Lesson video

Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's English lesson.

My name is Mr. Brown and I am going to be your teacher.

Today we are going to be reading and responding to a poem, and that poem is called "The Morning Rush," and it's by a fabulous poet called John Foster.

So, reading and responding to John Foster's poem, "The Morning Rush." Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can give a personal response to the poem and read it aloud.

The keywords we will use are theme, humorous and repetition.

Let's say this together, my turn and then your turn.

Theme.

Humorous.

Repetition.

Fabulous.

Let's look at the definitions.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a text.

Humorous is something that makes a person laugh or smile because it is funny or silly.

Repetition is the repeated use of sounds, words or phrases.

We'll start today's lesson with an introduction to the poem and poet and then move on to exploring the poem itself.

In this unit and today's lesson, we'll be exploring humorous poetry.

Now, humour is when something makes a person laugh or smile because it is funny or silly.

Lots of different things can be humorous.

Writing can be humorous, such as funny stories, comics or poems. Theatre can be humorous.

You can have pantomimes which are designed to make the audience laugh, plays and comedy shows.

Movies and television programmes can be humorous, such as animations or cartoons particularly.

And jokes and riddles can be humorous, for example, knock knock jokes.

I wonder if you know any jokes.

Discuss with a partner what things you find humorous.

What makes you laugh? Have you read anything humorous? Have you seen any humorous shows before? Pause the video and have a discussion about what makes you laugh now.

Welcome back.

I hope that was a lovely discussion.

It's not often in class that we get to talk about what things make us laugh, so I hope you enjoyed that.

Here's a look at an example from Jun.

He says, "Animated movies like 'Toy Story' make me laugh and I find them very funny." And then Sofia says, "I've seen a humorous theatre show before.

It was a pantomime and it was full of jokes!" Yes, I've seen a pantomime before too, and it was really funny.

Humorous poetry means poems that have been written to be funny, silly and make the reader laugh.

Some poets are well-known for their humorous poetry and many people enjoy reading their poems because they make them smile and laugh.

In this lesson, we'll focus on a poem called "The Morning Rush" by a famous poet known for his humorous poetry, and that's John Foster.

Now, John Foster is a British poet who was born and grew up in Scotby, which is a village outside Carlisle, and you can see on the map where Scotby is.

His family didn't have a television, so John spent a lot of time reading.

John always wanted to be a writer.

At school he wrote poems and later he wrote sports reports for newspapers.

As an adult, he often made up poems for his own children.

As a writer, John is celebrated for writing and performing his poetry.

Let's do a quick check on John Foster, shall we? Select the statements that are true.

A, John Foster was born in London.

B, John Foster was born in Scotby.

C, John Foster wrote sports reports for newspapers.

Select the statements that are true.

Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's see if you found the right answers.

Well done if you said B and C.

John Foster was born in Scotby, which is just outside Carlisle, and he wrote sports reports for newspapers.

Well done if you said B and C.

John Foster is known for his engaging and humorous poetry for children.

His poems often explore both everyday experiences and imaginative scenarios and Foster is famous for finding the humour in these situations.

In his poem "The Morning Rush," he explores an everyday experience in a unique and humorous way.

So before we read the poem, what does the title "The Morning Rush" make you think of and expect from the poem? What words or images come to mind? Take a moment to discuss it with your partner and see what you think "The Morning Rush" is going to be all about.

What does the title make you think of? What do you expect from the poem? Pause the video and have that discussion now.

And welcome back.

Let's have a look at some answers.

So Jun says, "It makes me think the poem is going to be about people rushing to get ready for school in the morning." Of course, the morning rush, rushing to get ready for school in the morning.

Okay, good idea, Jun.

And Sofia thinks, "I imagine the humour might come from people panicking because they're going to be late and doing silly things." That's a nice idea.

Yeah, it could be a humorous poem because everybody's rushing around and they keep bumping into things or making mistakes.

Good ideas.

Now, are these positive or negative images? The images that we are starting to construct in our minds, are they positive or are they negative? Do we think this is going to be a positive poem or a negative poem? Hmm, I wonder.

Okay, now it's time to read the poem, "The Morning Rush." Read it aloud and sound out any words you are unsure of to help you.

