Forms of Poetry and Performance

CONCEPTUAL

English›Reading Comprehension|Ages 7—10|ID: mt_gR5_n99Ntt

Recognise different forms of poetry (free verse, narrative poetry, haiku) and discuss their features; prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and perform with understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action

Mastery Evidence

Name at least two different forms of poetry and describe a feature of each (e.g., 'narrative poetry tells a story', 'free verse does not have a regular rhyme or rhythm')
Recognise the form of a given poem and explain how you identified it (e.g., 'This is a narrative poem because it has characters and a plot')
Prepare and perform a poem or play script extract showing understanding through changes in intonation, volume, and expression

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] reads a poem aloud, do they change their voice to match the mood — reading excitedly for a lively poem or quietly for a sad one — rather than reading it flat?”

Curriculum Standards4 alignments

Eng.UKS2.Read.Comp.1gThe national curriculum in England

Learn poetry by heart

Maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by learning a wider range of poetry by heart.

English · Key Stage 2

Eng.UKS2.Read.Comp.1hThe national curriculum in England

Prepare poems and plays for performance

Maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by preparing poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience.

English · Key Stage 2

Eng_LKS2_Read_Comp_6The national curriculum in England

Prepare poems and play scripts

Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action

English · Key Stage 2

Eng_LKS2_Read_Comp_8The national curriculum in England

Recognise forms of poetry

Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by recognising some different forms of poetry [for example, free verse, narrative poetry]

English · Key Stage 2

Prerequisites2

Reading with Expression and Accuracy
hardAges 6—10
Writing Poetry
softAges 6—7

Show full prerequisite tree

Reading with Expression and Accuracy hard
Poetry performance requires expressive reading/prosody skills
- Building sentences soft
  Understanding sentence structure supports expressive phrasing
- Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
  Wider GPC knowledge supports fluent reading
  - Consonant Digraphs hard
    Must know consonant digraphs before learning alternative consonant GPCs
    - Single Letter Sounds hard
      Must know single letters before digraphs
      - Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
  - Vowel Digraphs hard
    Must know common vowel digraphs before learning alternative representations
    - Single Letter Sounds hard
      Must know single letter sounds before vowel digraphs
      - Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
  - Single Letter Sounds hard
    Must know single letter sounds before learning alternatives
    - Knowing all letters hard
      Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
      - Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
  - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
    Alternative GPCs build on basic blending ability
    - Single Letter Sounds hard
      Need GPC knowledge to blend
      - Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
    - Onsets & Rimes hard
      Phoneme awareness needed for blending
      - Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
      - Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
- Reading fluently hard
  Expressive reading builds on basic reading fluency
  - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
    Must be able to decode before fluency
    - Single Letter Sounds hard
      Need GPC knowledge to blend
      - Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
    - Onsets & Rimes hard
      Phoneme awareness needed for blending
      - Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
      - Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
  - Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight hard
    Need sight word bank for fluency
    - Knowing all letters hard
      Need to recognise letters to read sight words
      - Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
    - Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
      Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
      - Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
Writing Poetry soft
Poetry writing Y2 provides foundation for recognising poetry forms
- Rhyming words hard
  Rhyme awareness is essential for writing poetry
- Expressive and Sensory Language soft
  Recognising literary language supports writing poetry
  - Discussing and Questioning New Words soft
    Context clues support understanding literary language
  - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
    Recognising literary language requires listening comprehension of stories/poetry
  - Shades of Meaning soft
    Shades of meaning support appreciating literary word choices
    - Sorting & Categorising Words soft
      Categorisation supports understanding shades of meaning
      - How Many in Total? soft
        Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Writing Process Vocabulary soft
  Writing poetry draws on 'compose', 'pattern', and 'genre' vocabulary
- Saying Sentences Before Writing Them soft
  Oral rehearsal supports composing poems aloud
  - Describing Aloud soft
    Oral description supports oral rehearsal
    - Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
      Oral expression skills support understanding formality in speech
    - Group discussions soft
      Conversational skills support oral description
      - Listening and responding hard
        Listening and responding foundational to conversation
      - Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
        Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
        
        Feeling of not understanding soft
        Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
        
        Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
  - Building sentences hard
    Need to understand sentences for oral rehearsal
  - Writing Process Vocabulary hard
    Oral composition requires vocabulary like 'compose', 'sentence', and 'sequence' to participate meaningfully in the exercise
- Reciting Poetry soft
  Reciting poems supports writing poetry — understanding performance element
  - Describing Aloud hard
    Reciting/presenting builds on Y1 oral description/expression
    - Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
      Oral expression skills support understanding formality in speech
    - Group discussions soft
      Conversational skills support oral description
      - Listening and responding hard
        Listening and responding foundational to conversation
      - Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
        Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
        
        Feeling of not understanding soft
        Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
        
        Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
  - Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
    Articulating opinions supports presentation skills

Unlocks2

Poems, Drama & Prose
hardAges 9—10
Poetic forms and conventions
hardAges 11—14