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Year 2

Reading and responding to 'Please Mrs Butler' by Allan Ahlberg

I can give a personal response to the poem and perform it.

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New
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Year 2

Reading and responding to 'Please Mrs Butler' by Allan Ahlberg

I can give a personal response to the poem and perform it.

Download all resources
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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Allan Ahlberg is one of Britain’s most popular and successful children’s writers and is known for his fun storytelling.
  2. ‘Please Mrs Butler’ is a poem about a child asking their teacher for help.
  3. ‘Please Mrs Butler’ is written as a conversation between two characters and can be performed in a pair.
  4. Performing a poem using expression and gestures will help to express to an audience how a character is feeling.

Keywords

  • Character - a person or animal in a piece of fiction writing

  • Expression - reading with feelings and emotion to bring the poem to life

  • Gesture - a movement that helps express an idea or meaning

Common misconception

Pupils may find it hard to work together as a pair to perform the poem.

Teach pupils that performing 'Please Mrs Butler' as a pair will help to create the scene and express how the characters are feeling. Model with another adult how to work together to perform and react to what the other one is saying.

You may wish to read some of Allan Ahlberg's other poems or share some of his many books with your class.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need a copy of the poem ‘Please Mrs Butler’ in the 1984 Puffin edition of ‘Please Mrs Butler: The Timeless School Poetry Collection’ written by Allan Ahlberg for this lesson.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these poets wrote the poem 'Home Time'?
James Carter
Correct answer: Rachel Rooney
John Foster
Q2.
True or false? Perspective is the point of view or position from which the poet writes.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q3.
True or false? The poem 'Home Time' is written from the perspective of a classroom bin.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q4.
__________ is a way of describing a non-living thing as if it acts or feels like a human.
Personality
Correct answer: Personification
Simile
Q5.
Which of these words taken from the poem 'Home Time' means 'strong disapproval or disappointment'?
Correct answer: "disgrace"
"relief"
"teacher"
Q6.
In the poem 'Home Time', why is the clock relieved?
Correct answer: Because the children have all left.
Because the children are making lots of noise.
Because the children can tell the time.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? Allan Ahlberg was born in Croydon, but grew up in a town called Oldbury, which is near Birmingham.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q2.
Which of these were jobs that Allan Ahlberg tried after leaving school?
Correct answer: postman
Correct answer: plumber's assistant
hairdresser
Correct answer: gravedigger
Q3.
True or false? Allan Ahlberg is known for his fun storytelling.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q4.
Allan Ahlberg created a lot of books with his wife Janet. He wrote the books and she __________ them.
published
edited
Correct answer: illustrated
Q5.
Which of these books were created by Allan and Janet Ahlberg?
Correct answer: 'Funnybones'
'Matilda'
Correct answer: 'The Jolly Postman'
Correct answer: 'Peepo'
Q6.
The poem 'Please Mrs Butler' is written as a __________ between two characters.
personification
Correct answer: conversation
game