Once you've read the poem, we will discuss our initial responses to the poem.

Now, initial is an adjective and it means at the beginning or first, so this will be our first responses to the poem.

You might talk about whether or not you liked the poem and why and if it made you think of anything in particular.

So, time for you to read "The Morning Rush" by John Foster.

Pause the video and read the poem and then discuss with your partner what you enjoyed about it now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's take a look, shall we? I'm going to give my initial response to the poem, and I'm using the questions what did you like about the poem and do you have any questions about it just to scaffold my ideas to help me.

Okay.

So I liked how fun it was and how the poet captured the hustle and bustle of getting ready for school.

I would like to know if the poet was writing about his own experiences with his children.

So I wondered if he had children and this morning rush that he's created through the poem was similar to the routine that perhaps happens at his house in the morning.

Now it's your turn to give your initial response to the poem.

Remember, I would like you to think about what you liked about it, and do you have any questions about it? Work with your partner, have that discussion.

Pause the video and you can take part in that discussion now.

Welcome back.

Okay, I hope you had a good discussion and talked about some interesting things, but let's explore what happens in the poem.

So, verse one.

In verse one, in the first verse of the poem the poet describes entering the bathroom and turning on the tap, showing the start of the morning routine.

Still in verse one but the second half of that verse, lines three and four, the verse describes the act of washing away sleepiness and beginning the day with energy and excitement.

In verse two, the second verse, the poet describes rushing to put on clothing, emphasising the urgency of getting dressed quickly.

So already the poem feels like a rush.

In verse three, the poet rushes to the kitchen, emphasising how time is very precious in the morning and can't be wasted.

The poet describes eating some breakfast and putting on shoes.

Verse four, the speaker returns to the bathroom to brush their teeth.

And again, there is a continued emphasis on rushing to get ready and not wasting time.

There is no time to lose.

Rush, rush, rush! In verse five, the fifth verse, the speaker looks in the mirror, tidies their hair and hurries back downstairs.

Verse six, the sixth and final verse, the speaker picks up their bag for school, puts on their jacket and rushes out of the house.

The poem ends here to show that the speaker has left for school after rushing to get ready! So that is the poem.

Let's check your understanding.

Put the following events that occur in the poem in order.

A, the speaker picks up their bag and leaves for school, B, the speaker washes away sleep using water from the tap, or C, the speaker eats breakfast in the kitchen.

Put the following events that occur in the poem in order.

Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back.

Okay, so let's see if you found the right order.

Well, well done if you said number one, the first thing that happens is the speaker washes away sleep using water from the tap.

Number two, the speaker eats breakfast in the kitchen.

And number three, the speaker picks up their bag and leaves for school.

How did the poem make you feel? "This poem made me laugh about how rushed the morning routine can be!" That's what Izzy says.

Andeep says, "The poem made me picture my family all rushing around to get ready for school and made me imagine my mum telling us all to 'hurry, hurry, hurry.

'" So it looks like the poem has resonated with Andeep.

It's made him think about his own experiences.

I wonder if that was the same for you.

How did the poem make you feel? Remember, our personal responses to the poem will all be different because we are all unique.

Pause the video and take some time with your partner to discuss, how did the poem make you feel? Off you go.

Welcome back.

I hope you had some interesting discussions.

It's time for a practise task.

I would like you to refer to the poem and discuss these questions with your partner.

So more discussion.

Did the poem remind you of your own experiences of getting ready for school in the morning? Are there any parts of your morning routine that were not in the poem? Are there any things you do in the morning that were not included at the poem? And which part did you find the most humorous? Which part did you find the most funny? You can use these talk scaffolds to help you.

My morning routine is similar because, or I think the funniest part was.

Okay, over to you.

Refer to the poem and discuss these questions with your partner now.

Welcome back.

I hope you had an interesting discussion.

Let's have a look at some example answers.

We have, "The poem reminded me of my morning routine where my dad always tells us to 'gobble' up our breakfast or we will be late!" Or we have from Jun here, "My brother always finds it hard to find his book bag in the morning and has to look all over the house.

