Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 4
Exploring and performing 'Doing Nothing' and 'Travel by Book' by Laura Mucha
I can explore the layout and rhythm of two poems before performing for an audience.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 4
Exploring and performing 'Doing Nothing' and 'Travel by Book' by Laura Mucha
I can explore the layout and rhythm of two poems before performing for an audience.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
Lesson details
Key learning points
- ‘Doing Nothing’ is a poem found in the poetry collection, ‘Dear Ugly Sisters’ by Laura Mucha.
- The poem is about the practice of mindfulness and the rhythm varies in the poem to reflect the atmosphere.
- ‘Travel by Book’ is is a fixed verse poem, which follows the AAAB rhyme scheme.
- The poem has a clear, steady rhythm, which gives the poem a flowing and musical quality.
- Doing deep breaths before performing can help us to feel calm and reduce nerves.
Keywords
Mindfulness - the practice of being aware of your body, mind and feelings in the present moment, which is thought to create a feeling of calm
Line break - the point where one line of verse ends and the next begins, often used to create rhythm, emphasise words or control the poem's pace
Rhythm - the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, creating a musical and rhythmic flow in the poem
Common misconception
Pupils may try to use too many gestures throughout their performance.
Gestures used in poetry performance should add depth and visual interest rather than overshadowing the spoken words of the poem.
To help you plan your year 4 English lesson on: Exploring and performing 'Doing Nothing' and 'Travel by Book' by Laura Mucha, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 4 English lesson on: Exploring and performing 'Doing Nothing' and 'Travel by Book' by Laura Mucha, 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.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the Laura Mucha: performance poetry unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the poems ‘Doing Nothing’ and 'Travel by Book', which are featured in the 2020 Otter-Barry books edition of ‘Dear Ugly Sisters’ written by Laura Mucha for this lesson.
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