Reading and responding to 'Please Mrs Butler' by Allan Ahlberg

English

In this unit, pupils use a range of different poems from different poets to explore how they use language choice and poetic devices to create humour. In Poet focus: Joseph Coelho’, pupils will concentrate on one poet and how he evokes different emotional responses from the reader.’

In Poetry: The Magic Box’, pupils read, responded to and used Kit Wright's poem as inspiration to write their own imaginative poem. In this unit, pupils will build on this by using several different poems from different authors to explore how those devices are used by others.’

In this unit, pupils read and respond to a variety of humorous poems by different poets. They will learn about the poets, explore the meaning and themes within each poem and identify the poetic devices used. Pupils will practise reading each poem aloud with expression to convey meaning.

Humorous poetry

True or false? Allan Ahlberg was born in Croydon, but grew up in a town called Oldbury, which is near Birmingham.

Which of these were jobs that Allan Ahlberg tried after leaving school? 

True or false? Allan Ahlberg is known for his fun storytelling. 

Allan Ahlberg created a lot of books with his wife Janet. He wrote the books and she __________ them. 

Which of these books were created by Allan and Janet Ahlberg?

The poem 'Please Mrs Butler' is written as a __________ between two characters.

Which of these poets wrote the poem 'Home Time'?

True or false? Perspective is the point of view or position from which the poet writes.

True or false? The poem 'Home Time' is written from the perspective of a classroom bin.

__________ is a way of describing a non-living thing as if it acts or feels like a human.

Which of these words taken from the poem 'Home Time' means 'strong disapproval or disappointment'? 

Because the children are making lots of noise. 

In the poem 'Home Time', why is the clock relieved? 

Introduction

What will you need for this lesson?

Are you ready to learn?

Equipment

Worksheet