Duration
60 mins / Theme
Waste / Subject focus
English – Poetry / Age group
UKS2
Resources required
  • Mrs Scott’s Stinkin’ Stanza – example limerick
  • Note paper

Adult Support
  • Support children to reorder sentences to satisfy rhythmic meter

Follow up activities
  • Other Poo Patrol materials

Learning outcomes (differentiated)

MUST Use a limerick rhyme structure to tell a humorous tale

SHOULDUse a number of limerick features to construct a humorous poem

COULD Write an effective limerick, selecting from the most appropriate features.

Starter

As part of the ‘Poo Patrol’ mission to free the pavements of toxic poop, bright stencils have been made to draw people’s attention to the issue. The stencil will be placed next to the offending foul and sprayed in chalk paint. This aims to deter that owner, and others, from leaving their mark again.

What would yours say?

It must be catchy, inoffensive and persuasive. Examples may include: ‘Party Pooper!’, ‘Scoop that poop!’, ‘Pavements for shoes, not poos!’ ‘Who’s doggie dunnit?’ etc. Share ideas with class.

Main activity

Model the limerick style of poem to the class.

There was once a canine called Blaster,

Who had a careless and arrogant master.

Wherever he dropped one,

Poo bags – there were none –

Just a pavement and trainer disaster.

Explore features that make this speedy style of poetry fun to write and effective to read.

-Synonyms (canine, dropped one)

-Rhyme (AABBA)

-Sentence re-ordering to fit (line 4)

-Rhythm/patter

-One sentence/storyline that hangs together telling one short message

-Humour!

Invite children to work individually or in pairs to create their own dog poo limerick. It could be a plea to dog owners, the tale of someone who’s had the misfortune of treading in dog waste, or from the point of view of the dog. Use the above list of features as success criteria so children can identify what they have included in their own.

Plenary

Stand up and perform those stinky stanzas! Peer evaluate effectiveness of features used.

Extension tasks

  • Examine more closely the metric structure of a limerick (anapestictrimeter) and assess own limerick against rhythmic criteria

Actions before next lesson

  • Display limericks
  • Perform in assembly
  • Associated artwork

Reflective notes

Curriculum links
Y5&6 – English
Reading – comprehension
Pupils should be taught to:
-maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:
  • preparing poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience
  • continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
-understand what they read by:
  • identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
-discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
Writing – transcription
Pupils should be taught to:
-Use a thesaurus
Writing – Composition
Pupils should be taught to:
-plan their writing by:
  • identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own
-draft and write by:
  • selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
-evaluate and edit by:
  • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
  • proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning