English Reception Summer Funny Poems

1. Responding to rib-tickling rhymes
2. Patterns in poems
3. Capital letters
4. Two servings of Hey, Diddle, Diddle

1. What do you think?
2. All about me
3. Writing a My Name is... poem
4. Performing poetry

1. Rhyming my name
2. Pet school
3. Water, water everywhere
4. My name is...

1. Introduce Fantastic First Poems. Read My Sister (p.41) and A Boy Went Walking (p.90). What do poems look like? Identify rhymes in each poem. Say which is best, giving a reason.
2. Read Cats by Eleanor Farjeon (p.6) at least twice. How many of the places the cat slept can you remember? Which was the funniest place? Can you think of other funny places?
3. Re-read Cats. Then read the Hamilton Group Reader Animal Upsets (resources). What does the cat in the poem do? What do children think is the worst of the upsets caused by the animals? Why so?
4. Read first The Old Man of Peru then Higgledy-Piggledy Pop (both p.82). How could you make eating a shoe or a mop nicer? Fill the shoe with melted cheese, dip the mop in chocolate, etc.
5. Read Witch, Witch (p.91). Note the question-and-answer pattern to the poem. Reread each question, but this time children try to give their own funny answers. Can they rhyme them?

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Hey Diddle Diddle

Share both the traditional rhyme (resources) and Michael Rosen’s version of it from Fantastic First Poems (p.10) and rehearse at suitable times throughout the week, e.g. start/end of day.

Essential texts
The Fantastic Book of First Poems edited by June Crebbin

1. Making predictions
2. Rhyming pairs
3. Sequels and new stories
4. Composing lines for a new story

1. Making predictions
2. Matching pairs
3. Beginning a story
4. Completing a story

1. Funny animal story book nook
2. Habitat collage
3. Retelling the story
4. Rhyming portraits

1. After AL1. Show children Oi Frog! How many of the animals and their seats can children remember? Record ideas then re-read the story. Celebrate all the animals/seats children recalled.
2. Re-read Oi Frog! Do children feel sorry for the frog in the story? Why so? Do they feel sorry for the cat at all?
3. Before A3 Read Oi Dog!. pausing before the final page. What do children think the frog will say that frogs will sit on? Turn over and discover… sun loungers! Is it funnier because it doesn’t rhyme for a change?
4. Revisit Oi Dog! ‘You know the rules,’ says the Cat. What rules/ agreements do children follow at school or at home? Can they suggest funny seat rules for e.g. Year 1s? Year 1s sit on buns. Year 2s sit on loos, etc.
5. Review/ re-read both Oi Frog! and Oi Dog! Which are children’s favourite animal and seat combinations?

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Discuss how, in the Oi! books, animals sit on all sorts of funny things. Share and learn Little Miss Muffet (resources), enjoying the rhymes and talking about the ‘tuffet’ that Little Miss Muffet sits on. If time, also share This is the House that Jack Built (resources), noting its Oi!-comparable cumulative structure and focus on animals and rhymes.

Essential texts
Oi Frog by Les Grey and Jim Field
Oi Dog by Les Grey and Jim Field

1. Exploring characters
2. Sequencing A Little Bit of Colour
3. Speaking in stories
4. Settings in stories

1. Creating a character
2. Retelling A Little Bit of Colour
3. Speech balloon conversations
4. My favourite setting

1. Castle counting
2. Thomas and Daniel's dens
3. Rainbow flying high
4. Mrs Bakewell's cooking

1. Before AL 1 Read A Pet Fit for a King by Liss Norton. Discuss what ‘unusual’ means. Discuss each pet the King gets: which do children like the most and why?
2. Before AL2 Read and enjoy A Little Bit of Colour by Nancy Blishen. Discuss the sayings/idioms in the story that Thomas and Daniel don’t understand. Share further funny idiomatic sayings (resources).
3. Before AL3 Read Mrs Goat and Her Seven Little Kids by Tony Ross. What other stories with wolves or goats in them do children know. Are they funny too?
4. Re-read Mrs Goat and Her Seven Little Kids. Note the comparison descriptions used for Mrs Goat’s voice, her tail, etc. Children propose others: hair soft like silk, eyes bright like diamonds, etc.
5. Recall A Pet Fit for a King, A Little Bit of Colour and Mrs Goat and Her Seven Little Kids. Which do children think is the funniest story? Why? Re-read the story children think is best.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Sing a Song of Sixpence (resources)
Recall the King, animals, and food in A Pet Fit for a King. Introduce Sing a Song of Sixpence. Sing together at suitable times throughout the week, e.g. start/end of day. Help children learn the first two verses initially then build confidence with the next two till the whole rhyme is secure.

Essential texts
A Pet Fit for a King by Liss Norton
A Little Bit of Colour by Nancy Bilshen
Mrs Goat and her Seven Little Kids by Tony Ross