In this text based, 5 session English planning, pupils learn and investigate list poems on a variety of themes before writing their own. Pupils will be inspired by music, film clips and internet research. There are opportunities throughout the unit to use wordplay, repetition, and rhyme.

All aspects of poetry from the national curriculum in reading, spoken language and writing composition will be covered across the full set Au1-Su2.

National curriculum skills for this unit:

Spoken language:

• Listen and respond
• Build vocabulary
• Speak audibly and fluently
• Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication

Reading comprehension:

• Listen to and discuss a wide range of poems at a level beyond that which can be read independently
• Link what is read or heard to own experiences
• Learn to appreciate rhymes and poems
• Recite some rhymes and poems by heart

Writing composition:

• Say out loud what is going to be written about
• Compose a sentence orally before writing it
• Re-read what they have written to check it makes sense
• Discuss what has been written with the teacher or other pupils

For schools that use Pathways to Write, this unit aligns with the Sp2 set 1 unit.

Poems for this unit can be found in: Off By Heart by Roger Stevens