Reading and responding to 'The Snow Leopard' by Philip Gross
I can give my personal response to the poem, including some evidence to justify my ideas.
Reading and responding to 'The Snow Leopard' by Philip Gross
I can give my personal response to the poem, including some evidence to justify my ideas.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The poem describes the snow leopard as an elusive and majestic animal that lives in remote regions.
- The poem can be described as a fixed verse poem; It consists of thirteen two-line verses and two single line verses.
- The poem uses enjambment to affect the pacing of the poem.
- Imagery is used in the poem to convey the sights and sensations of the encounter between the snow leopard and the tahr.
- We can respond to a poem by writing a personal response to it.
Keywords
Enjambment - when a line in poetry continues onto the next line without pause or punctuation, creating a sense of flow
Alliteration - the repetition of the same sound found at the start of words that come close together
Interpretation - the process of understanding and assigning meaning to a poem
Personal response - reflections that we make about a poem after reading or listening to it
Common misconception
Pupils may expect alliteration to be when words are placed next to one another.
Alliteration also includes words that are placed close together. Pupils could text mark a copy of the poem to identify cases where the poetic device is used in the poem.
To help you plan your year 5 english lesson on: Reading and responding to 'The Snow Leopard' by Philip Gross, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 english lesson on: Reading and responding to 'The Snow Leopard' by Philip Gross, 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.
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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 inspired by animals unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the poem ‘The Snow Leopard’ which is featured on pages 18-20 in the 2018 Otter Barry edition of ‘Dark Sky Park’ written by Philip Gross illustrated by Jesse Hodgson for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
repetition of the same sound at the start of words that are close
the process of understanding and assigning meaning to a poem
reflections that we make about a poem after reading or listening to it
balance and grace
loose rock debris on a steep slope or at the base of a cliff
brave, courageous, or spirited