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English lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 minutes

Poem, play or prose? Spot the features

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RL.4.5England: Y3/4 Reading (poetry and play scripts)England: Y4 Reading

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Poem, play or prose? Spot the features.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: What kind of text is it? Fable, myth, biography, instructions…; Poems: rhyme, rhythm and repeated lines

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (What kind of text is it? Fable, myth, biography, instructions…; Poems: rhyme, rhythm and repeated lines). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which kind of text is this? A made-up story about the future, robots or space travel, based on science ideas. (science fiction / autobiography / fable / recipe) → science fictionPrompt: Is it true (non-fiction) or made up (fiction)?
  2. Splish, splash, into the bath! Splish, splash, hear me laugh! Bubbles here and bubbles there, Bubbles floating in the air. Which words are repeated at the start of two lines? (Splish, splash / Bubbles here / into the bath / hear me laugh) → Splish, splashPrompt: Rhyming words have the same sound at the end: cat, hat.
  3. Captain Zara pressed the glowing button. With a soft hum, the starship slipped through the wormhole and into a galaxy no human had ever seen. What kind of text is this? (science fiction / biography / fable / historical fiction) → science fictionPrompt: Is it true or made up?

Hook · 5 min

  • Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
  • Share the objective: Poem, play or prose? Spot the features. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: The beach was turning gold as the sun went down. Captain Rosa ordered her crew to pull the boat higher up the sand. Finn, gasping, complained that it was too heavy, so they counted to three and heaved together. Is this a poem, a play or prose?
  • Step 1: Poems, plays and prose are set out in different ways.
  • Step 2: It is a paragraph of sentences, with the speech reported by a narrator.
  • Step 3: So the answer is: prose
  • Answer: prose
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Maya peered into the box. It was empty. Joe insisted he had put the map there that morning, but there was no sign of it. Somewhere behind them, a door creaked, and they both froze. Is this a poem, a play or prose? (poem / play / prose) → prosePrompt: Look at how it is set out on the page.
  2. Choose the right word. The words a character speaks in a play are called… (stage directions / dialogue / a stanza / the cast) → dialoguePrompt: Think about what each kind of text looks like.

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. SCENE 2: A rocky beach at sunset. CAPTAIN ROSA: Pull the boat higher, crew! FINN: (out of breath) It's too heavy, Captain. CAPTAIN ROSA: Then we pull together. One, two, three! Is this a poem, a play or prose? (poem / play / prose) → playPrompt: Look at how it is set out on the page.
  2. Choose the right word. The words a character speaks in a play are called… (the cast / stage directions / a stanza / dialogue) → dialoguePrompt: Think about what each kind of text looks like.

Watch out for

  • Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
  • Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: What kind of text is it? Fable, myth, biography, instructions….
  • Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-4.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Poem, play or prose? Spot the features

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Choose the right word. A group of lines in a poem is called a…

    • A. verse (or stanza)
    • B. paragraph
    • C. cast
    • D. scene

The Drone at the Marsh (a play)

CAST: NIA, a young volunteer · AMIR, her older cousin · MRS HOLT, the nature reserve warden SCENE: A wooden bird hide at the edge of a marsh. Early morning. (NIA peers through binoculars. AMIR carries a small drone and a controller.) AMIR: (cheerfully) Watch this, Nia. I'll fly it over the reeds and film the whole marsh. NIA: (lowering the binoculars) Wait! The terns are nesting out there. AMIR: It's only a little drone. They won't even notice. (MRS HOLT enters, holding a clipboard.) MRS HOLT: Morning, both. Is that a drone? AMIR: (proudly) It has a 4K camera. MRS HOLT: (gently) Birds may think a drone is a hawk. If the parents fly off their nests, the eggs can get cold. NIA: So filming them could hurt them. (AMIR looks at the drone, then at the marsh. A pause.) AMIR: (quietly) I didn't know that. Could I film the car park instead, and show people where the hide is? MRS HOLT: (smiling) That would be very helpful.

  1. Question 2

    Read "The Drone at the Marsh (a play)". What are the words in brackets, such as (proudly) and (A pause.), called?

    • A. chapters
    • B. captions
    • C. verses
    • D. stage directions

  1. Question 3

    Robot, robot, tidy my room, sweep up the socks with your whirring broom. Robot, robot, don't eat my sweets! Robot, robot, wash the sheets! Is this a poem, a play or prose?

    • A. poem
    • B. play
    • C. prose

The Drone at the Marsh (a play)

CAST: NIA, a young volunteer · AMIR, her older cousin · MRS HOLT, the nature reserve warden SCENE: A wooden bird hide at the edge of a marsh. Early morning. (NIA peers through binoculars. AMIR carries a small drone and a controller.) AMIR: (cheerfully) Watch this, Nia. I'll fly it over the reeds and film the whole marsh. NIA: (lowering the binoculars) Wait! The terns are nesting out there. AMIR: It's only a little drone. They won't even notice. (MRS HOLT enters, holding a clipboard.) MRS HOLT: Morning, both. Is that a drone? AMIR: (proudly) It has a 4K camera. MRS HOLT: (gently) Birds may think a drone is a hawk. If the parents fly off their nests, the eggs can get cold. NIA: So filming them could hurt them. (AMIR looks at the drone, then at the marsh. A pause.) AMIR: (quietly) I didn't know that. Could I film the car park instead, and show people where the hide is? MRS HOLT: (smiling) That would be very helpful.

  1. Question 4

    Read "The Drone at the Marsh (a play)". Which feature shows that this is a play script?

    • A. it is written in rhyming verses
    • B. character names followed by their lines, and stage directions in brackets
    • C. it has numbered steps
    • D. it has a headline and a date

  1. Question 5

    Choose the right word. A play is usually divided into…

    • A. acts and scenes
    • B. stanzas and lines
    • C. chapters and captions
    • D. verses and rhymes

  2. Question 6

    Choose the right word. The words a character speaks in a play are called…

    • A. dialogue
    • B. stage directions
    • C. the cast
    • D. a stanza

  3. Question 7

    MAYA: (peering into the box) It's empty! JOE: It can't be. I put the map in there this morning. MAYA: Then someone has taken it. (A door creaks offstage. They both freeze.) Is this a poem, a play or prose?

    • A. poem
    • B. play
    • C. prose

  4. Question 8

    Under the streetlight, silver and slow, the snowflakes dance where the cold winds blow. They settle on rooftops, they settle on cars, they settle like sugar beneath the stars. Is this a poem, a play or prose?

    • A. poem
    • B. play
    • C. prose

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Answer key: Poem, play or prose? Spot the features

  1. 1. A. verse (or stanza)

  2. 2. D. stage directions

  3. 3. A. poem

  4. 4. B. character names followed by their lines, and stage directions in brackets

  5. 5. A. acts and scenes

  6. 6. A. dialogue

  7. 7. B. play

  8. 8. A. poem