Ready Steady Read Together
Collected Poems for Children: Poetry Lesson 2
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
What do you know and think?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
B) How does Bert’s hobby get more and more out of control?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
My Brother Bert
Pets are the Hobby of my brother Bert.
He used to go to school with a Mouse in his shirt.
His Hobby it grew, as some hobbies will,
And grew and GREW and until –
GREW
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard.
A simply appalling thing has occurred –
The very thought makes me iller and iller:
Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
If you think that’s really not such a scare,
What if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear?
You still think you could keep your head?
What if the Lion from under the bed
And the four Ostriches that deposit
Their football eggs in his bedroom closet
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
And the Aardvark out of his bottom drawer
All danced out and joined in the Roar?
What if the Pangolins were to caper
Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats
That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus
Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus –
How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Not to forget the Bandicoot
Who would certainly peer from his battered old boot.
Why it could be a dreadful day,
And what Oh what would the neighbours say!
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
appalling
deposit
quarrels
caper
rumpus
battered
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
appalling
Explore
Find Read Talk
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard.
A simply appalling thing has occurred –
The very thought makes me iller and iller:
Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
appalling
Your turn
quarrels
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
deposit
caper
rumpus
battered
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
My Brother Bert
Reveal Vocabulary
Pets are the Hobby of my brother Bert.
He used to go to school with a Mouse in his shirt.
His Hobby it grew, as some hobbies will,
And grew and GREW and until –
GREW
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard.
A simply appalling thing has occurred –
The very thought makes me iller and iller:
Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
If you think that’s really not such a scare,
What if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear?
You still think you could keep your head?
What if the Lion from under the bed
And the four Ostriches that deposit
Their football eggs in his bedroom closet
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
And the Aardvark out of his bottom drawer
All danced out and joined in the Roar?
Reveal Vocabulary
What if the Pangolins were to caper
Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats
That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus
Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus –
How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Not to forget the Bandicoot
Who would certainly peer from his battered old boot.
Why it could be a dreadful day,
And what Oh what would the neighbours say!
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
What if the Pangolins were to caper
Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats
That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus
Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus –
How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
What did you notice?
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
What if the Pangolins were to caper
Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats
That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus
Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus –
How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
What if the Pangolins were to caper
Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats
That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus
Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus –
How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard.
A simply appalling thing has occurred –
The very thought makes me iller and iller:
Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
Reveal Explainer
‘Don’t breathe a word’ and ‘pretend you haven’t heard’ shows that Bert’s sibling does not want people to find out about Bert’s hobby. He or she may be embarrassed or worried about all the animals in the house and wants others to keep it a secret.
Teach
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
B) How does Bert’s hobby get more and more out of control?
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - a simply appalling thing has occurred – the very thought makes me iller and iller: Bert’s brought home a gigantic gorilla - if you think that’s really not such a scare, what if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear
shocked or afraid
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
Text Mark Evidence - you still think you could keep your head - what if the Lion…and the four Ostriches…and the Aardvark…all danced out and joined in the Roar - how they would shake the house with their Rumpus
overwhelmed by the noise and chaos
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence why it could be a dreadful day, and what Oh what would the neighbours say
embarrassed/worried about people finding out
Practise & Apply
Text Mark Evidence he used to go to school with a Mouse in his shirt…his Hobby it grew, as some hobbies will, and grew and grew and grew
starts small but grows quickly
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla - what if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear - what if the Lion from under the bed… joined in the Roar
larger and more dangerous animals
B) How does Bert’s hobby get more and more out of control?
Text Mark Evidence - the four Ostriches that deposit their football eggs in his bedroom closet - the fifty sorts of Bats that hang on his hatstand like old hats
larger quantities of animals
Text Mark Evidence - the Aardvark out of his bottom drawer - Pangolins were to caper out of the nests behind the wallpaper - out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus - the Bandicoot who would certainly peer from his battered old boot
animals are taking over Bert’s room
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence the Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – how they would shake the house with their Rumpus
more exotic and chaotic animals
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘battered’?
Match Me
Match each word to its correct definition:
3 deposit
4 caper
1 appalling
2 quarrel
A place or keep somewhere safe
D argue or disagree
B frolic or dance about
C shocking or terrible
Click if correct
Check
Tick Me
Why it could be a dreadful day,
And what Oh what would the neighbours say!
Tick the answer which best completes the sentence.The word ‘dreadful’ suggests that...
Tick one
A Bert’s hobby is harmless.
B Bert’s hobby is frightening.
Check
C Bert’s hobby is boring.
Click if correct
D Bert’s hobby is funny.
Link Me
Link each animal with its hiding place in the poem.
1 Ostrich
A behind the wallpaper
2 Aardvark
B in a battered boot
3 Pangolin
C in the bottom drawer
Check
4 Platypus
D inside a shoebox
Click if correct
5 Bandicoot
E in the bedroom closet
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
memorise a poem.
Reveal
Practise reciting a favourite poem from memory.
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.
RSRT Y3 L2 Collected Poems for Children
Literacy Counts
Created on September 1, 2025
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Urban Illustrated Presentation
View
3D Corporate Reporting
View
Discover Your AI Assistant
View
Vision Board
View
SWOT Challenge: Classify Key Factors
View
Explainer Video: Keys to Effective Communication
View
Explainer Video: AI for Companies
Explore all templates
Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
Collected Poems for Children: Poetry Lesson 2
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
What do you know and think?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
B) How does Bert’s hobby get more and more out of control?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
My Brother Bert
Pets are the Hobby of my brother Bert. He used to go to school with a Mouse in his shirt.
His Hobby it grew, as some hobbies will, And grew and GREW and until –
GREW
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard. A simply appalling thing has occurred –
The very thought makes me iller and iller: Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
If you think that’s really not such a scare, What if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear?
You still think you could keep your head? What if the Lion from under the bed
And the four Ostriches that deposit Their football eggs in his bedroom closet
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
And the Aardvark out of his bottom drawer All danced out and joined in the Roar?
What if the Pangolins were to caper Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Not to forget the Bandicoot Who would certainly peer from his battered old boot.
Why it could be a dreadful day, And what Oh what would the neighbours say!
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
appalling
deposit
quarrels
caper
rumpus
battered
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
appalling
Explore
Find Read Talk
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard. A simply appalling thing has occurred – The very thought makes me iller and iller: Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
appalling
Your turn
quarrels
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
deposit
caper
rumpus
battered
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
My Brother Bert
Reveal Vocabulary
Pets are the Hobby of my brother Bert. He used to go to school with a Mouse in his shirt.
His Hobby it grew, as some hobbies will, And grew and GREW and until –
GREW
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard. A simply appalling thing has occurred –
The very thought makes me iller and iller: Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
If you think that’s really not such a scare, What if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear?
You still think you could keep your head? What if the Lion from under the bed
And the four Ostriches that deposit Their football eggs in his bedroom closet
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
And the Aardvark out of his bottom drawer All danced out and joined in the Roar?
Reveal Vocabulary
What if the Pangolins were to caper Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Not to forget the Bandicoot Who would certainly peer from his battered old boot.
Why it could be a dreadful day, And what Oh what would the neighbours say!
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
What if the Pangolins were to caper Out of the nests behind the wallpaper? With the fifty sorts of Bats That hang on his hatstand like old hats, And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus? The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
What did you notice?
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
What if the Pangolins were to caper Out of the nests behind the wallpaper?
With the fifty sorts of Bats That hang on his hatstand like old hats,
And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus?
The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus –
How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
What if the Pangolins were to caper Out of the nests behind the wallpaper? With the fifty sorts of Bats That hang on his hatstand like old hats, And out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus Along with the Ocelot or Jungle-Cattypus? The Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – How they would shake the house with their Rumpus!
Explore
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
Oh don’t breathe a word, pretend you haven’t heard. A simply appalling thing has occurred – The very thought makes me iller and iller: Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla!
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
Reveal Explainer
‘Don’t breathe a word’ and ‘pretend you haven’t heard’ shows that Bert’s sibling does not want people to find out about Bert’s hobby. He or she may be embarrassed or worried about all the animals in the house and wants others to keep it a secret.
Teach
From: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
B) How does Bert’s hobby get more and more out of control?
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - a simply appalling thing has occurred – the very thought makes me iller and iller: Bert’s brought home a gigantic gorilla - if you think that’s really not such a scare, what if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear
shocked or afraid
A) How does Bert’s sibling feel about his hobby?
Text Mark Evidence - you still think you could keep your head - what if the Lion…and the four Ostriches…and the Aardvark…all danced out and joined in the Roar - how they would shake the house with their Rumpus
overwhelmed by the noise and chaos
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence why it could be a dreadful day, and what Oh what would the neighbours say
embarrassed/worried about people finding out
Practise & Apply
Text Mark Evidence he used to go to school with a Mouse in his shirt…his Hobby it grew, as some hobbies will, and grew and grew and grew
starts small but grows quickly
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - Bert’s brought home a gigantic Gorilla - what if it quarrels with his Grizzly Bear - what if the Lion from under the bed… joined in the Roar
larger and more dangerous animals
B) How does Bert’s hobby get more and more out of control?
Text Mark Evidence - the four Ostriches that deposit their football eggs in his bedroom closet - the fifty sorts of Bats that hang on his hatstand like old hats
larger quantities of animals
Text Mark Evidence - the Aardvark out of his bottom drawer - Pangolins were to caper out of the nests behind the wallpaper - out of a shoebox the excitable Platypus - the Bandicoot who would certainly peer from his battered old boot
animals are taking over Bert’s room
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence the Wombat, the Dingo, the Gecko, the Grampus – how they would shake the house with their Rumpus
more exotic and chaotic animals
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘battered’?
Match Me
Match each word to its correct definition:
3 deposit
4 caper
1 appalling
2 quarrel
A place or keep somewhere safe
D argue or disagree
B frolic or dance about
C shocking or terrible
Click if correct
Check
Tick Me
Why it could be a dreadful day, And what Oh what would the neighbours say!
Tick the answer which best completes the sentence.The word ‘dreadful’ suggests that...
Tick one
A Bert’s hobby is harmless.
B Bert’s hobby is frightening.
Check
C Bert’s hobby is boring.
Click if correct
D Bert’s hobby is funny.
Link Me
Link each animal with its hiding place in the poem.
1 Ostrich
A behind the wallpaper
2 Aardvark
B in a battered boot
3 Pangolin
C in the bottom drawer
Check
4 Platypus
D inside a shoebox
Click if correct
5 Bandicoot
E in the bedroom closet
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
memorise a poem.
Reveal
Practise reciting a favourite poem from memory.
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes © 2005 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.