Collected Resources

Tiny Tim

This is a re-telling of a traditional poem which has been through several iterations since the Victorian era.  Simple and rhythmical, it allows children to read with ease and also makes an excellent rhyme for them to learn off by heart.  The illustrations will make them laugh!

1. How many?
2. Japanese netsuke hedgehogs
3. Rum's adventures
4. Run like Rum!

1. Invent a funny word
2. What rhymes?
3. Hide and seek
4. Tell me a joke

1. Dad and the cat and the tree
2. My cat...
3. My name is...
4. Today I feel...

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.

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.