Humbert Wolfe was an Italian-born British poet who was popular in the 1920s. His poem ‘Green Candles’ is a brilliant poem for teaching direct speech. 

Lesson 1

In our first lesson, the children were introduced to the poem 'Green Candles' by Humbert Wolfe.

'There's someone at the door,' said gold candlestick:

'Let her in quick, let her in quick!'
'There is a small hand groping at the handle.
Why don't you turn it?' asked green candle.
'Don't go, don't go,' said the Hepplewhite chair,
'Lest you find a strange lady there.'
'Yes, stay where you are,' whispered the white wall:
'There is nobody there at all.'
'I know her little foot,' grey carpet said:
'Who but I should know her light tread?'
'She shall come in,' answered the open door,
'And not,' said the room, 'go out any more.'

They were given pieces of the poem slowly and made predictions and inferences throughout reading. 

The children then wrote taster drafts, where they took a section from the original poem and continued it on using the author's style and voice. 

Here is a selection of children who completed some fantastic taster drafts:

Lesson 2

In the next lesson, the children read the poem again and analysed it using a Radial Layout. A Radial Layout focusses on one main question, in this case 'How has Wolfe made his poem 'Green Candles' dramatic?' 

The children then answer small questions that build up to answer the main question. They are expected to write in full sentences and use the word 'because' to explain why they think something. 

Here is a fantastic example by Felix in Biscay class.

 

Lesson 3

In our next lesson, we focused on how to use accurate speech punctuation. The children had to imagine they were continuing on the poem from the perspective of the furniture when the little girl is actually in the room. 

The children came up with some fantastic ideas about what each piece of furniture would say, all while remaining in the style of Humbert Wolfe.  

 

Lesson 4

What a fun morning this was! The children learnt the poem by heart and created some actions to accompany it. They then performed their dramatic reading in groups and blew all the adults away! 

Here are just a few videos of our morning!

Lesson 5

In our final lesson of the unit, the children came into school to a BIG surprise! The classroom furniture had gone on strike!

This stimulus allowed the children to imagine what the furniture and stationary we have in the classroom might say about us. For example, how would our glue sticks feel about constantly having their lids left off?

The children decided that they would make amends by writing a poem in the style of Humbert Wolfe about how the furniture feels when all the children come into school in the morning. 

They were so imaginative and creative with their poems. We were so impressed!