Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers - Poetry Comprehension - plastic pollution

4 whole class reading lessons for KS2 based on the poem Happiness from ‘Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers’, by Daniel Thompson.

A thought-provoking poem encouraging children to consider whether buying things can truly bring you happiness.

Whole class reading, paired reading, additional opportunity for children to write their own poem about plastic pollution, Q&A with the author

Reading Skills foci: summarising the main message of the poem, looking at the impact of rhythm, rhyme and word choices on delivering the message of the poem, word’splore (exploring word choices), performing the poem, imitating the poet’s style by recreating their own poem.

37-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDFs, plus a PDF copy of the poem.

Poem included.

Recommended for age 8+

Lesson 1
Firstly, learn more about Daniel Thompson or skip to the Q and A’s at the end of the PowerPoint to learn more about what inspires him to write poetry. Then pre-teach some key vocabulary to increase pupil engagement with the text. Next, read the text together so children can discuss their responses to key questions and work together to summarise each verse.

Lesson 2
This lesson focuses on the poet’s style. Using practical challenges, children work together to discuss how to use words and phrases effectively to reinforce key ideas.

Lesson 3
As children have previously explored the poem on a deeper level, this lesson gives children the opportunity to perform the poem, focusing on intonation, tone, volume and actions.

Lesson 4
Finally, children can use a similar structure to create their own poem about plastic pollution.

For more poetry lessons explore our website, My Teaching Hive.