First impressions and engaging with 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can reflect on my first impressions of a poem.
Key learning points
- The Listeners was written by Walter de la Mare in 1912
- Walter de la Mare was born in April 1873 in England
- The Listeners describes the actions of a Traveller who knocks on the door of a seemingly deserted home at night
- Walter de la Mare's poetry tends to explore themes of imagination, childhood, and the mysterious or supernatural
Keywords
Poet - A poet is a writer who uses verse to convey emotions.
Poem - A poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings or ideas.
Walter de la Mare - Walter de la Mare is an English poet. His poetry often explores themes of imagination and fantasy.
Supernatural - Supernatural beings include gods, giants, magic and other mystical, ancient elements.
Stanza - A stanza is a group of lines within a poem, often separated by line breaks. Stanzas contribute to a poem’s organisation and structure.
Common misconception
Pupils may be confused by some of the antiquated language. This might impact reading fluency.
Encourage pupils to use reading strategies to support them in their initial understanding of the poem.
Teacher tip
During the tasks, generate some possible questions verbally, modelling thinking out loud. This will support pupils in creating their own questions.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the following titles are likely to be poetry collections?
Q2.What is a suitable definition of poetry?
Q3.True or False? A poem must be a certain length.
Q4.In poetry, what do we call a group of lines that form a unit in a poem?
Q5.Match the poetry feature with its definition.
central idea or message conveyed by the poem
evokes feelings and moods through language and tone
organised arrangement of lines, stanzas and verses
use of symbols to represent deeper meanings
correspondence of sounds, often at the end of lines
Q6.Which of the following are features you might expect to find in a poem?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to their definition.
a writer who uses verse to convey emotions
writing that uses creative language to express thoughts
an English poet, born in 1873
magic and other mystical, ancient elements
a group of lines within a poem, usually separated by breaks
Q2.Which of the following is true of a poet?
Q3.True or False? Walter de la Mare wrote lots of poems with themes of the supernatural.
Q4.Which of the following are texts written by Walter de la Mare?
Q5.Match the following dates to the event that happened in Walter's life.
Born in Charlton, Kent
Awarded Order of Merit
Married Constance Elfrida Ingpen
Died in Twickenham, London
Q6.Walter de la Mare lived from 1873 to 1956. Select the key historical events that he lived through.
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: First impressions and engaging with 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: First impressions and engaging with 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare, 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 'The Listeners': reading unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.