Reading and responding to 'No. 115 Dreams' by Jackie Kay
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can give my personal response to the poem, including some evidence to justify my ideas.
Key learning points
- ‘No. 115 Dreams’ is a free verse poem; it contains five verses and a repeated refrain.
- ‘No. 115 Dreams’ contains several examples of personification.
- Rooms and objects are describing family members or events that occurred in the house.
- A poem can have multiple meanings and interpretations; each person’s response can be different and unique to them.
- We can respond to a poem by writing a personal response to it.
Keywords
Imagery - the use of vivid and sensory language that appeals to the reader's senses, creating vivid mental pictures and enhancing the emotional impact of the poem
Personification - a way of describing a non-living thing as if it acts or feels like a human
Interpretation - the process of understanding and assigning meaning to a poem
Personal response - reflections that we make about a poem after reading or listening to it
Common misconception
Pupils might find identifying individual aspects of the personal response challenging.
Encourage pupils who may need greater scaffolding to discuss similar quotes or moments to the examples given.
Teacher tip
Pupils need to have a secure understanding of personification. It is used extensively in the poem. You may wish to review its use defined in the Year 3 lesson: 'Poetic devices used in ‘Cosmic Disco’ by Grace Nichols'.
Equipment
You need a copy of the poem ‘No. 115 Dreams’ which is featured on pages 32 and 33 in the 2019 Bloomsbury edition of ‘Red, Cherry Red’ written by Jackie Kay, illustrated by Rob Ryan for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a poet responsible for in a poem?
Q2.True or false? Imagery appeals to the senses.
Q3.What is an illustrator responsible for in a poem?
Q4.Which of the following best describes personification?
Q5.What is a verse in a poem?
Q6.What is a free verse poem?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match these keywords to their definitions.
the use of vivid language that appeals to the reader's senses
describing a non-living thing as if it acts or feels like a human
reflections that we make about a poem after reading or listening to it
Q2.Which of the following statements about ‘No. 115 Dreams’ and the poem's poet are true?
Q3.True or false? The speaker’s brother’s room likes him.
Q4.Which of the following are prominent themes found in the poem?
Q5.Match the following objects/rooms in the poem to their descriptions.
worried about a missing hamster
annoyed at the pipes making a noise
being quiet about a broken window
dreams of birds moving on it
Q6.True or false? The poem 'No. 115 Dreams' has only one interpretation.
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Reading and responding to 'No. 115 Dreams' by Jackie Kay, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Reading and responding to 'No. 115 Dreams' by Jackie Kay, 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.