Knight and Day

Learning intentions:

I am learning to identify the correct spelling and meanings of words that are homophones so that I can use them appropriately in my writing, but also to make my writing more fun and interesting.

Success criteria:

• I can identify the use of wordplay in a text that uses homophones
• I can think about homophones that I already know and recognise the different spelling and meanings of these words
• I can use homophones in a fun and logical

Prior to reading the text, discuss students’ understanding of homophones. Ensure students understand that homophones are words that sound the same but have different spelling and different meanings. Read the text and ask students what they noticed about the way the author uses homophones. Students should identify that the title of the poem is a wordplay on the phrase ‘night and day’ and the words knight and night are used in the poem.

After reading the poem, have students ‘think, pair and share’ to identify the topic of the poem. Explain that to do this they should consider who the poem is about and what situation they’re in. Students should identify that the poem is about the things that a knight does at home at nighttime, therefore the topic of the poem is essentially ‘the night of a knight’.

Have students read the poem again and discuss what they noticed about the way the author uses homophones. Answers may include:

• The title of the poem is a wordplay on the phrase ‘night and day’
• The use of ‘knight all day’ in the first line and ‘daily knight’ in the last line is interesting because they are a play on the words day and night.

 

Watch the video I Spy with my Eye – Homophones! and write the homophone examples that it contains on the board. Ask students to add to the list by thinking of other homophones they know. Some examples may include:

• deer / dear
• fair / fare
• for / four
• cell / sell
• made / maid
• peace / piece
• meat / meet
• hole / whole
• buy / by
• right / write
• wait / weight

 

Inform students that they will be composing a short poem using homophones. To do this they should choose which homophones they would like to use and experiment with them (they may wish to experiment with a few until they find a pair that they can come up with an idea or rhyme for).

 

Model an example on the board, such as:

 

A seagull stole a piece of my fruit

While I was trying to eat in peace

But after that it just got worse

Because along came five hungry geese!