Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Riley, and I'll be teaching you today.

I hope you're feeling really well, and that you're excited for our learning.

In our lesson today, we're going to be introducing a really fun poem.

This poem is called MORERAPS.

Hmm, I bet you are feeling a bit curious about what a poem called MORERAPS could be about.

Well, let's begin our lesson and find out.

The outcome of today's lesson is to understand the structure and function of the poem MORERAPS by Joseph Coelho.

These are our keywords for our lesson today.

That means they're really important.

So let's start off by saying each one.

My turn, your turn.

Are you ready? Acrostic poem.

Metaphor.

Poetic device.

And alliteration.

And now I'll say it a bit more normally, alliteration.

So an acrostic poem is a poem in which the first letter of each line spells a word.

So if you took the word sun and you wrote it vertically, S-U-N, the first line of the poem would start with S.

The second line of the poem would start with U, and the third line of the poem would start with N.

That is an acrostic poem.

A metaphor is a way of describing and comparing something by saying that it is something else.

A poetic device is a technique used by poets to enhance the meaning, sound, and overall impact of their poems. For example, a metaphor is an example of a poetic device.

And alliteration is another poetic device, which is repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together.

So if you have lots of words that come close together and they start with the same sound, it is called alliteration.

And we're going to see examples of these in the lesson.

So today we will have an introduction to the poem MORERAPS by Joseph Coelho.

So first, we'll be introduced to the poem in the first learning cycle.

And then we will look at poetic devices in the second learning cycle.

In this unit and in today's lesson, we'll be exploring the poetry of Joseph Coelho.

Here's a summary of what we already know about him.

He grew up in a tower block in Roehampton, which is in London, with his mother and his sister.

He wrote his first poem in year eight and kept writing from then on.

He studied archaeology at university, and spent two years in Peru.

Archaeology is where you dig up artefacts and learn about the past from them.

He attended a poetry course and shared some of his poems on stage.

He spent years running poetry workshops in schools and writing plays.

In 2014, his first poetry book called "Werewolf Club Rules," was published.

In 2022, he was appointed the Children's Laureate, which is a great honour.

So which of these statements are true about Joseph Coelho? A, he wrote his first poem when he was at university.

B, in 2014, his first poetry book, "Werewolf Club Rules" was published.

And, C, he studied archaeology at university and spent two years in Brazil.

Which of these statements are true? Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

B is true.

In 2014, his first poetry book, "Werewolf Club Rules" was published.

You may have thought C was true, but in fact it's not.

He studied archaeology, but he spent two years in Peru, not Brazil.

So well done if you spotted that, that was a bit mean.

Joseph Coelho is a creative poet.

Today we're going to discuss one of his most unique poems, and one that will provide a structure for us to follow ourselves in a future lesson.

It is, of course, the poem MORERAPS.

MORERAPS is a poem taken from Coelho's first published collection of poems, "Werewolf Club Rules." MORERAPS is a poem that Joseph Coelho invented to help him remember the different poetic devices that can be used when creating poetry.

So when we learned earlier in the keywords about metaphors and alliteration, Joseph Coelho thought, oh, it's quite difficult remembering all these different poetic devices.

So he wrote this poem to help him to remember, or help other people to remember, all those poetic devices.

And we now have the chance to watch and listen to Joseph Coelho himself performing MORERAPS.

<v ->This poem is called The MORERAPS.

</v> Now, I designed the MORERAPS to help all young people out there write poems. Each letter of the MORERAPS, M-O-R-E-R-A-P-S, stands for a different poetic device.

So if you listen carefully, you might hear all the different poetic devices in this poem.

And those devices will help you guys write better, stronger poems. It goes like this.

"The MORERAPS, the MORERAPS are a trick to help with your writing.

They add a kick to language, make writing more exciting.

M is for metaphor, saying one thing is another.

The sun is an oven, the earth is everyone's mother.

Aw.

O is for onomatopoeia, words that are also sounds.

Whoosh went the wind and howl went the hound.

R is for rhyme, words that sound the same.

You can put a cat in a hat or simply try rhyming your name.

E is for emotion.

Happy, worried, sad.

Great writing shares a feeling from the good to the bad.

The other R is for repetition, but don't repeat any old word.

Find a phrase with a musical rhythm that sounds like a song from a bird.

A is for alliteration, words sharing the same starting letter.

Used in the tongue twister that made Betty's bitter batter better.

P is for personification, human features used to describe a thing.

I looked to the sky and saw the sun's bright shining grin.

S is for simile, using as and like to compare.

