflect.

Did you use your voice to create the desired atmosphere? Did you use facial expressions or gestures? Did you relax into the performance and not hold back? Did you enjoy performing? That's the main thing.

I really hope so.

But pause the video here while you consider these questions.

Remember, Laura says you probably will still feel a bit silly sometimes when performing, and that's okay.

In our lesson "Exploring and Performing 'Night Flight' by Laura Mucha," we have covered the following: Poets can use a range of poetic devices to enhance the meaning or impact of their poems. Personification is describing a non-living thing as if it is a person.

Alliteration is when words that begin with the same sound are placed close together.

Understanding a poem, its language, and the impression it creates will help us to create an impactful performance.

There are many things we can do to prepare for a performance, including practicing reading the poem aloud, connecting to the poem, and being prepared to look or feel a bit silly.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson, "Exploring 'Night Flight,'" and crucially performing it and just really going for it.

I love that you did that.

Well done, and I'll see you at another lesson soon.