• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Theme). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. The new boy didn't speak English yet. At first, Sam ignored him. Then they discovered they both loved football, and soon they didn't need many words at all. What is the theme? (Friendship can grow across differences. / New pupils should stay quiet. / Learning English is easy. / Football is the best sport.) → Friendship can grow across differences.Prompt: What big idea about life does the text explore?
2. The king had gold, jewels and a hundred rooms, yet he was lonely. The poor shepherd had only a hut, but his family filled it with laughter. What is the theme? (Love matters more than wealth. / Huts are small. / Shepherds are poor. / Kings are cruel.) → Love matters more than wealth.Prompt: What big idea about life does the text explore?

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Poetry forms: sonnet, haiku, limerick, ballad, free verse…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which poetry term matches this description? A funny five-line poem with the rhyme scheme AABBA.
• Step 1: Poetic forms are defined by length, rhyme, rhythm and purpose.
• Step 2: limerick: A funny five-line poem with the rhyme scheme AABBA.
• Step 3: So the answer is: limerick
• Answer: limerick
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which poetry term matches this description? A funny five-line poem with the rhyme scheme AABBA. (ballad / quatrain / limerick / free verse) → limerickPrompt: Think about the number of lines, the rhyme pattern, and the purpose (to praise, to mourn, to tell a story, to amuse).
2. Which poetic form is this? (/ shows a new line) Cold rain on the roof / a cat curls on the warm stove / the kettle whispers (ode / sonnet / limerick / haiku) → haikuPrompt: Count the lines and check whether they rhyme.

• 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.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Which poetic form is this? (/ shows a new line) Cold rain on the roof / a cat curls on the warm stove / the kettle whispers (ballad / ode / limerick / haiku) → haikuPrompt: Count the lines and check whether they rhyme.
2. Which poetry term matches this description? A poem that tells a story, often in four-line stanzas, and was traditionally sung. (elegy / ballad / sonnet / couplet) → balladPrompt: Think about the number of lines, the rhyme pattern, and the purpose (to praise, to mourn, to tell a story, to amuse).

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-8.