Ready Steady Read Together
Out There in the Wild: Poetry Lesson 4
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?
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens... Thought it was a secret weapon...
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
B) Which words or phrases does the poet use to hint at the immense number of lantern fish?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Follow as I read
Explore
Lantern Fishes
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens
Thought it was a secret weapon,
A fiendish plot to make them think
the sea floor had moved upwards.
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –
Like where blue whales have left their babies
Or how long sunfish live –
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night,
And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Even now we know just what it is,
It’s still mysterious.
It is the biggest movement on the planet,
A mass, mass, mass migration of little fish,
Too shaped by deep to survive where we can see them;
In our world, they exist in jars,
Pickled on museum shelves
Deader than a tinned sardine.
Yet, in the twilight zone,
They are star-studded galaxies,
Whose slow gyrations
Shape our world as surely as the sun and moon.
Lantern fish are the most numerous vertebrates on the planet. Every night countless billions of them migrate from deep waters, and come closer to the surface to feed, then return at dawn, depositing millions of megatonnes of carbon onto the sea floor in their poo. Their effect on our atmosphere and climate is huge and only just starting to be understood.
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
sonar
phenomenon
fiendish plot
mass migration
pickled
gyrations
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. 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
sonar
Explore
Find Read Talk
Lantern Fishes
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens
Thought it was a secret weapon,
A fiendish plot to make them think
the sea floor had moved upwards.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
sonar
Your turn
fiendish plot
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
phenomenon
mass migration
pickled
gyrations
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Lantern Fishes
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens
Thought it was a secret weapon,
A fiendish plot to make them think
the sea floor had moved upwards.
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –
Like where blue whales have left their babies
Or how long sunfish live –
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night,
And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
Even now we know just what it is,
It’s still mysterious.
It is the biggest movement on the planet,
A mass, mass, mass migration of little fish,
Too shaped by deep to survive where we can see them;
In our world, they exist in jars,
Pickled on museum shelves
Deader than a tinned sardine.
Yet, in the twilight zone,
They are star-studded galaxies,
Whose slow gyrations
Shape our world as surely as the sun and moon.
Lantern fish are the most numerous vertebrates on the planet. Every night countless billions of them migrate from deep waters, and come closer to the surface to feed, then return at dawn, depositing millions of megatonnes of carbon onto the sea floor in their poo. Their effect on our atmosphere and climate is huge and only just starting to be understood.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –Like where blue whales have left their babies
Or how long sunfish live –
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night,
And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
What did you notice?
Volume
Pace
Smoothness
Phrasing
Expression
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –
Like where blue whales have left their babies
Or how long sunfish live –
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night,
And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –Like where blue whales have left their babies
Or how long sunfish live –
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night,
And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Main Point
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
What's the main idea of the text?
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens Thought it was a secret weapon, A fiendish plot to make them think the sea floor had moved upwards.
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
Reveal Explainer
This shows that the sailors did not understand what they were seeing. Sonar is used to measure distance or to detect objects (like enemy submarines) underwater. Because the mysterious movement of the lantern fish was so large and unusual, they believed it might be something dangerous, like a hidden weapon. This confusion helps to create a sense of mystery, showing that the migration in the ocean was difficult for people to explain at first.
Teach
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. 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 the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
B) Which words or phrases does the poet use to hint at the immense number of lantern fish?
Pairedreading first
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence a fiendish plot to make them (sailors) think the sea floor had moved upwards
caused confusion amongst sailors
Text Mark Evidence it was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps
uses personification to describe the ocean as secretive
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
Text Mark Evidence - vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere - a phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise
the size and scale of the movement is unbelievable
Text Mark Evidence - even now we know just what it is, it’s still mysterious - their effect on our atmosphere and climate is huge and only just starting to be understood
the event is still not understood fully
Text Mark Evidence they (lantern fish) are star-studded galaxies
metaphor comparing the fish to mysterious places in space
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence whose slow gyrations shape our world as surely as the sun and moon
suggests the small fish impact upon our world greatly
Text Mark Evidence vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence a layer moving from the depths of every ocean
Text Mark Evidence as big as tides or sunrise
B) Which words or phrases does the poet use to hint at the immense number of lantern fish?
Text Mark Evidence the biggest movement on the planet
Text Mark Evidence they are star-studded galaxies
Text Mark Evidence most numerous vertebrates on the planet
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence countless billions of them
Text Mark Evidence depositing millions of megatonnes of carbon…in their poo
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘resist’?
Which One's Right?
They are star-studded galaxies,
Whose slow gyrations
Shape our world as surely as the sun and moon.
Which answer best completes the sentence?
The word ‘gyrations’ suggests that as the lantern fish swim, they are…
A) staying together in a group.
B) moving in circular patterns.
D) moving with the tide.
C) drifting aimlessly.
Find Me
Find two words which can be used to describe an event that is ‘unusual or hard to explain’:
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night,
And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Even now we know just what it is,
It’s still mysterious.
1 Discuss then check
2 Discuss then check
phenomenon
mysterious
Link Me
Link each poetic feature with its example from the poem:
1) alliteration
A) Sailors squinting at their sonar screens...
2) hyperbole
B) It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps...
3) metaphor
C) A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise...
Check
4) personification
D) It is the biggest movement on the planet…
Click if correct
5) simile
E) They are star-studded galaxies...
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
join a book club.
Reveal
Talk to others about books you've read to get new perspectives.
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: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.
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Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
Out There in the Wild: Poetry Lesson 4
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?
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens... Thought it was a secret weapon...
