Dreambox – Reading and Writing
Reading and Writing Sessions 11
READING AND WRITING – Understanding Poetry
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, you will


Read poetry and prose with feeling
Recognise rhythym patterns, stress patterns, pausing and linking devises
Introduction
In today’s class we’re going to read and discuss a number of poems.
TASK 1 – Horace
So to begin with, let’s look at one of my favourite poems, ‘Horace’. But first, do you
know what these words mean?
thighs
eyeballs
prawns
deep-fried
tartar sauce
liver
lights
lung
scoff
stew
spleen
haggis
Now that you’ve finished that, can you put these words into TWO groups according to
the topic that they are connected to?
Group 1
Group 2
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
TASK 2 – Horace
Horace
Much to his Mum and Dad's dismay
Horace ate himself one day.
He didn't stop to say his grace,
He just sat down and ate his face.
"We can't have this” his Dad declared,
"If that lad's ate, he should be shared."
But even as he spoke they saw
Horace eating more and more:
First his legs and then his thighs,
His arms, his nose, his hair, his eyes...
"Stop him someone!" Mother cried
"Those eyeballs would be better fried!"
But all too late, for they were gone,
And he had started on his dong...
"Oh! foolish child!" the father mourns
"You could have deep-fried that with prawns,
Some parsley and some tartar sauce..."
But H. was on his second course:
His liver and his lights and lung,
His ears, his neck, his chin, his tongue;
"To think I raised him from the cot
And now he's going to scoff the lot!"
His Mother cried: "What shall we do?
What's left won't even make a stew..."
And as she wept, her son was seen
To eat his head, his heart, his spleen.
And there he lay: a boy no more,
Just a stomach, on the floor...
None the less, since it was his
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
They ate it - that's what haggis is.
Monty Python
Thinking about Horace
So first of all read the poem to yourself and then think about the questions below?
1. Are there any words that you still don’t know?
2. Are there any words that you don’t know how to pronounce?
3. What kind of poem do you think it is? Is it serious? Is it sad? Is it a nonsense
poem? Is funny?
4. Do you like it? Does it make you laugh? Does it make you feel ill?
5. How does the writer make the poem rhyme?
6. Which words rhyme?
7. How many syllables are there in each line?
8. How do you think this should be read? Slowly? Or quickly?
Now, with a partner I want you to practice reading this out loud. Make sure that you read
it quickly and in a lively way.
TASK 3 – Analysing a different kind of poem
Look at this picture which introduces the next poem that
we shall read.
1. Who is the lady in the picture?
2. Where is she?
3. How would you describe the look on her face?
4. What do you think she is thinking about?
5. What do you think the poem will be about?
6. Do you think it will be funny like ‘Horace’?
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
Okay, now read the poem on the next page and see if you were right?
Now that you’ve read it, were your predictions correct?
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TASK 4 – An Old Woman
This poem is very different from the first one that we read but in what ways. Work with a
partner and make a list of how ‘An Old Woman’ is different from ‘Horace’.
Now, are there any words that you don’t know? Before we move on, make a list below
and we can discuss them.
Finally, like before, read it out loud with a partner and this time pay attention to:

the speed of your voice

the tone of your voice

the flow of the words
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
TASK 5 – William Shakespeare
Look at the pictures below. Can you label them?
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
TASK 5 – The Seven Ages of Man
The Seven Ages of Man
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel,
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
William Shakespeare (from As You Like It)
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
1. Can you identify the Seven Ages of Man in Shakespeare’s poem?
2. Are the words and the language the same as you are used to reading?
3. What’s different about them?
4. Why do you think this is?
5. Are there any words that you don’t know but you might be able to guess the
meaning of?
TASK 5 – William Shakespeare
Finally, who was William Shakespeare? Use the computers or your mobile phone and
each of you try to find out the answers to these questions:
1. Name three of Shakespeare’s nicknames? Can you guess which one is most
commonly used?
2. What would you say his job was?
3. Do historians know much about Shakespeare’s early life?
4. Where was he born and what did his father do?
5. Who were the ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Men and who was Robert Greene?
6. What was the name of the theatre that Shakespeare and his partners built?
7. Was Shakespeare a good businessman? Give a reason for your answer.
8. What were the ‘lost years’?
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Dreambox – Reading and Writing
9. Shakespeare’s writing style used:
b _ _ _ _ v _ _ _ _,
p _ _ _ _ _ and
s_____ p____
10. What were most of his early plays
about?
11. Name two of Shakespeare’s
comedies.
12. What type of play are Hamlet and
Macbeth?
13. Did Shakespeare die on his
birthday?
14. What does the Oxford Society think about Shakespeare?
15. Why do you think his plays are still so popular?
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