Lesson video

Hello everyone.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Mr. Brown and I'm going to be your English teacher for today's lesson and all of the lessons in this unit.

And I'm really excited because it is a unit about poetry and all of the poems are taken from one particular poet, a fantastic British poet named Joseph Coelho, and in today's lesson, we're going to be learning all about him.

So let's get started, shall we? The outcome for today's lesson is I can learn about the poet Joseph Coelho.

The key words we will use are poet, poem and theme.

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

Poet, poem, theme.

Fantastic, let's look at the definitions.

Poet is the name for someone who writes poems. Poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings, or ideas.

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

We'll start today's lesson focusing on learning about Joseph Coelho and then move on to focusing on Joseph Coelho's poetry.

A poet is someone who does all of these, creates poems, writes and sometimes performs poetry, expresses ideas, thoughts, and feelings, uses language to express themselves in a creative or artistic way, draws inspiration from the world around them, loves using and speaking language.

Do you know any poets? Have a chat with the person next to you.

I wonder if you can tell them any poets that you know or even poems that you have read by those poets.

Pause the video and have a discussion now.

Welcome back.

I am really interested to find out which poets you know and can you remember the name of any poems you've read? Here's an example from Aisha.

She says, "I know the poet Kit Wright.

He wrote a poem called 'The Magic Box.

'" You are absolutely right, and Lucas says, "I remember reading a poem called, 'What Did You Do at School Today?' by a poet called James Carter.

It was a really funny poem!" I know that poem really well, Lucas, and it's really funny, you're right.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? All poets write about nature.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

So true or false? Do all poets write about nature? Well, it is of course false.

They do not all right about nature, but let's justify our answer.

Are you going to justify with A, poets can cover a wide range of topics beyond nature, or B, poets only draw inspiration from nature.

A or B, justify your answer.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back.

Okay, A or B, well, well done if you justified with A.

Poets can cover a wide range of topics beyond nature.

Now, Joseph Coelho is a British poet and children's author.

Coelho is a celebrated writer, known for his captivating poetry and imaginative children's books.

Joseph Coelho was born in Roehampton, which is an area in southwest London.

Coelho grew up during the 1980s and lived in a tower block with his mother and little sister.

At school, he never imagined that he would become a writer and didn't consider it to be something that he could do.

Let's check our understanding.

Joseph Coelho grew up in which area of London? Is it A, Richmond, B, Roehampton, or C, Wimbledon? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

So let's look at the correct answer.

Well done if you said Joseph Coelho grew up in which area of London? Well, well done if you said Roehampton, it is B, Roehampton.

Coelho was not able to read or write poetry until the age of seven.

However, his love for writing was always there, and he remembers how he liked to copy out the drawings from his favourite books and write out the stories in large letters.

His earliest memory of writing poetry was when he was in secondary school during his time in year eight.

Joseph entered a poetry competition and wrote a poem about a performing bear called "Unbearable." That sounds like a great name.

He didn't win, but he kept on writing.

Joseph Coelho continued to write during his time at school.

He wrote poems about lots of different things, how he was feeling, poems about life at school, angry poems, sad poems, funny poems. And sometimes he would even nervously share these poems in his drama classes.

So he was a bit reluctant to share them, but sometimes he did.

True or false, Joseph Coelho did not write poetry during his time at school.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide now.

And welcome back.

Let's check the correct answer.

Joseph Coelho did not write poetry during his time at school is false.

He did, he wrote in year eight.

That's when he started, didn't he? Wrote his first poem and then he continued.

Let's justify our answers.

A, is Coelho wrote poems about life at school as well as feelings.

B, Coelho wrote poems about war and fighting.

How would you justify your answer? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's see how you would justify your answer correctly.

Well, well done if you said A.

Coelho wrote poems about life at school as well as feelings.

He did not write poems about war and fighting.

So well done if you said A.

At university, he studied archaeology.

That's a big word, isn't it? Should we say that together? My turn, then your turn.

Archaeology.

Fantastic.

Now archaeology means learning about the past using ancient things that have been left behind.

Now, Coelho even went to Peru for two years to dig for ancient artefacts.

He said that this time was lots of fun, but that he still wrote poems. So he's not stopping writing, is he? Coelho continued to write his own poetry and he joined a performance poetry course, which gave him the chance to write poems and share them on stage.

Some of Joseph's poems made people laugh, and he was asked to share his poems in schools.

He spent many years running workshops in schools and writing plays, and he slowly began to dream about becoming a published writer.

If you're a published writer, that means they are, you are having your poetry published in your own books for people to be able to go to bookshops or buy online.

In 2014, his dream came true and Joseph Coelho had his very first poetry collection published.

It was called "Werewolf Club Rules," and he's been writing and performing his poetry ever since.

Let me just check your understanding.

What year was Joseph Coelho's poetry collection "Werewolf Club Rules" published? Was it A, 2004, B, 2014, or C, 2024? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you managed to find the correct answer.

Well, well done if you said B, 2014.