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
B) Which words or phrases does the poet use to hint at the immense number of lantern fish?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Follow as I read
Explore
Lantern Fishes
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens Thought it was a secret weapon, A fiendish plot to make them think the sea floor had moved upwards. It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps – Like where blue whales have left their babies Or how long sunfish live – But this one was bigger, Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere: A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night, And sinking with the dawn. A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Even now we know just what it is, It’s still mysterious. It is the biggest movement on the planet, A mass, mass, mass migration of little fish, Too shaped by deep to survive where we can see them; In our world, they exist in jars, Pickled on museum shelves Deader than a tinned sardine. Yet, in the twilight zone, They are star-studded galaxies, Whose slow gyrations Shape our world as surely as the sun and moon.
Lantern fish are the most numerous vertebrates on the planet. Every night countless billions of them migrate from deep waters, and come closer to the surface to feed, then return at dawn, depositing millions of megatonnes of carbon onto the sea floor in their poo. Their effect on our atmosphere and climate is huge and only just starting to be understood.
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
sonar
phenomenon
fiendish plot
mass migration
pickled
gyrations
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. 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
sonar
Explore
Find Read Talk
Lantern Fishes
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens Thought it was a secret weapon, A fiendish plot to make them think the sea floor had moved upwards.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
sonar
Your turn
fiendish plot
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
phenomenon
mass migration
pickled
gyrations
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
Lantern Fishes
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens Thought it was a secret weapon, A fiendish plot to make them think the sea floor had moved upwards. It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps – Like where blue whales have left their babies Or how long sunfish live – But this one was bigger, Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere: A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night, And sinking with the dawn. A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
Even now we know just what it is, It’s still mysterious. It is the biggest movement on the planet, A mass, mass, mass migration of little fish, Too shaped by deep to survive where we can see them; In our world, they exist in jars, Pickled on museum shelves Deader than a tinned sardine. Yet, in the twilight zone, They are star-studded galaxies, Whose slow gyrations Shape our world as surely as the sun and moon.
Lantern fish are the most numerous vertebrates on the planet. Every night countless billions of them migrate from deep waters, and come closer to the surface to feed, then return at dawn, depositing millions of megatonnes of carbon onto the sea floor in their poo. Their effect on our atmosphere and climate is huge and only just starting to be understood.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –Like where blue whales have left their babies Or how long sunfish live – But this one was bigger, Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere: A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night, And sinking with the dawn. A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
What did you notice?
Volume
Pace
Smoothness
Phrasing
Expression
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –
Like where blue whales have left their babies Or how long sunfish live –
But this one was bigger,
Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere:
A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night, And sinking with the dawn.
A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps –Like where blue whales have left their babies Or how long sunfish live – But this one was bigger, Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere: A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night, And sinking with the dawn. A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise.
Explore
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Main Point
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
What's the main idea of the text?
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
Sailors squinting at their sonar screens Thought it was a secret weapon, A fiendish plot to make them think the sea floor had moved upwards.
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
Reveal Explainer
This shows that the sailors did not understand what they were seeing. Sonar is used to measure distance or to detect objects (like enemy submarines) underwater. Because the mysterious movement of the lantern fish was so large and unusual, they believed it might be something dangerous, like a hidden weapon. This confusion helps to create a sense of mystery, showing that the migration in the ocean was difficult for people to explain at first.
Teach
From: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025. 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 the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
B) Which words or phrases does the poet use to hint at the immense number of lantern fish?
Pairedreading first
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence a fiendish plot to make them (sailors) think the sea floor had moved upwards
caused confusion amongst sailors
Text Mark Evidence it was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps
uses personification to describe the ocean as secretive
A) How does the poet create the theme of mystery when describing the lantern fish?
Text Mark Evidence - vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere - a phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise
the size and scale of the movement is unbelievable
Text Mark Evidence - even now we know just what it is, it’s still mysterious - their effect on our atmosphere and climate is huge and only just starting to be understood
the event is still not understood fully
Text Mark Evidence they (lantern fish) are star-studded galaxies
metaphor comparing the fish to mysterious places in space
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence whose slow gyrations shape our world as surely as the sun and moon
suggests the small fish impact upon our world greatly
Text Mark Evidence vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence a layer moving from the depths of every ocean
Text Mark Evidence as big as tides or sunrise
B) Which words or phrases does the poet use to hint at the immense number of lantern fish?
Text Mark Evidence the biggest movement on the planet
Text Mark Evidence they are star-studded galaxies
Text Mark Evidence most numerous vertebrates on the planet
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence countless billions of them
Text Mark Evidence depositing millions of megatonnes of carbon…in their poo
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘resist’?
Which One's Right?
They are star-studded galaxies, Whose slow gyrations Shape our world as surely as the sun and moon.
Which answer best completes the sentence? The word ‘gyrations’ suggests that as the lantern fish swim, they are…
A) staying together in a group.
B) moving in circular patterns.
D) moving with the tide.
C) drifting aimlessly.
Find Me
Find two words which can be used to describe an event that is ‘unusual or hard to explain’:
But this one was bigger, Vast in fact, huge, enormous, everywhere: A layer moving from the depths of every ocean, every night, And sinking with the dawn. A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise. Even now we know just what it is, It’s still mysterious.
1 Discuss then check
2 Discuss then check
phenomenon
mysterious
Link Me
Link each poetic feature with its example from the poem:
1) alliteration
A) Sailors squinting at their sonar screens...
2) hyperbole
B) It was a secret, just one of many that the ocean keeps...
3) metaphor
C) A phenomenon as big as tides or sunrise...
Check
4) personification
D) It is the biggest movement on the planet…
Click if correct
5) simile
E) They are star-studded galaxies...
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
join a book club.
Reveal
Talk to others about books you've read to get new perspectives.
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: Out There in the Wild by James Carter, Dom Conlon & Nicola Davies © 2025 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.