New
New
Year 2

Performing your own imaginative poem

I can perform my own imaginative poem.

New
New
Year 2

Performing your own imaginative poem

I can perform my own imaginative poem.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Performing poetry to an audience is an important part of the process of creating poetry.
  2. When performing poetry, you must speak at a suitable volume.
  3. Using gestures and expression will make your performance fun and engaging for the audience.
  4. We can improve our performances of poetry through practice.

Keywords

  • Performance - refers to the act of presenting or reciting a poem in front of an audience

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

  • Volume - the loudness or softness of the voice when speaking or reading a poem

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

Common misconception

Pupils may think that performing poetry is something that does not require rehearsal and careful consideration beforehand.

Teach pupils that to have the greatest impact on the audience, you should look through your poem and consider how you will perform it.

You may wish to show your class videos of poets performing their poems. Michael Rosen performing 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' is a good example to use.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need a copy of the poem ‘The Magic Box’ which is in the 2013 Macmillan Children's Books edition of ‘The Magic Box’ written by Kit Wright 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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6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? Structure in poetry refers to the way a poem is organised or put together.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q2.
A __________ is a single line or a group of lines within a poem.
title
Correct answer: verse
rhyme
Q3.
True or false? In Kit Wright's poem 'The Magic Box', the first verse starts with a line where the poet says that he will put something in the box.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q4.
In verse 2, what items does Kit Wright put into the special box?
Correct answer: a “snowman” who has come to life
a dog chewing a ball
Correct answer: a sip of water from a beautiful lake in Switzerland
Q5.
True or false? The second verse follows exactly the same structure as the first verse, with an identical first line.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q6.
Contrasting items means comparing two things that are very ...
similar.
Correct answer: different.
large.

6 Questions

Q1.
After reading and writing our poems, the final thing to do is to __________ our poem to an audience.
write
send
Correct answer: perform
Q2.
True or false? An audience is a group of people gathered together to watch or listen to a performance.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q3.
True or false? Performance in poetry refers to the act of presenting or reciting a poem in front of a mirror.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q4.
Which of these do we use to enhance our impact on an audience when performing poetry?
our handwriting
Correct answer: our voice
Correct answer: our gestures
Q5.
__________ refers to the loudness or softness of the voice when speaking or reading a poem.
Correct answer: Volume
Gesture
Expression
Q6.
__________ is a movement that helps express an idea or meaning.
The volume
Correct answer: A gesture
An expression