Year 2
Poetry
Unit 2
Really looking
Lesson 2
Lesson 2What is a star?
Learning objectives
Vocabulary
• To listen and respond to a poem based on simile
and metaphor and, in response, to write a
simple descriptive poem using simile.
Technical: adjective, answer, comparison,
description, indented, line, metaphor, poem,
question, question mark, sentence, simile
• (Child-friendly version) I can write a poem with
similes and metaphors in it.
Topic: crown, diamond, feather, glittering, jewel,
Milky Way, silver, snowflake, sparkling, stars
Resources
Possible learning outcomes
Essential
• To discover comparisons.
• Activity Sheet 2a ‘Star shapes’
• To use similes and metaphors.
• PowerPoint presentation P2 L2 Star – onscreen
version of ‘Star shapes’ poem
National Framework references
Year 2, Term 2: T8, T9 read own poems aloud;
identify and discuss patterns of rhythm, rhyme and
other features of sound in different poems;
T10 comment on and recognise when reading
aloud if a poem makes sense and is effective;
• Books about stars and the Milky Way
• IWB or whiteboard
Enrichment
• An illustrated book on flowers
• Dark backing paper
T11 identify and discuss favourite poems and
poets, using appropriate terms;
• Silver pens
T15 use structures from poems as a basis for
writing.
Cross-curricular links
Science – this lesson links to work on stars and planets
(Units 1D Light and Dark, 5E Earth, sun and moon).
Overview of lesson
The children will listen and respond to a poem about
stars. They will then talk about stars – their colour
and shape and so on – then explore comparisons. You
can model a poem using simile called ‘What is a star?’
The children can then write individual poems based
on three or four similes.
Activities
• Sit the children in a tight, closed circle. Read aloud
Activity Sheet 2a ‘Star shapes’. Give the children
some thinking time, then ask them to respond
and discuss what the poem is about. Use the
PowerPoint presentation if you need to display it
onscreen.
• Discuss what kind of comparisons the poet has used
and explore her ideas – a feather, a jewel, a snowflake.
Which do the children think is best? Why?
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• Look at the way the poem is set out. The second
and fourth lines are indented to give it a pattern on
the page. Talk about this idea.
• Ask the children to close their eyes and imagine
the brightest stars they have ever seen. When they
open their eyes, they should keep a picture of stars
in their head. Encourage them to describe the stars
they are seeing in their mind’s eye, concentrating on
colour and shape – for example, yellow, silver, gold,
spiky, round, sparkly. Go round the circle, giving as
many children as possible the chance to contribute.
• Explain that, like the poet, we can compare a star to
something else. We explore not what it is, but what
it looks like, using image or simile – a star is like a
jewel, a flower, a sweet, a snowflake, a tear. (Remind
children that a simile is a comparison of one thing
to another.) Invite any number of comparisons,
suggesting that there are no right or wrong
© LCP Ltd 2008. Copies may be made for use within the purchasing institution only.
Literacy
Year 2
Poetry
Unit 2
Really looking
Lesson 2
ideas. This can be quite a competitive activity, so
encourage everyone to take part.
• On the whiteboard, scribe the title ‘What is a
star?’ Explain to the children that the poem will
answer the question in the title. (Emphasise that
the question mark tells us that we have asked a
question.) Remind the children that they are poets
wearing an imaginary ‘poet’s hat’, so they are not
looking for a scientific explanation, but for what
they feel a star looks like.
• Take suggestions from the children – for example,
A star is like a flower. Ask: What kind of flower?
Encourage them to think about yellow or white
flowers, such as buttercup, celandine and daisy,
using the book on flowers, if necessary.
• Model your poem, using some of the children’s
comparisons or similes. For example:
What is a star?
A star is like a buttercup
• Move on to extending the simile. This can prove
quite complicated, as the children have to hold
on to two ideas simultaneously – the star is like a
buttercup, but it’s still a star, so it grows or dances
in the night.
• The model poem will look something like this:
What is a star?
A star is like a buttercup
growing in the sky OR dancing in the dark.
A star is like a diamond
glittering in the night OR shining on the world.
A star is like an eye
looking down from heaven.
• Now suggest that children work in groups. Each
group will write a star poem using four different
similes, with or without extension, depending on
the ability of the group. Congratulate the children
on their work.
Extension activities
• Read aloud and share the completed poems.
• For the best effect, display the final versions of the
children’s poems using silver pen on black paper.
Plenary
• Discuss the children’s finished poems. Have
the children used imaginative and adventurous
language? Have they understood that simile is
comparison by another name?
Differentiation
Less challenging – Encourage the children to work on
simple statements – for example, A star is like a lemon
drop.
More challenging – Explain that it is possible to turn
a simile into a metaphor by dropping the word like, as
in the poem ‘Star shapes’. Instead of A star is like an
eye… (simile), the sentence becomes A star is an eye/
looking down from heaven… (metaphor). Invite these
children to transform the similes in their poems into
metaphors.
Evaluation
Literacy
© LCP Ltd 2008. Copies may be made for use within the purchasing institution only.
365
Year 2
Poetry
Unit 2
Really looking
Name:
Lesson 2
Activity Sheet 2a
Date:
Star shapes
A star is a feather
from a dove’s wing.
It’s a silver yo-yo
bouncing on a string.
A star is a teardrop
falling down night’s face.
It’s a milky snowflake
patterned like lace.
A star is a jewel
in the Queen’s crown.
It’s a hole in the sky
to let angels look down.
(by Moira Andrew)
366
© LCP Ltd 2008. Copies may be made for use within the purchasing institution only.
Literacy