- Year 6
Reading and responding to poems from 'The Final Year'
I can read and respond to a range of poems in a verse novel.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 6
Reading and responding to poems from 'The Final Year'
I can read and respond to a range of poems in a verse novel.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The layout of a poem refers to the way the poem is organised on the page.
- Poets can use different layouts and line breaks to convey the plot, characters and emotions of the story.
- Goodfellow mixes up the visual arrangements of the poems, which helps the reader understand the characters' emotions.
- Characterisation is the way authors & illustrators describe & develop the personalities & traits of the characters.
Keywords
Layout - the way the poem is organised on the page
Line break - the point where one line of verse ends & the next begins, often used to create rhythm, emphasise words or control pace
Characterisation - the way an author describes and develops the personalities and traits of the characters in a story
Character traits - the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting
Common misconception
Pupils may find it challenging to identify why a poem may be laid out in a certain way.
Present the poems on a class board or visualiser so that the children can clearly see how the poems have been presented on the page. Ask pupils what they notice and text mark the pages together.
To help you plan your year 6 English lesson on: Reading and responding to poems from 'The Final Year', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 6 English lesson on: Reading and responding to poems from 'The Final Year', 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 'The Final Year': reading unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2023 Otter-Barry Books edition of ‘The Final Year’ written by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd Stanton, for this lesson.
Licence
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