Planning and Activities
Poetry
English Year 5 Spring Poems on a Theme
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Using the classic Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, develop children’s mastery of descriptive language, teach relative clauses and parenthesis and write own poems.
Start with the core unit to introduce key texts. Then select from comprehension, SPAG and composition units.
Unit 1 Core: Introduction to T.S. Eliot’s Cats Poems
(suggested as 5 days)
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Poems
The Naming of Cats (in resources)
The Old Gumbie Cat (in resources)
Optional Texts
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and Axel Scheffler, Faber and Faber
Websites
The Naming of Cats from www.YouTube.com
The Old Gumbie Cat from www.YouTube.com
Cats the Musical from www.YouTube.com
Unit 2 SPAG: Pronouns, relative pronouns and relative clauses
(suggested as 3 days)
Planning and Activities
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
You Will Need
Poems
Old Deuteronomy (in resources)
Optional Texts
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and Axel Scheffler, Faber and Faber
Presentations
SPAG PowerPoint: Pronouns, relative pronouns and relative clauses
Unit 3 Composition: Read Eliot’s poems and use as writing stimuli
(suggested as 4 days)
Planning and Activities
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Poems
Macavity: The Mystery Cat by T.S. Eliot (in resources)
The Rum Tum Tugger by T.S. Eliot (in resources)
Optional Texts
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and Axel Scheffler, Faber and Faber
Macavity: The Mystery Cat by T.S. Eliot, illustrated by Arthur Robins
Unit 4 SPAG: Parenthesis: Commas, dashes and brackets
(suggested as 3 days)
Planning and Activities
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
You Will Need
Poems
Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat by T.S. Eliot (in resources)
Optional Texts
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and Axel Scheffler, Faber and Faber
Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat by T.S. Eliot, illustrated by Arthur Robins
Presentations
SPAG PowerPoint: Parenthesis: Commas, Brackets and Dashes
Unit 5 Composition: Write poems based on those read in ‘Practical Cats’
(suggested as 4 days)
