New
New
Lesson 2 of 12
  • Year 4

Poetic devices used in ‘Cosmic Disco’ by Grace Nichols

I can identify a range of poetic devices.

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

Copyrights help
Lesson 2 of 12
New
New
  • Year 4

Poetic devices used in ‘Cosmic Disco’ by Grace Nichols

I can identify a range of poetic devices.

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

Copyrights help

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

  1. Poets can use a range of poetic devices to enhance the meaning or impact of their poems.
  2. Personification is describing a non-living thing as if it is a person.
  3. Imagery is the use of language to create a mental picture or sensory experience for the reader or listener.
  4. Alliteration is when words that begin with the same sound are placed close together.

Keywords

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

  • Metaphor - a poetic device that makes a comparison between two things by stating that one thing is another

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

  • Alliteration - when words that begin with the same sound are placed close together

Common misconception

Pupils may confuse a metaphor with a simile.

Explain that both metaphors and similes are ways of using language to compare. Metaphors compare by saying something 'is' somthing else, whilst similes use the word 'as' or 'like'. There are no similes in this poem.


To help you plan your year 4 English lesson on: Poetic devices used in ‘Cosmic Disco’ by Grace Nichols, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

It may help to display the full poem on the board or slides and use highlighting or annotation to draw attention to particular poetic devices.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2013 Frances Lincoln Children’s Books edition of ‘Cosmic Disco’ written by Grace Nichols for this lesson.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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!

An illustration of a hijabi teacher writing on a whiteboard