For instance, when my mother gets angry, she snarls like a rampaging bear.

The MORERAPS are wonderful way to add a punch to your writing.

Master them like a juggler.

Make your words ripe for the biting." <v ->Okay, I hope you enjoyed that.

</v> So a poetic device is a tool or technique used by poets to enhance the meaning, sound, and overall impact of their poems. These devices help to create rhythm, convey emotions, and make the poem more engaging and memorable.

Could you now discuss, can you think of any poetic devices? Have you used any before? Pause the video and discuss that now with a partner.

Okay, let's come back together.

Maybe you said something like this.

Alliteration is a poetic device that has words close together that start with the same sound.

Maybe you remembered that from our keywords.

Maybe you might say, I used a simile in my writing before, which is a poetic device.

Joseph Coelho wrote MORERAPS to help him remember which of these? A, poets he likes.

B, poem names.

C, poetic devices.

Which is the correct answer? Pause the video now.

Well done, C is the correct answer.

Joseph Coelho wrote MORERAPS to help him remember poetic devices like metaphors or alliteration.

Here is a list of the different poetic devices that are included in this poem MORERAPS.

Metaphor, onomatopoeia, rhyme, emotion, repetition, alliteration, personification, and simile.

Could you discuss with a partner if you notice anything about this list of poetic devices and the title of the poem? Pause the video while you discuss that now.

Okay, well, perhaps if you weren't able to spot anything, this might help you.

Can you spot anything now? I thought so, hopefully you spotted that MORERAPS is written going down.

So this is like an acrostic poem, which was one of our keywords.

So Joseph Coelho invented MORERAPS as a way of remembering all the poetic devices we use when we're writing poetry.

Each line of the poem starts with one of these poetic devices.

After the poetic device is listed, the poet demonstrates that device on the same line.

MORERAPS works in a similar way to an acrostic poem.

In an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line spells out a word when read vertically.

For example, here is a poem.

And you can see there that the first letter in each line, the letters are C-A-T, which spells cat.

And then if you read the poem, it's about a cat curled up, sleeping, purring loud.

Amazing pet, precious friend, tiny paws, soft and proud.

So there is an acrostic poem about a cat.

Okay, what is the name of a poem in which the first letter of each line spells a word? Is it, A, a shape poem? B, an acrostic poem? Or, C, a kenning poem? Pause the video and choose your answer.

Well done, it is B, an acrostic poem.

It's time for your first task.

In your task today, I want you to write your own acrostic poem for any of these animals.

You could do a dog, you could do a bat, you could do an ant, or you could do a fox.

Remember, in an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line spells out a word when read vertically.

You can use this example for a cat to help you.

So first, you're going to choose your animal.

So let's imagine I'm going to choose a fox.

So the first thing I'm going to do is write down fox vertically, F-O-X.

And then I'm gonna think of my first line of my poem about a fox that needs to start with the letter F.

So perhaps I might say, foraging in the bins, because that's something that a fox sometimes does when a fox is in a city.

And then my next line is gonna start with an O.

So I need to think of something about a fox that starts with a letter O.

Hmm, X, that's going to be tricky to try and think of something that starts with the letter X.

So it's your turn to do this task.

So start by choosing which animal, and then have a go at writing your own acrostic poem.

Pause the video while you complete this task.

Okay, let's come back together.

I hope you enjoyed writing your own acrostic poem.

So here is an example of what you might have written.

Let's imagine you chose ant.

So starting off by writing A-N-T, spelling out ant vertically.

And then thinking of ways to describe an ant using those letters.

So starting with an A, always busy.

N, never still.

T, tiny worker.

There's an example of an acrostic poem.

It's time for our second learning cycle, where we'll be looking in more detail at some poetic devices.

A metaphor, which is one of our keywords, is a type of poetic device.

It's a way of describing and comparing something by saying that it is something else.

For example, her laughter was music to the boy's ears.

In this example, the laughter isn't actually music.

However, the boy was so happy to hear her laughter that to him it sounded like music.

So this is a metaphor.

The metaphor captures more emotion than just saying, the boy heard her laughter and felt happy.

That's what this is saying, that her laughter made the boy happy, but we're using a metaphor.

Her laughter was music to the boy's ears.

Poets use metaphors as a type of comparison that helps to build a vivid picture in the reader's mind.

So if you're trying to describe something as a poet, you might compare it to something else help create a picture in the reader's mind.

An example could be to describe a messy and chaotic classroom by saying, the classroom is a zoo.

That's a metaphor, the classroom is a zoo.

This is a metaphor because the classroom isn't actually a zoo.

