Use Michael Rosen’s piece No Breathing in Class to teach children how to use characterisation…
Writing is hard; writing poetry is even harder. You have a lot to think about: structure, rhythm, rhyme and so on. Creating scaffolds for children can help them to really concentrate on the words they are using rather than structure.
In this lesson plan, perfect for National Poetry Day, take the basic creative structure of a poem and edit it to create a new one.
Learning objectives
- Use indirect characterisation to add depth to a character
- Know what hyperbole is and use it in writing
- Write a poem based around a character’s personality
- Carefully select vocabulary and literary devices
No Breathing in Class
Show the class Michael Rosen performing No Breathing in Class on YouTube.
This poem sees the author take on the role of a man discussing his former teacher who was extremely strict.
Once you have watched the video, as the children what they know about the teacher depicted in the poem. Ask them how they know this.
After, discuss Michael Rosen’s use of indirect characterisation in No Breathing in Class. Ask children to pick out their favourite examples from the poem.
Get the children to imagine what sort of other things that teacher might do. How might they act and talk?
Look at all aspects of the character and their life, encouraging the children to depict them as accurately as the poem suggests.
As an extension, ask the children to identify any examples of direct characterisation in No Breathing in Class. Question whether the children think the direct or indirect characterisation is more powerful in describing the teacher.
Matthew Murray is a primary teacher based in Manchester and creator of the site 2 Stars and a Wish where he posts ideas for using songs, videos and poetry to teach literacy and guided reading.
