Lesson video

Hello there, my name is Mr. Brown, and I am going to be your teacher for today's English lesson.

And we are going to be reading and responding to a poem.

The poem is called "The Magic Box," and it's a poem written by Kit Wright, who is a fabulous British poet.

So today, reading and responding to "The Magic Box by Kit Wright," let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can read and understand the poem and give a personal response.

The key words we'll use are theme, imaginative, and imagery.

Let's say this together.

My turn, and then your turn.

Theme, imaginative, imagery, perfect, well done.

So let's look at some definitions.

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

Imaginative means having the ability to create vivid mental images or concepts that may not exist in reality.

And imagery is the use of language to create a mental picture or sensory experience for the reader or listener.

We'll start today's lesson by doing an introduction to the poem and poet, and then moving on to exploring the poem's themes.

So let's start with Kit Wright.

Now, kit Wright is a British poet who was born in Kent.

He grew up in a boarding school where his father was a teacher.

His father wrote poems which were usually lighthearted or funny, and he encouraged his children to do the same.

Apart from a short time teaching at a university in Canada, Kit has nearly always worked as a writer.

Select the statements that are true.

A, Kit Wright was born in Glasgow.

B, Kit Wright went to a boarding school where his father was a teacher.

C, Kit Wright has nearly always worked as a writer.

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 correct answers.

Well done if you said b and c.

a, Kit Wright was born in Glasgow, absolutely not.

He was not born in Glasgow, he was born in Kent.

Well done if you said b and c.

Kit Wright is a celebrated poet and children's author, known for his clever ideas, playful language, vivid imagery, and accurate observations of everyday life.

Wright's poetry often explores themes of imagination, childhood, nature, and family.

He has published many collections of poetry for both adults and children.

Kit Wright lives in a house in London, which is also home to his cats.

Interestingly, his poetry reveals a soft spot for cats and dogs.

Before we read the poem, what does the title "The Magic Box," make you think of? And what do you expect from the poem? What words or images come to mind? Hmm, June thinks, "It makes me think the pun is going to be about a magical box that can make objects appear and disappear." That's a really nice idea, a magical box that can make objects appear and disappear.

So you can put an object into the box and then it will disappear, or you can ask for a object to appear, and the box will make it happen.

Really nice idea, June.

Then we have an idea from Sophia, and she says, "I imagine the box to be brightly coloured, and covered in shiny stars.

Perhaps it even belongs to a magician." Absolutely, so you've used the word magic to think that perhaps a magician is involved in this poem, and this might be his box that he uses for some tricks possibly, really nice.

Are these positive or negative images? Are we starting to get a flavour of the poem, and feel that it's a positive poem or perhaps a negative poem? Hmm, what do you think? It seems to me that magic tends to be something that is positive, makes me feel happy and excited, full of wonder.

Okay, it's now time to read the poem, read it out loud and sound out any words that you are unsure of to help you.

Once you have 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 these are our first responses to the poem.

You might talk about whether or not you'd like the poem and why, and if it made you think about anything in particular.

Okay, it's over to you now.

Pause the video and read "The Magic Box" by Kit Wright now.

And welcome back.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed the poem.

What did you think? I'm going to give my initial response to the poem, and I'm gonna use these questions to help scaffold my ideas.

What did you like about the poem? That's the first question I'm going to ask myself.

And do you have any questions about it? Okay, so my initial response to the poem, I liked how creative the poet was to think of all these amazing things to put in the box.

Now, it made me want to be creative too.

It's now your turn to give your initial response to the poem.

What did you like about the poem? And do you have any questions about it? Pause the video and discuss with your partner, your initial response to the poem now.

Welcome back.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed your discussion.

The amazing thing about poetry is that everybody will have a different opinion about every single poem, so I'm sure it was a rich discussion.

Let's explore what happens in the poem.

In verse one, the poem begins with the poet saying that they will put different magical and imaginative items into a special box.

In verse two, the poem continues with more things listed that will be put into the special box, such as a snowman who has come to life, and a sip of water from a beautiful lake in Switzerland.

In verse three, the poet carries on filling the box with unique and unexpected items, such as purple wishes, an elderly relative's final joke, and the first smile of a newborn.

This verse provides an interesting comparison between someone at the very end of their life, and someone at the very beginning.

In verse four, there is more fantastical things that are added to the box, such as another season.

So we have spring, summer, autumn, winter, and another season is being added.

The poets also creates a fun image of a witch and a cowboy, but they are both riding on the other's typical mode of transport.

So again, we're starting to see the poet play around with comparisons, and here he's switching things around.

So what we would normally expect has been switched around.

In verse five, the poem now moves on to describing the box itself.

The poet says that it's made from a variety of imaginative materials such as precious metals, frozen water, and even dinosaur bones.

In the final verse, verse six, the verse allows the poet to say what they will do inside their special box, and they describe surfing on huge waves, and washing up onto a golden beach.

Time for a check.

I'd like you to put the following events that occur in the poem in order.

A, the poet talks about all the items they will put into the special box.

B, the poet describes how they will surf on huge waves inside the special box.

C, the poet describes what the special box is made from.

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, let's see if you managed to do this task correctly.

