New
New
Year 5

First impressions and engaging with 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare

I can reflect on my first impressions of a poem.

New
New
Year 5

First impressions and engaging with 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare

I can reflect on my first impressions of a poem.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Listeners was written by Walter de la Mare in 1912
  2. Walter de la Mare was born in April 1873 in England
  3. The Listeners describes the actions of a Traveller who knocks on the door of a seemingly deserted home at night
  4. Walter de la Mare's poetry tends to explore themes of imagination, childhood, and the mysterious or supernatural

Keywords

  • Poet - A poet is a writer who uses verse to convey emotions.

  • Poem - A poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings or ideas.

  • Walter de la Mare - Walter de la Mare is an English poet. His poetry often explores themes of imagination and fantasy.

  • Supernatural - Supernatural beings include gods, giants, magic and other mystical, ancient elements.

  • Stanza - A stanza is a group of lines within a poem, often separated by line breaks. Stanzas contribute to a poem’s organisation and structure.

Common misconception

Pupils may be confused by some of the antiquated language. This might impact reading fluency.

Encourage pupils to use reading strategies to support them in their initial understanding of the poem.

During the tasks, generate some possible questions verbally, modelling thinking out loud. This will support pupils in creating their own questions.
Teacher tip

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.
Which of the following front covers are likely to be poetry collections?
Correct answer: Rhythm and Poetry
Correct answer: Happy poems
Wonder
Crater Lake
Q2.
What is a suitable definition of poetry?
informational books that cover a wide range of topics
Correct answer: writing that uses creative & rhythmic language to express thoughts and feelings
longer stories divided into chapters
traditional stories passed down through generations
Q3.
True or False? A poem must be a certain length.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q4.
In poetry, what do we call a group of lines that form a unit in a poem?
paragraph
chapter
Correct answer: stanza
Correct answer: verse
Q5.
Match the poetry feature with its definition.
Correct Answer:theme,central idea or message conveyed by the poem

central idea or message conveyed by the poem

Correct Answer:emotion,evokes feelings and moods through language and tone

evokes feelings and moods through language and tone

Correct Answer:structure,organised arrangement of lines, stanzas and verses

organised arrangement of lines, stanzas and verses

Correct Answer:symbolism,use of symbols to represent deeper meanings

use of symbols to represent deeper meanings

Correct Answer:rhyme,correspondence of sounds, often at the end of lines

correspondence of sounds, often at the end of lines

Q6.
Which of the following are features you might expect to find in a poem?
a specific form
Correct answer: symbolism
Correct answer: rhyme
Correct answer: alliteration
a specific length
Q1 image 1 Rhythm and Poetry, Karl Nova, Caboodle Books Limited Q1 image 2 Happy Poems: A Poetry Collection to Make You Smile!, Roger McGough, Macmillan Children's Books Q1 image 3 Wonder, R J Palacio, Corgi Children's Q1 image 4 Crater Lake, Jennifer Killick, Firefly Press

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their definition.
Correct Answer:poet,a writer who uses verse to convey emotions

a writer who uses verse to convey emotions

Correct Answer:poem,writing that uses creative language to express thoughts

writing that uses creative language to express thoughts

Correct Answer:Walter de la Mare,an English poet, born in 1873

an English poet, born in 1873

Correct Answer:supernatural,magic and other mystical, ancient elements

magic and other mystical, ancient elements

Correct Answer:stanza,a group of lines within a poem, usually separated by breaks

a group of lines within a poem, usually separated by breaks

Q2.
Which of the following is true of a poet?
can control how a reader engages with their work
guarantees all readers will understand their work in the same way
Correct answer: writes and sometimes performs poetry
Correct answer: draws inspiration from the world around them
Correct answer: uses language to express themselves in a creative or artistic way
Q3.
True or False? Walter de la Mare wrote lots of poems with themes of the supernatural.
Correct Answer: True, true
Q4.
Which of the following are texts written by Walter de la Mare?
Correct answer: Out of the Deep
The owl who was afraid of the dark
Correct answer: The Surreal and Supernatural Stories
Correct answer: Short Stories for Children
Q5.
Match the following dates to the event that happened in Walter's life.
Correct Answer:1873,Born in Charlton, Kent

Born in Charlton, Kent

Correct Answer:1935,Awarded Order of Merit

Awarded Order of Merit

Correct Answer:1899,Married Constance Elfrida Ingpen

Married Constance Elfrida Ingpen

Correct Answer:1956,Died in Twickenham, London

Died in Twickenham, London

Q6.
Walter de la Mare lived from 1873 to 1956. Select the key historical events that he lived through.
Correct answer: The First World War
The Rise of Ancient Greek Civilisation
Correct answer: The Second World War
Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the Moon

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