That's the year that Joseph Coelho's first poetry collection, "Werewolf Club Rules" was published.

Time for a task.

I'd like you to fill in the blanks to show what you know about Joseph Coelho.

You have got one, two, three, four, five sentences about different parts of his life and your job is to fill in the blanks.

Let's look at the first sentence.

It says, Joseph Coelho was born in somewhere, an area in southwest London.

So Joseph Coelho was born in hmm, an area in southwest London.

What word would you use to fill in that blank? That is your chance to demonstrate your knowledge and show what you know about Joseph Coelho.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at the correct answers.

Joseph Coelho was born in Roehampton, an area in southwest London.

He grew up in the 1980s in a tower block with his mother and little sister.

Coelho studied archaeology at university and spent two years in Peru digging for ancient artefacts.

He spent many years running poetry workshops in schools.

Finally, Coelho had his first collection of poems published.

It was called "Werewolf Club Rules." Well done if you managed to complete that task correctly.

Let's move on to Joseph Coelho's poetry.

Joseph Coelho's poems for children are easy to read and engaging, with playful rhythms and subjects that young readers can relate to.

He often explores themes of the following, identity, family, friendship, imagination, and the power of storytelling.

In his first published collection of poems, "Werewolf Club Rules," Coelho includes poems written about school and family life.

He demonstrates a delight in language and an ambitious use of words.

The book was well received and even won the prestigious CLiPPA, which is the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award, and he won that in 2015.

Which of these themes are explored in Coelho's poetry collection "Werewolf Club Rules?" Is it A, fear, B, school, or C, family life? Which of these themes are explored in his poetry collection "Werewolf Club Rules?" Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you found the correct answer.

Well, well done if you said school and family life.

It was two correct answers, B and C.

He explores the themes of school and family life.

In his second published collection of poems called "Overheard in a Tower Block," Coelho explores some of the same themes from "Werewolf Club Rules," but this book contains poems more suited to older readers and is very powerful and moving.

Each poem offers the reader glimpses into the life of the main character as he grows over the course of the collection, from young boy through adolescence to adulthood.

Joseph Coelho has also published children's picture books.

In Coelho's book, "Luna Loves Library Day," he explores the theme of a family as a young girl spends time with her dad exploring her favourite place, the library.

In another book entitled, "If all the world were.

." Coelho writes a moving story around the theme of protecting those we love and preserving their memory.

How you ever read Anything by Joseph Coelho? Pause the video and have a discussion if you have and explain to your partner what those books were.

Have you read anything? If you haven't, then you can talk about which book you'd like to read first, the ones that we've just looked at.

Pause the video and have a discussion now.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at Aisha's example.

She says, "We have the book, 'Luna Loves Library Day' in our book corner!" Amazing, so maybe she hasn't read it yet, but it's in her book corner and something that she will be able to go and read as soon as possible.

Lucas says, "We've read the poem in class, 'If All the World Were Paper,' which is written by Joseph Coelho." Amazing.

In 2022, Joseph Coelho won the amazing title of Children's Laureate.

Can you say that with me? Children's Laureate.

Fantastic.

Now the Children's Laureate is an appointment made every two years to a writer to celebrate their exceptional talent.

It's a huge honour for a writer.

Previous Children's Laureates include Malorie Blackman, Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, and Cressida Cowell.

This is a real honour for a writer to receive, and Joseph Coelho received it in 2022.

In what year was Joseph Coelho made Children's Laureate? Is it A, 2020, B, 2022, or C, 2024? Pause the video and decide now.

Well done, welcome back.

I hope you all got this correct and you remembered that Joseph Coelho was made Children's Laureate in 2022.

Time for a task.

Write five questions that you would like to ask Joseph Coelho if you had the chance to interview him.

Consider what you've learned about him and his life in today's lesson to help you create questions to learn more.

You may want to use some question sentence starters like who, what, where, when, why, how.

These are all excellent ways to start a question.

So five questions that you would like to ask Joseph Coelho, if you had the chance to interview him.

Discuss these with your partner.

You could even work as a two and generate five questions between the two of you if you'd like.

Pause the video and have this discussion.

Generate your questions now.

And welcome back.

Let's have a look at some example questions that you might have generated.

How did living in a tower block inspire your poetry? Did you tell your friends and family that you were writing poetry in secondary school? That's really interesting, isn't it? Because he seemed reluctant to share his poetry, so maybe he didn't.

Which is your favourite poem you have written and why? How did you feel to be made Children's Laureate? What will you write about next? All excellent questions that you might have generated to ask Joseph Coelho.

Perhaps you could do some research to find out some of the answers to your questions.

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

Joseph Coelho is a British poet and children's author.

He is known for using engaging and emotive themes in his poetry such as identity, family and friendship.

In 2014, he had his very first poetry collection published called "Werewolf Club Rules." He was appointed Children's Laureate in 2022 to celebrate his exceptional talent.

Brilliant work today, you are now experts on the fabulous British poet Joseph Coelho.

I can't wait to explore some of his poetry with you very soon.