Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

I hope you are feeling really well today, and I hope you are excited for our learning.

My name's Mrs. Riley, and I'll be teaching you this lesson today.

In our lesson today, we are going to be learning and reciting a poem by heart.

This might be something you've never done before.

I love learning poems by heart, and I hope this is something that you are going to really enjoy, too.

So let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is to learn and recite part of a poem by heart.

Our two keywords today are recite and by heart.

My turn, your turn.

Are you ready? Recite.

And by heart.

Well done.

To recite a poem is to speak or perform a poem aloud from memory.

So you wouldn't be reading it from a piece of paper; you would be speaking or performing it from memory.

That's when you recite a poem.

And by heart is to learn something in such a way that you can say it from memory.

In our lesson today, in the first learning cycle, we're going to be learning a poem by heart.

And in the second learning cycle, we'll be reciting the poem, the one that we've learned by heart.

So let's start off by thinking about learning a poem by heart.

In this unit so far, we have read and responded to different poems by the British poet, Joseph Coelho.

And there's a picture of him when he got the honour of becoming the Children's Laureate in 2022.

The poems that we've read include "Miss Flotsam", the one about his teacher or an imaginary teacher, "MORERAPS", the one which is an acrostic poem, which helps you to remember all those different poetic devices.

We've read "If All The World Were Paper", and finally we've learned or we've read and explored the poem, "I Am A Writer".

So we have looked at four different poems, all written by the poet, Joseph Coelho.

After we've read a poem and responded to it through discussions, we can learn the poem by heart, that's one of our keywords, and recite it, that's our other keyword.

So do you know what learning something by heart means? And do you know what reciting something means? Maybe you do now 'cause maybe you can remember from our keyword definitions, but maybe also you have some extra context of what these two things mean.

So I would like you to discuss now with your partner what learning something by heart means and what reciting something means.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done for sharing.

So learning something by heart means to learn something in such a way that you can say it from memory.

When my daughter was a little baby, she hated having her nappy changed, and she used to cry and cry when I changed her nappy.

I think maybe 'cause it felt a bit cold.

So the one thing I discovered that stopped her from crying was when I said the poem, "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat".

Have you ever heard that poem? Anyway, she just stopped crying when I said this poem.

So because I said this poem so often, I learned it by heart.

I learned it from memory, because I said it so many times while I was changing her nappies.

There are lots of times when a person might have learned or needed to learn something by heart and probably that doesn't involve nappy changing.

So you might learn poems by heart.

You might learn nursery rhymes by heart.

I bet you know some nursery rhymes by heart.

You might know a song by heart, perhaps a song that you've done in a show in your class or as a class performance or in a play, you might have learned a song by heart.

Maybe lines for a show.

You might know those by heart, so you didn't need to look at the paper.

You just knew them in your memory.

Prayers might be something that you know by heart.

Times tables might be something you've learned by heart.

And presentations, so if you were going to give a presentation, you might have learned that by heart as well.

And finally, addresses or phone numbers might be something that you know by heart.

Are there any phone numbers that you don't need to look at, but you just can remember them? So I would like you to discuss with a partner now: Have you ever learned any of these by heart before? Perhaps you might know a prayer by heart or a poem or a phone number.

Could you discuss with your partner what you have learned by heart, if you have learned anything, and why it was important for you to know it by heart? Pause the video and discuss that now.

Okay, well done.

I heard so many different ideas there.

I heard people saying they knew perhaps a parent or carer's phone number by heart in case they needed it in an emergency.

I heard other people saying that they know prayers by heart because they've said them so many times.

So well done for sharing with your partner.

So let's check our understanding.

Which of these might a person learn by heart? A, instructions for toys, B, poems, C, songs for a show? Pause the video and choose your answer or answers now.

Okay, the correct answers are somebody might learn poems or songs for a show by heart.

We wouldn't really need to learn the instructions for toys by heart 'cause we could just read them because we probably only would have to read it once or twice.

Learning something by heart is a positive thing to achieve for many reasons.

Sharing with others.

So knowing something by heart means you can quickly and easily share it with others.

For example, I could, if anybody asked me to, I could share the poem, "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat", without having to get it up on my phone or print it off because I know it by heart.

And that gives me the opportunity to share it with others whenever I want to.

And I actually always feel really proud of myself that I know it by heart.

Confidence.

So knowing something by heart will help you to feel confident when sharing it.

Understanding.

If you know something by heart, it means you develop a much greater understanding of the content.

For example, if you knew a prayer by heart, you are probably going to understand that prayer so well because you've read it and you know it so well.

Learning.

Knowing something by heart will help you with your learning in school because you can use that knowledge to answer questions.

So to learn a poem by heart, there are some different steps we can follow.

So we know that learning something by heart is really a great thing to do for so many reasons.

So now let's think about how do we learn a poem by heart? What steps can we follow? Step one, hear it.

Listen to the poem being read aloud.

So perhaps when I was going to learn "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat", I could put it on my phone, I could listen to it over and over.

And that's going to help me to learn it by heart.

So step one, hear it.

Step two, read it.

Read the poem aloud yourself.

And don't just read it once, read it lots of times.

Step three, check it.

So you can check and test your knowledge of the poem.

And we're going to look at a really fun way of doing that later in this lesson.

Step four, practise it.

Practise reciting the poem.

So practise saying it aloud without reading it but from memory.

All of these steps can be more effective by repeating them over and over.

No one could just read a poem or hear it once, read it once, check it once and practise it once and then know it off by heart.

We have to repeat them over and over.

So you could read the poem several times or practise it a few times a day for a week.

Sometimes when I want to learn something off by heart, I sleep with it under my pillow and I don't know why, but I always think it helps me.

So if I had to learn, perhaps when I was younger, some vocabulary, some French vocabulary or Spanish vocabulary for a test, before I went to bed, I would learn them.

I would go over it one more time and then I'd put the piece of paper under my pillow and the next morning I'd wake up and test myself.

And it always seemed to help.

I don't know why.

Maybe you might try that trick one day.

So we're now going to hear what Joseph Coelho's top tips are for learning a poem by heart because he knows so many of his poems by heart, so he's an expert at this, so he's gonna have some really useful advice for us.

So sit back and enjoy listening to Joseph Coelho's top tips for learning a poem by heart.

<v ->My top tips for learning a poem by heart</v> is to use the parrot method.

Now it's called the parrot method because you basically repeat what it is you want to learn.

And I do this all the time.

If I'm trying to learn a new poem off by heart, I will walk around my room and I will repeat the poem.

So I'll have the poem in hand and I will read it through and I will repeat it through reading it a few times.

And then I'll break down the different verses, and I will see if I can say the first verse without looking and I will check if I'm right.

If I'm right, I will then move on to the second verse and see if I can say that without looking.

If I'm right, I'll then go back to the beginning and see if I can say the first and the second verse without looking.

If I can, then I'll include the third verse and see if I can say the first, second, and third verse without looking.

And in that way, I slowly start to build up my memory of the poem in my head, which helps me then perform the poem.

And from then on, I know it off by heart.

Good luck.

<v ->Ah, okay.

That was really helpful, wasn't it?</v> Hopefully that's given you some inspiration for when you learn a poem by heart in this lesson.

So which of these are steps to follow when learning a poem by heart? A, read it, B, check it, C, change it.

Which of the following are steps to follow when learning a poem by heart? Pause the video and choose your answer or answers now.

Well done, the correct answers are A, read it, and B, check it.

These are two steps that you could follow when learning a poem by heart.

So we need to decide now which poem we are going to learn by heart.

You are going to choose your favourite Joseph Coelho poem and learn part of it by heart.

So you could work independently, and just choose parts of the poem.

Or you could work in a pair and you might split different parts up that you're going to learn by heart, or you might even work in a group and each learn maybe one or two verses by heart so that then you could recite it together as a group.

You would then be able to perform that entire poem because you all will have learned a part of it by heart.

So the poems we've read are "Miss Flotsam", so you could choose that one, or you and your pair or you and your group could choose "Miss Flotsam" to learn by heart.

You could learn "MORERAPS".

You could learn "If All The World Were Paper", or you could learn "I Am A Writer".

So I want you to have a little bit of thinking time now, a bit about which of these poems was your favourite? Was it "Miss Flotsam", the one that was inspired by teachers, about that lovely teacher who travelled the world and was such so kind and inspirational? Was it "MORERAPS", the acrostic poem about all the poetic devices like metaphor and onomatopoeia? Was it "If All The World Were Paper", imagining if the world were paper and being able to fold people up and put them in your pocket? Or was it "I Am A Writer", which repeated that phrase at the start of each verse, I am the, maybe all the different things that you are like I am the, there was a bit where it was, you were the blade in the sharpener or you were the rub part of the rubber because you can learn from your mistakes, things like that.

So have a bit of time now, you don't need to tell anyone, but just have a think about those poems and which one you really enjoyed reading and learning about and which one do you might like to learn part of it by heart today.

Okay, hopefully you've started thinking about which one you might want to choose.

So I'd now like you to discuss with a partner which poem you are going to learn by heart.

So I want you to tell your partner which poem you are going to choose and why you have chosen that poem.

So pause the video now while you discuss with a partner.

Okay, let's come back together.

Wow, it's so nice to hear lots of you have chosen different poems to learn by heart today.

So maybe you said to your partner, "I've chosen to learn 'Miss Flotsam' by heart because I think she's similar to my teacher." So the poem I've chosen is "MORERAPS", and I'm going to learn the first two verses by heart, perhaps I'm gonna work in a group and we're gonna break it up.

And so we're each going to do, how many verses are there? I think there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

So I think there's maybe eight.

There might even be an extra one at the end.

But I'm gonna do the first two verses by heart.

That's my job.

So the first thing I'm going to do is read these two verses.

So here is "MORERAPS" by Joseph Coelho.

"The MORERAPS are a trick to help you 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.

'" Now I'm really glad that I've got this verse, especially the second verse about metaphors because I often forget what a metaphor is.

I can always remember what a simile is, but I find metaphors a bit more difficult to use in my writing.

So if I learn this poem off by heart, and if I learn this verse off by heart, I will always remember from now on what a metaphor is and how I can use it in my writing.

So we're going to now complete step one and step two.

Remember, these are the steps we follow to try and learn a poem by heart.

So step one, hear it, listen to the poem being read aloud.

So perhaps you could get your partner to read the part you are learning out loud.

And then step two is read it, read the poem aloud yourself.

So it's your turn to do this now.

You are going to hear it and listen to your chosen poem being read aloud.

So could you, perhaps with a partner, get them to read the part of the poem that you are going to learn by heart.

And you could even, if you want, close your eyes and just hear it.

Listen to the part that you are going to learn.

And then you can swap and you can read the part for your partner that they're going to learn, so they have a chance to hear it, which is this first step.

So pause the video while you do that now.

Okay, well done.

So did you listen carefully? Do you think you know your chosen poem a little bit better after listening to it? I wouldn't expect you to know it by heart yet, but perhaps you know it a little bit better having listened to it.

So now we're gonna do step two, read it.

I'm gonna do this and then you are going to do it.

So I'm going to read it.

I'll read my poem aloud, the two verses that I'm learning off by heart.

And then you are going to read it, the part of your poem that you are going to learn by heart.

So here we go.

"MORERAPS".

"The MORERAPS are a trick to help you 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.

'" Gosh, you know what, I even noticed as I read that, that there were certain bits where I felt like I didn't need to look down because I felt like I've already learned a couple of the words by heart.

Perhaps you might notice the same thing.

So you are now going to read it.

Read the part of the poem that you have chosen out loud.

Pause the video now while you do that.

Okay, let's come back together.

So did you manage to read part of your poem aloud? And do you think you know your chosen poem a little bit better after reading it? You may want to read your poem a few more times to help you learn it.

So if you want, you could pause the video again and read the poem or the part of the poem a few more times to practise a little bit more now.

Okay, great.

So we've done step one, we've listened to our poem, and we've done step two, we've read it a few times.

So now we're gonna focus on step three, which is check it, check and test your knowledge of the poem.

We're gonna do a really fun little trick to help us with this.

So we'll be checking how well we know our poems by filling in missing words in the poem.

For example, here are the first two lines of "MORERAPS".

The MORERAPS are a trick to help you with your writing.

So now I have covered up two, or two of the words are missing, and I need to try and remember the missing words.

So can you remember? The MORERAPS are, mm, to, mm, you with your writing.

Can you remember the first one? Maybe you could shout it out.

The MORERAPS are a, that's right, trick, to help you with your writing.

Oh, I gave you away the second one.

So the first one was trick and the second one was help.

And I knew those because I've read it and I've listened to the poem and I've read it a few times.

So I remembered those two missing words.

So you are now going to ask a partner to write out a line of the poem you are learning, but they're going to leave a blank space where a word should be.

So for example, your partner might choose this line if they were choosing the poem, "MORERAPS".

They add a kick to language.

So my partner's gonna write out the line, but then they're going to give me a missing word.

So they're gonna leave a word out.

So they could either cover it up with something, or they could just write miss it out, and they're gonna try and think of a word that they think I might not remember.

So they're gonna try and choose a word they think will be a good one to miss out.

So in this case, they've had missed out that word kick.

They add a, mm, to language, they add a kick to language.

So my partner has removed the word kick, and I need to try to remember it.

If I can't remember it, my partner will tell me and I should be able to remember it for next time.

So you are now going to work with a partner to check each other's knowledge of their poem using the missing word exercises.

So here another example my partner's written out, make writing more, blank, and I've got to try and remember that word missing.

You can write out parts of the poem with words missing, or you could even get a tiny bit of paper or a rubber or something and cover up different words and test your partner.

So pause the video now and I hope you enjoy this activity.

Okay, well done.

Let's come back together.

So perhaps here, I think the missing word is exciting and then my partner might say, "Yes, well done.

You were right.

It was exciting." Okay, so it's time for our first task.

So we have already gone through the first three steps: hear it, read it, check it.

So now we're going to focus on practising it.

I would like you to practise saying your poem aloud.

You'd practise reading it as many times as possible, each time you should feel more confident and begin to know it by heart.

So pause the video while you practise saying your poem aloud over and over.

Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Let's come back together.

So we're now just going to reflect on what it was like to practise.

And you are going to discuss this with a partner.

So how many times were you able to practise saying your poem or your part of the poem? What did you notice about each time you practised and how confidently do you feel you know your poem now? Pause the video and discuss that with your partner.

Okay, well done.

So perhaps you said something like this: "I practised saying my poem aloud three times, and I noticed that each time I did, I became more confident and made fewer mistakes." Hopefully you notice that, too.

So we're now moving on to our second learning cycle where we are going to recite the poem.

So poetry is often created to be shared with others by being read aloud.

When this happens, it's called a poetry recital.

A recital means to speak or perform a poem aloud from memory, allowing the words and rhythm to be heard and appreciated.

Being able to confidently recite poem is an important skill to have.

We recite a poem after we've spent some time learning it by heart, which is what we've done in our first learning cycle.

When reciting poetry, we must ensure we are doing the following things: We must ensure we're speaking at a suitable volume for the space we're in and ensuring we are loud enough for everyone to hear.

If I went to a poetry recital in a big hall, the person who was reciting the poem would have to speak nice and loudly so that everyone, even if you were sitting right at the back of the hall, could hear.

So we have to think about speaking in a suitable volume.

We want everyone to hear our recital.

We have to try and bring the poem to life by speaking with expression.

Try and add expression in your voice, try and make your poem really exciting for the audience to listen to.

And we should vary the pace at which we read.

The pace is how fast or slow we go.

So perhaps some parts we might go nice and slowly, perhaps something that we really want to emphasise or something that's really important.

And then other times, we might wanna get some speed to kind of keep the pace moving.

So think about varying the pace.

So which of these should we do when reciting poetry? A, move around a lot, B, speak with expression, C, speak loud enough for everyone to hear.

Pause the video and choose your answer or answers now.

Okay, well done.

So we should speak with expression and speak loud enough for everyone to hear when we are reciting poetry.

We don't need to move around a lot.

And actually, that might be a bit distracting, so we want to try not to move around too much.

So now it's time to recite part of your poem by heart.

You might work independently, in a pair, or in a group.

When reciting your poem, remember to: Speak at a suitable volume for the space you are in and ensure you are loud enough for everyone to hear.

Bring the poem to life by speaking with expression, and vary the pace at which you read.

Sometimes you might want to slow down, sometimes you might want to speed up.

So these are the three really important things: volume, expression, and pace.

I want you to focus on these when you recite the part of your poem that you've learned by heart.

So I really hope you enjoy this activity.

Pause the video while you complete this task now.

Okay, well done.

Let's come back together.

So let's pause and reflect.

Did you manage to recite your poem by heart successfully? Did you manage to learn any of it by heart? Did you feel confident when reciting the poem? And do you know why? Did you enjoy the process of learning a poem by heart and reciting it? Could you pause the video now and take a bit of time to reflect on how you found that task and maybe discuss with your partner these questions that I've just read out.

So pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

So let's summarise what we have learned today.

So we've learned that after we've read and responded to a poem, we can learn it off by heart.

Learning poetry by heart means being able to say it from memory.

Once we've been able to practise the poem several times, we can perform the poem aloud in a recital.

I think learning a poem by heart is such a special thing to be able to do.

And actually, when you learn poems by heart, especially when you are younger, often those poems stay with you for a really long time.

Perhaps this lesson has inspired you to learn a poem by heart.

And maybe after this lesson, you might go off and find a poem that you love, maybe one by Joseph Coelho, or maybe one by a different poet.

And you might try to learn it by heart.

And if you do, my top tip would be to say it last thing before you go to bed and then put it under your pillow and then the next morning, say it the first thing when you wake up again.

That's always really helps me.

So well done for all your hard work.

I hope you feel proud of yourselves, that you have learned a part of a poem by heart and taken part in a poetry recital.

Hopefully I'll see you for some more learning another time.

Bye for now.