Just One Thing

Learning Intention

I am learning to discuss the way authors shape the reader’s reaction in texts such as riddles.

Success Criteria

I can:

• identify clues in a riddle 
• analyse the clues to identify the subject of the riddle 
• create clues about an animal
• include my clues in a poem
• edit my poem to ensure it rhymes.

Essential knowledge

Inform students that riddles are types of poems, that often rhyme, and that they provide clues that require readers to identify the subject matter.

View What is a Riddleungroup from BBC Bitesize for further information. 

Introduction

View Not So Hard Riddles,ungroup from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and select one of the riddles, for example: 

Where do fish keep their money? 

Discuss words you might associate with those in the riddle, and list ideas on the board: 

For example: 

• Fish: swim, shark, water, river
• Money: bank, coins, notes, moneybox

Discuss possible answers before revealing the correct one, a riverbank. 

Teacher modelling (I do)

5 minutes

Read the beginning of Just One Thing to the students or listen to the audio version if you prefer, up to the end of the line:

when I get fed

Note, do not allow students to view the accompanying illustration for now. 

List the following clues and discuss possible ideas for each of the clues, for example: 

• Slow to remember and quick to forget (chickens are known for being forgetful)
• Low maintenance/easy care (mice, birds, cats don’t need much care)
• Don’t need walking (lizards, snakes, cats all don’t need to be walked)
• Don’t need a bed (stick insects live on leaves) 
• Relaxed about when get fed (insects as they have a supply of food with leaves) 

Discuss students' predictions for what the pet may be. 

Read the remainder of the riddle or listen to the audio file. Discuss further clues and use the think-aloud strategy to consider possible ideas for each of the clues, for example: 

Live in a bowl (A fish) 

Need H2O (Emphasise that H2O is water so this must be a fish)

Refer back to the earlier clues and make explicit how to connect them all together, for example, forgetful, low maintenance, don’t need walking or a bed, live in a bowl filled with water, must be a goldfish. 

Discuss the fact that the author chose to save the final two clues till the end. Emphasise that these clues in particular make it obvious the pet is a fish, and therefore the author delayed revealing these until the end to maintain the element of surprise. 

Guided practice (we do)

10 minutes

Identify the rhyming pattern in the poem, ensuring students note it follows an ABAC rhyme scheme. Place students with a partner and instruct them to take turns reading the poem aloud. Use the following guiding questions to reflect on the impact of the rhyme scheme:

• How does the rhyme impact the reading of the poem? (It creates flow and rhythm)
• What is the purpose of the poem? (To entertain, to create humor and interest) 
• How does the rhyme impact the purpose? (It makes the poem entertaining and interesting) 

Inform students that they will be experimenting with creating a riddle about a pet, and that the poem should include clues to help readers to identify the type of pet the riddle is about. Discuss animals that students have as pets, such as dogs or cats. Include any animals that aren’t usually kept as pets but that might be amusing to include in a riddle, such as elephants or crocodiles. 

Jot ideas as a list for students to refer to later. 

Select one animal, such as a crocodile. Create a mind-map on the board, noting everything students know about crocodiles, for example: 

• They catch their own food 
• They are large 
• They can live in dirty water 
• They can run quickly
• Their bite is incredibly powerful

Refer back to the poem and emphasise how the features of the animal have been written in relation to what they are like to keep as a pet, for example, low maintenance. Use the ideas on the mind map to create statements about what type of pet a crocodile might make, for example: 

• No need to worry about feeding them
• You won’t lose them as they’re so big
• You don’t need to clean their home/low maintenance 
• Good for playing chase with 
• Useful for bursting hard to open cans.

Use these ideas in a poem, in the style of a riddle. Note, the poem can be edited later for rhyme if you wish. For example: 

This easy-care pet, 

Can finds its own food,

And if you don’t clean, 

It won’t get in a mood. 

It’s so very big, 

It can never get lost.

But if you don’t like playing chase, 

It might get cross. 

And when you struggle, 

With an un-openable can, 

Throw it to your pet, 

Who will crush it open. 

But be careful when swimming, 

In its watery home,

‘Cos its dinner you’ll be, 

Eaten faster than foam.  

Independent activity (you do)

20 minutes

Tell students that they will be composing their own riddles. Students may work in pairs or independently for this task. Display the following list of instructions for them to complete when composing their riddles:

• Select an animal from the list
• Identify features of the animal
• Compose statements about the type of pet it would make, that can be used as clues
• Compose a riddle
• Edit for rhyme 
• Save the most obvious clues for the end.

Differentiation

For students requiring support, collaboratively compose a list of clues about some of the animals from the list. These can be prepared in advance if preferred. 

Instruct students to organise these into a riddle. 

Provide students with rhyming dictionaries for them to edit the lines to make them rhyme. Students could also be provided with a bank of relevant rhyming words if required. 

Assessment

Place students in small groups and instruct them to share their riddles. For each of the riddles, students should identify the following: 

• Their favourite clue
• The most obvious clue that helped reveal what the animal is to readers

Instruct students to complete the following sentences in their workbooks as an exit ticketungroup: 

• When composing riddle poems, authors include the following: (Sample response: Clues about the subject matter, saving the most obvious clues until the end, lines that rhyme)
• Rhyme is used in riddles because: (Sample response: It can help to create rhythm, interest and humour)