Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Writer's craft sequence

Stir, Stir, Stir!

Repetition and rhythm

Lesson 10 of 12
Year 4 45 min

Objective

Recognise repetition and rhythm used for effect, say what they add, tell them from accidental repetition, and use them in poems, chants and stories.

Board title: Repetition and rhythm  ·  Say it: “By the end of today you'll be able to use repetition and rhythm on purpose, and hear the difference.”

Curriculum

  • Y3/4: reading — recognising some different forms of poetry; preparing poems to read aloud with intonation
  • Y3/4: composition — composing and rehearsing sentences orally; choosing words for effect
  • Y5/6: performing poems, using intonation, tone and volume (built on)
  • Terminology: repetition · rhythm · beat · refrain · effect

Success criteria

  • spot repetition used for effect
  • say what it makes you feel
  • clap the rhythm of a line
  • fix a boring repeat

Key vocabulary

repetition · rhythm · beat · refrain · chant · effect

Run of the lesson

4 min
Starter on the board: We waited and waited. against We waited. Which feels longer? One minute of paired talk.
8 min
Model Example 1 and 2. Say each one out loud and clap it; then say it without the repeat and ask what is lost.
6 min
The trap: Then we ate. Then we played. Repetition by accident. Fix one line together.
6 min
Flavour Match on the whiteboard, Medium band, Level 10 then Level 11. Say each one out loud before choosing.
18 min
Worksheet, independent. Task 2 needs reading aloud: the boring repeats only show up when you hear them.
3 min
Plenary: Polpetta's flat chant, clapped and fixed together, then the class quiz for REPTD on the board.
On screenSPAGhetti → Flavour Match → Medium. Play Level 10 (which one repeats for effect?) then Level 11 (finish the beat); both are open from the start. ~10 items in 6 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Writer's craft sequence · Lesson 10 of 12  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Stir, Stir, Stir! · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game. Clap a beat; pairs invent a kitchen chant to fit it and perform it with a repeating last line. The lesson works with no screen at all.
If they're on devicesLesson code REPTD (on the worksheet footer) opens Flavour Match on Medium, with the two repetition levels open. For writing, set Cook Up a Story and ask for one line that repeats for effect.

Misconceptions to watch for

Any repeat is repetition for effect. Then... then... then... is repetition by accident. It is only a device when it makes the reader feel something: time passing, speed, fear, fun.

More repeats are better. Three is usually enough. Repeat a word ten times and it stops meaning anything.

Rhythm is only for poems. Stories have rhythm too: short sentences speed things up (He ran. He jumped. Gone.), long ones slow them down.

A refrain is a rhyme. A refrain is a line that comes back, like the chorus of a song. It does not have to rhyme.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: Clap every line together before writing. Give a frame: __, _, __! (Chop, chop, chop!) and a bank of sound words.
  • Stretch: Write a four-verse kitchen song with a refrain, then perform it and explain where the repetition goes and why.
  • SEN: Gentle mode on. Use movement: stir, chop and tap as you say the lines, so the beat is in the body as well as the ears.
  • EAL: Chants and refrains are a great way into English rhythm. Compare chants and clapping games from home languages.

Play it

Lesson code REPTD at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Writer's craft sequence · Lesson 10 of 12  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora