KS2 English textbook

Chapter 9: Reading poetry and plays

Strand Reading
Level Year 5
Practice 83 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 5. Content: Explain how language, figurative language and structure create effects (RC-Y5g, RC2f), Identify poetry features: rhythm, rhyme and stanzas, and learn a poem by heart (RC-Y5h), Recognise poetry forms: free verse, narrative poems, haiku, limericks and sonnets (RC1h), Recognise play-script features: character names, stage directions, dialogue and scenes (RC-Y5i), Prepare and perform poems and scenes, and discuss words and phrases that capture the reader's interest (RC1f, RC1g, SL3).

Open Year 5 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

Find rhythm, rhyme and stanzas in a poem
Name a simile, a metaphor, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia
Explain the effect of a figurative word or phrase
Recognise haiku, limericks, free verse, narrative poems and sonnets
Read a play script and say what its parts are for
Prepare a short scene or poem to perform

You should already know

Rhyme and rhythm in poetry (Year 4, Chapter 9)
Simile and expanded noun phrases (Year 4, Chapter 9)

Where this leads

Reading non-fiction: retrieving, summarising and fact or opinion (Chapter 10 of this book)

Lessons in this chapter

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).

Practise with real exam questions

The DfE publishes every past KS2 test, with mark schemes, for free.

KS2 English past papers