That wasn't in the poem." Ah, of course, yeah.

Finding things that you can't find.

That's a really common problem in the morning when people are rushing around.

And we have an answer here.

"I thought the funniest part was right at the end when they got out of the door after all that rushing about." Really nice responses.

Let's move on to exploring the poem.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a text.

John Foster's poems are often themed around everyday experiences, particularly those familiar to children, and he combines this with humour and playfulness.

Some other themes in the poem include daily routines, families, time pressure, stress and chaos.

The poet uses the themes within the poem to create a fun and playful feeling and allows the reader to laugh at and relate to the familiar experience of getting ready for school.

It's something we all know very well.

The poet uses his words to create several familiar scenes for the reader to picture in their head.

The poet creates the images of someone frantically squeezing out toothpaste and brushing their teeth, someone desperately combing their hair and rushing down the stairs.

Many children and adults will be able to relate to these experiences.

So this is a clever thing the poet has done.

He's created these images for the reader to be able to picture and relate to.

Which themes are conveyed in the poem? Is it A, everyday experiences, B, love, or C, time pressure? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, which themes are conveyed in the poem? Well, there's two correct answers here, so well done if you said A and C.

Everyday experiences, getting ready for school is very much an everyday experience, and time pressure, being under pressure to perform a task in time.

That is what "The Morning Rush" is all about.

Okay, how does the poet use words to create a sense of rushing in the poem? Reread the poem and discuss what things you notice that create a sense of speed and urgency.

Pause the video and discuss this with your partner now.

Welcome back.

Okay, so here's an example from Izzy.

She says, "The poem repeats some words like 'Quickly!' and 'Hurry!' This creates a sense of speed and it felt like there is a parent hurrying the child along to get ready for school quicker." So those words, we aren't told in the poem that they are directly from a parent, but it gives the feeling that there is someone saying, "Hurry, hurry, quickly, quickly!" A poet chooses words carefully to have an impact on the reader.

John Foster repeats words in his poems to create a sense of urgency and speed.

Now, urgency is a noun and it means something important which requires fast action.

He uses a poetic device called repetition.

Repetition is when a single word or a group of words is repeated for effect.

In the poem, these words are repeated, quickly, brush, hurry and scurry.

Repeating words like quickly creates a sense of speed and urgency.

I'd like you to read verses two, four and five out loud, and remember to emphasise the repetition of the words below to create a sense of urgency and speed.

This will help the audience to feel as though the things in the poem are being done in a rush.

So quickly, brush, hurry and scurry.

If you are telling someone to do something quickly, you might say "Quickly, quickly, quickly!" And you can see I'm emphasising the words, I'm building them as well.

So, have a play around and try this.

Try repeating words like quickly to create a sense of speed and urgency by reading verses two, four and five out loud.

Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's have a look, shall we? We're gonna move on to a practise task.

I'd like you to reread the whole poem out loud to a partner.

Use your voice to read the poem clearly and with expression.

Focus on using the repetition in the poem to create a sense of speed and urgency.

You may want to use gestures to help show how fast things are being done, such as brushing your teeth and combing your hair very quickly.

Rereading the whole poem, use the experience you've learnt in this lesson, particularly in that last task where you were having a go reading some verses.

You're now going to use that experience and reread the whole poem out loud to a partner.

Pause the video and have got this task now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's have a look.

Let's reflect on how you read the poem to your partner.

Did you read the poem out loud in a clear voice? Did you use the repetition in the poem to create a sense of speed and urgency? Did you use any gestures to express to the audience how things were done? Here's an example answer.

"I emphasised the word 'brush' by getting louder each time I repeated it." That was a really good idea from Sofia.

She emphasised the word brush by getting louder each time she repeated it.

Let's summarise the learning we've done today.

John Foster is a poet and is known for writing humorous poetry for children.

Foster's poetry often explores everyday experiences that are familiar to children.

"The Morning Rush" is a poem about getting ready for school in the morning and how rushed and chaotic the experience can be.

The poem that uses repetition to create a sense of speed and urgency.

Superb work today.

I hope you enjoyed reading and responding to "The Morning Rush" by John Foster, another poem you now know.

I will see you again very soon.