So the first thing that happened in the poem was, the poet talked about all the items they'll put into the special box.

Then number two, the poet describes what the special box is made from, and then it finishes with the poet describing how they will surf on huge waves inside the special box.

So well done if you ordered these parts correctly.

Time for a discussion.

How did the poem make you feel? Izzy says, "This poem made me feel excited about all the different objects that I could place in my special box." And Andeep says, "The poem made me feel happy about the idea of having a box that could contain so many amazing things.

I imagine carrying my own special box around, which I could fill with important objects." Okay, over to you then.

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

So pause the video, and have a discussion with your partner, how did this poem make you feel? Off you go.

Welcome back.

I'm sure you had a very interesting discussion hearing about how the poem made your partner feel, and then you being able to explain how the poem made you feel.

Time for a task.

What imaginative things would you put in your own special box if you had one? Hmm, so we know in Kit Wright's poem, he puts lots of different imaginative things into his special box.

But what if you had a special box, and what would you put in it? Refer to the poem for inspiration, and discuss your ideas with your partner.

Choose things that are special to you, and are items that you would love to have nearby at all times.

They can be things that do not actually exist in real life, there are no limits.

when you are writing poetry.

You may want to say, "Into my special box, I would put," and then say what you'll put, and then use because to explain why, why you've chosen that item.

Okay, it's over to you.

Pause the video and discuss with your partner what imaginative things you would put into your own special box.

Pause the video and do this now.

Welcome back everyone.

I'm so interested to see and hear what you put in your special box.

Okay, let's have a look at what Alex has put.

Alex has said, "Into my special box, I would put the sound of my family laughing, and a golden sunset over a busy city." Wow, Alex, really creative, imaginative ideas.

The sound of your family laughing.

I can almost hear it because when I read that, I think of the sound of my own family laughing.

And then a golden sunset over a busy city.

What I liked about this was a feeling of contrasts.

He's talking about a golden sunset, which feels very calm, and very beautiful and picturesque, peaceful, and then a busy city is the opposite of that.

Lots of hustle and bustle, and people moving around and noise.

Was your response similar to Alex's or was it different? What did you come up with? Let's move on to exploring the poem's themes.

We know that Kit Wright's poems are often themed around imagination, childhood, nature, and family.

And his imaginative ideas mean that his poems are very creatively written.

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

Some of the themes explored in the poem include imagination, magic, and wonder, childhood, family, and memories.

The poet uses the themes within the poem to create a fun and playful feeling, and a world where anything is possible.

The poem celebrates the power of the imagination.

The poet uses his words to create imaginative scenes for the reader to picture in their head, and this is called imagery.

Imagery is the use of language to create a mental picture, or sensory experience for the reader or listener.

The poet creates images of flames pouring out of the nose of a huge dragon, and someone surfing on huge waves that crash onto a golden beach.

Which themes are conveyed in the poem? Is it a, family b, loss and sadness, or c, imagination? Which themes are conveyed in the poem? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

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

Well done if you said a and c, family and imagination.

Not b, loss and sadness, there is not a theme of loss and sadness in this poem.

Let's have a closer look at some of the language used in the poem.

Here are some words which you maybe haven't encountered before, rumbling.

Rumbling is a deep, low and continuous sound.

Ancient is something very old, and belonging to the distant past.

Steel a hard, strong metal.

When we read the poem aloud, we can place emphasis on these words to convey meaning and emotion.

Emphasis is the act of giving special importance to certain words, phrases, or ideas through variation in volume or tone of voice.

I'd like you to read the following lines of the poem out loud, line 6, line 11, and line 17.

Remember to emphasise the words below, to convey meaning and emotion.

So we've already looked at these words, we've explained what they mean.

Rumbling is on line 6, ancient line 11, steel line 17.

I want you to read those particular lines, putting emphasis on these particular words to be able to convey meaning and emotion to the listener.

Okay, it's over to you now, read line 6, line 11, and line 17 out loud now.

Welcome back.

How did you find that? Let's look at that as perhaps your last rehearsal because we are now going to reread the whole poem.

You're gonna reread the whole poem out loud to a partner.

I want you to use your voice to read the poem clearly and with expression to create a sense of imagination and endless possibilities.

Emphasise any words that will help you to do this, such as those that we've already practised just now in our lesson.

Reread "The Magic Box by Kit Wright." Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Every time you reread that poem, it gets a little bit better.

Your reading is a bit clearer, you are playing around with things like volume and pace, and that's exactly what we're looking for.

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

Did you read the poem in a loud, clear voice? Did you use expression and put emphasis on certain words? What did you do to create a sense of imagination, and endless possibilities? Here's an example, This child emphasised the word ancient to show how old the uncle is.

Brilliant, using emphasis very well.

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

Kt Wright is a poet, and is known for writing imaginative poetry for children.

"The Magic Box" by Kit Wright is a poem about putting a variety of unique and wonderful items into a special box.

The poem is imaginative and creates vivid imagery in the reader's mind.

The poem explores themes including imagination, magic, and wonder, childhood, family, and memories.

We can read with expression to convey deeper meaning.

Superb work today, I hope you enjoyed reading "The Magic Box" by Kit Wright, another poem that you have learned.

Brilliant work, I will see you again very soon.