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Lesson 6 of 6
  • Year 2

Responding to 'What Did You Do at School Today?' by James Carter and other poems

I can give a personal response to different poems and read them aloud.

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Lesson 6 of 6
New
New
  • Year 2

Responding to 'What Did You Do at School Today?' by James Carter and other poems

I can give a personal response to different poems and read them aloud.

Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and

Copyrights help

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. James Carter is a British poet who is mostly known for his entertaining poetry written for children.
  2. 'What Did You Do at School Today?’ is a humorous poem.
  3. The poem is written as a conversation between a child and their mother about what the child did at school.
  4. The poet uses a particular layout and structure in the poem to show the reader that it is a conversation.
  5. 'Wide Open' is humorous poem by Rachel Rooney.

Keywords

  • Mischievous - showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way

  • Humorous - something that makes a person laugh or smile because it is funny or silly

  • Conversation - a verbal exchange of ideas, thoughts, or information between two or more people

Common misconception

Pupils may find it hard to emphasise the different people in the conversation when reading aloud.

You may wish to act out the poem using two people so the pupils can see it performed as a conversation. Model changing your voice and using gestures to show the pupils how this has an effect.


To help you plan your year 2 English lesson on: Responding to 'What Did You Do at School Today?' by James Carter and other poems, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Allow pupils to read and explore other poetry by James Carter.
Teacher tip

Equipment

The poems used in this lesson are available in the additional materials.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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