There's not animals in the classroom, but it creates a mental image of a very messy room filled with children behaving wildly like animals and not following instructions.

Therefore, a zoo is a good comparison to make.

So this metaphor is really effective.

It creates an image in the reader's mind of a chaotic classroom.

So which of these would be a good metaphor to use to describe a blanket? Okay, so just picture a blanket, a big, soft, cosy blanket.

Which of these would be a good metaphor? A, a warm hug.

B, a dusty curtain.

Or, C, a freezing breeze? Pause the video and choose your answer.

Well done, the correct answer is A, a warm hug.

So if you were writing a poem or a story and you described the blanket as a warm hug, you would be using a metaphor.

The blanket isn't actually a hug, but you are comparing it to a warm hug to create an image in the reader's mind of how cosy and warm and comforting this blanket is.

So we've spoken about metaphors, now let's move on to alliteration.

Alliteration is a poetic device that refers to the repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together.

For example, the wild wind whipped through the woods.

Poets use alliteration for several different reasons.

To grab the reader's attention, to emphasise key ideas, to create rhythm, or to create mood.

So if I was reading a story and read that line, the wild wind whipped through the woods, it would definitely grab my attention because it repeats the W sound.

We can see it's not every single word that starts with a W sound, but it's lots of words that come close together.

So that's an example of alliteration.

Alliteration can also be used to create tongue twisters that are interesting and a fun challenge to read.

Imagine if your tongue was tied in a knot or twisted up.

It would be difficult to speak, wouldn't it, if your tongue was twisted? So tongue twisters are fun and challenging to read.

Here's an example of alliteration in a tongue twister.

Shiny shells sway in the shimmering sea.

Can you try to say that? Off you go.

Well done.

It's quite difficult, isn't it? It's quite difficult because it's a tongue twister.

In this sentence, five of the words start with either a or S or a sh sound.

And there you can see them.

These sounds have been chosen by the poet because they also sound a bit like the noise of the sea creating a mood.

If you imagine the sea kind of sh, sh.

So that sound has been specifically chosen to create a kind of mood of the sea.

Okay, which of these sentences is an example of alliteration? A, trees move in the summer's breeze.

B, giant trees stand proudly.

C, tall trees twinkle in the twilight.

Which of these sentences is an example of alliteration? Pause the video now.

Well done, C is correct.

We can see in this example that we have got lots of the repetition of the sound, T.

Tall trees twinkle in the twilight.

So for your second and final task in today's lesson, you are going to create your own example of alliteration using your name.

Now, my name is Poppy, my first name.

So I would have to think of lots of words that start with the letter P, or the sound P.

So you're going to take your name and add other words that start with the same sound.

Challenge your partner to see who can come up with the longest alliterative line.

So, for example, I might do something like, Poppy, gosh, I haven't thought of this.

Let me try and think, what could Poppy be doing? Poppy, and Poppy picks.

Now, let's think of another something that starts with P.

P, pegs.

Poppy picks pegs.

Okay, poppy picks pegs, that's only three.

So maybe my partner might be able to do one even longer than me.

So you're going to challenge each other to come up with the longest alliterative line.

So I hope you really enjoy this task.

Here is one example before you begin.

So if your name was Jacob.

Jumping Jacob juggles juicy jelly.

Wow.

One, two, three, four, five.

That's five words all starting with the letter J.

So maybe you can see if you can even beat that one, five words.

Good luck, I hope you really enjoy this task.

Okay, let's come back together.

So let's see some different examples of what you might have written.

So here's an example.

Lucas loves looking at lines of luscious lollipops.

Ooh, that's a bit of a tongue twister.

That was quite difficult to say.

And here's another one this, time with Sam.

So repeating the S sound.

Sam swiftly surfed the shimmering sea.

Okay, let's summarise what we've learned today.

MORERAPS is a poem that Joseph Coelho invented to help him remember different poetic devices.

A poetic device is a technique used by poets to enhance the meaning, sound, and overall impact of their poems. A metaphor is a word or phrase that is used to describe something as if it is something else.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together.

So I hope you enjoyed learning with me today.

Perhaps after this lesson, you might want to go off and might write some more acrostic poems. Or perhaps you might want to carry on playing the game with a partner, where you challenge yourself to write a really long alliterative line with lots of words that start with the same sound.

Perhaps you might even spot some alliteration or acrostic poems in some books that you are reading.

So thank you for all your hard work today.

And hopefully I'll see you for some more learning where we can explore this poem MORERAPS in more detail another time.

Bye for now.