This text based, 5 session English planning develops thinking about our own unique qualities and characteristics with a focus on vocabulary and repetitive patterns. Pupils investigate opposites, analyse three different poems and use the skills learnt to produce their outcome.

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:

• Build vocabulary
• Use spoken language: imagining and exploring ideas
• Maintain attention and participate in collaborative conversations
• Speak audibly and fluently

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
• Recognise and join in with predictable words and phrases
• 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
• Re-read what they have written to check it makes sense
• Discuss what has been written with the teacher or other pupils
• Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher

For schools that use Pathways to Write, this unit aligns with the Au1 set 1 unit.

Poems for this unit can be found online

Zebra Question by Shel Silverstein