Exploring themes of love in 'You Are' and 'Mum Says She Loves Me'
I can read and reflect on poetry about love.
Exploring themes of love in 'You Are' and 'Mum Says She Loves Me'
I can read and reflect on poetry about love.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- ‘You Are’ &‘Mum Says She Loves Me’ are both poems written by Valerie Bloom; each poem is accompanied by an illustration.
- Metaphors are used in the poem ‘You Are’; they are a way of comparing something by saying that it is something else.
- ‘Mum Says She Loves Me’ is a poem that offers a different perspective on the theme of love.
- One way we can reflect on a poem and its themes, is to think about our own personal response to it.
Keywords
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a text
Imagery - the use of language to create a mental picture or sensory experience for the reader or listener
Metaphor - a way of describing and comparing something by saying that it is something else
Common misconception
Pupils may initially think that 'Mum Says She Loves Me' is a poem which conveys a negative emotion.
'Mum Says She Loves Me' depicts love in a different family structure. This does not mean that the love is any less than the love depicted in 'You Are'.
To help you plan your year 5 english lesson on: Exploring themes of love in 'You Are' and 'Mum Says She Loves Me', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 english lesson on: Exploring themes of love in 'You Are' and 'Mum Says She Loves Me', 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 Poetry about personal experiences unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2021 Otter Barry edition of ‘Stars with Flaming Tails’ written by Valerie Bloom, illustrated by Ken Wilson Max for this lesson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended