Reading and responding to 'Miss Flotsam' by Joseph Coelho
I can give a personal response to the poem and read it aloud.
Reading and responding to 'Miss Flotsam' by Joseph Coelho
I can give a personal response to the poem and read it aloud.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Joseph Coelho’s poems are easy to read and engaging, with playful rhythms and subjects that young readers can relate to.
- Joseph Coelho often writes poems about his personal experiences.
- The poem ‘Miss Flotsam’ is inspired by the teachers Coelho had when growing up and those he has met as an adult.
- The poem depicts ‘Miss Flotsam’ as a kind, understanding and caring teacher, who has an inclusive approach to teaching.
- Alliteration can be used to emphasise key themes and draw the reader’s attention to important parts of a poem.
Keywords
Alliteration - the repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a text
Common misconception
Pupils may find some of the language in the poem difficult to understand.
Pre-teach some of the language in the poem before reading e.g. "adolescent", "gamelan", "dengue" and "dialects".
To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Reading and responding to 'Miss Flotsam' by Joseph Coelho, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Reading and responding to 'Miss Flotsam' by Joseph Coelho, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 english lessons from the Poet focus: Joseph Coelho unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the poem ‘Miss Flotsam’, which is in the 2014 Frances Lincoln Children's Books edition of ‘Werewolf Club Rules’ by Joseph Coelho, for this lesson.