- Year 5
Exploring themes of belonging and hope in 'Forest' & 'The Colours of My Dreams'
I can read and reflect on poetry about belonging and hope.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to
- Year 5
Exploring themes of belonging and hope in 'Forest' & 'The Colours of My Dreams'
I can read and reflect on poetry about belonging and hope.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- 'Forest' and 'The Colours of My Dreams' both have themes of belonging and hope.
- ‘Forest’ is a winter poem which focuses on themes of hope and belonging for a group of travellers making a journey.
- The poem ‘The Colours of My Dreams’ includes vivid imagery linked to the five senses.
- Poetry is open to interpretation; it does not always offer answers.
Keywords
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a text
Imagery - the use of language to create a mental picture or sensory experience for the reader or listener
Belonging - feeling a part of something, whether it's the natural world or a shared human experience
Hope - a sense of optimism or expectation for something positive in the future
Common misconception
Pupils may find it more challenging to identify themes of hope and belonging in 'The Colours of My Dreams' due to its more abstract imagery.
Explore how dreams are often seen as symbols of hope. Belonging can link to human experiences and emotional connections.
To help you plan your year 5 English lesson on: Exploring themes of belonging and hope in 'Forest' & 'The Colours of My Dreams', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 English lesson on: Exploring themes of belonging and hope in 'Forest' & 'The Colours of My Dreams', 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 Poetry by Valerie Bloom unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2021 Otter Barry edition of ‘Stars with Flaming Tails’ written by Valerie Bloom illustrated by Ken Wilson Max for this lesson.
Licence
Sign in to continue
Our content remains 100% free, but to access certain copyrighted materials, you'll need to sign in. This ensures we’re both staying within the rules.
P.S. Signing in also gives you more ways to make the most of Oak like unit downloads!
