This engaging bundle of five whole-class reading sessions develops children’s understanding and enjoyment of classic poetry, while strengthening their reading fluency and comprehension.

Each lesson includes the complete poem on illustrated reading sheets and an accompanying 12-slide PowerPoint, providing a varied sequence of reading, discussion and performance activities.

The five lessons are:
1.) The Owl and the Pussy-Cat - Edward Lear
2.) The Swing - Robert Louis Stevenson
3.) Who Has Seen the Wind? - Christina Rossetti
4.) From a Railway Carriage - Robert Louis Stevenson
5.) The Duck and the Kangaroo - Edward Lear

Each session includes a vocabulary check to clarify unfamiliar language, followed by activities developing retrieval, explanation, inference, comparison, sequencing and summarising skills. Quick-check questions, solo thinking, partner discussions and deeper-thinking challenges encourage children to justify their answers with evidence. Opportunities for reading aloud and performance build confidence and help bring each poem to life.

Suggested answers, support prompts and teacher guidance are provided in the slide notes. All five Word reading texts and PowerPoint presentations are fully editable. The complete texts of all five public-domain poems are included.

Best suited to Year 2, the sessions can also be used with Year 1 children through supported shared reading and discussion. Ideal for introducing classic poetry and developing children’s confidence in reading, discussing and performing poems.