Performing the poem 'London' by William Blake
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can perform the poem ‘London’ by William Blake, learning some sections by heart.
Key learning points
- After we have taken time to understand a poem’s meaning, themes and structure, we can learn a poem off by heart.
- Learning poetry by heart offers a range of benefits, both emotionally and academically.
- Hiding certain words in a poem engages readers in active retrieval practice, strengthening our memory recall.
- Understanding a poem, its language and the impression it creates will help us to create an impactful performance.
- We can improve our performances by considering the pace, the atmosphere and our own use of voice and movement.
Keywords
By heart - to learn something in such a way that you can say it from memory
Atmosphere - the mood created in a section or whole of a text
Pace - the speed or rhythm at which a poem is read or performed
Common misconception
Pupils may find learning the entire poem off by heart challenging.
The lesson focuses on learning the first two verses by heart. If pupils are successful, they could try committing the entire poem to memory.
Teacher tip
It may be useful for pupils to recap the strategies for learning poetry off by heart. These are explored in the Y5 unit 'Poetry Inspired by Animals' in the lesson 'Learning animal poetry by heart'.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the following jobs did William Blake have during his lifetime?
Q2.True or false? William Blake believed in social and racial equality.
Q3.Which of the following was a movement in art and literature during Blake's lifetime?
Q4.Which of the following should we do when reading a poem aloud in a performance?
Q5.True or false? 'London' describes the city in a positive light.
Q6.What definition best describes a rhyming word?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to their definitions.
Q2.Which strategy does 'taking the poem for a walk' link to?
Q3.When 'taking the poem for a walk' what type of punctuation must readers look out for?
Q4.What is the missing word from the first line of the poem? "I wander thro' each __________ street,"
Q5.What is the missing word from the final line of the poem? "And blights with __________ the Marriage hearse".
Q6.Which phrases best describe the atmosphere of the poem ‘London’?
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Performing the poem 'London' by William Blake, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Performing the poem 'London' by William Blake, 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. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the Poetry of place unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.