Reading and responding to 'Please do not feed the animals...' by Robert Hull
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can give a personal response to the poem and read it aloud.
Key learning points
- Robert Hull is a British writer who is mostly known for his stories, poetry and books written for children.
- ‘Please do not feed the animals…’ is a humorous poem that reminds children of what not to feed the animals.
- This poem uses unexpected rhyming words at the end of each line to create humour.
- When we read aloud, we can use our voice to put emphasis on the rhyming words to convey the humour.
Keywords
Humorous - something that makes a person laugh or smile because it is funny or silly
Rhyme - the similarity of sounds between the ending syllables of words
Common misconception
Pupils may think that words can only rhyme if they are spelled the same.
Teach pupils that sometimes words have different spellings at the end, but can still be rhyming words as they make the same sound.
Teacher tip
This poem could be the inspiration for a fun take-home task where children have to come up with other ideas of things that should not be fed to different animals.
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who illustrated most of Allan Ahlberg's books?
Q2.Which of these is a book written by Allan Ahlberg?
Q3.Allan Ahlberg's poem 'Please Mrs Butler' is written as a conversation between a child and their ...
Q4.In the poem 'Please Mrs Butler', what is the first name of the child that is being complained about?
Q5.What does the teacher tell the child to do with their rubber?
Q6.Which of these is a thing that the child accuses Derek of doing?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.True or false? Robert Hull is a British writer who is mostly known for his humorous stories, poetry and books written for children.
Q2.What is the name of Robert Hull's poem about not feeding animals?
Q3.The poem 'Please do not feed the animals...' uses which of these poetic techniques?
Q4.True or false? Rhyme in poetry is the similarity of sounds between the ending syllables of words.
Q5.True or false? Words can only rhyme if they have the same ending sounds and they're spelled the same.
Q6.What is the reader warned against feeding to a cheetah in an unexpected and humorous twist at the end of the poem 'Please do not feed the animals...'?
To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: Reading and responding to 'Please do not feed the animals...' by Robert Hull, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: Reading and responding to 'Please do not feed the animals...' by Robert Hull, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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Explore more key stage 1 English lessons from the Humorous poetry unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.