Imagery and Description

Overview

This is lesson 2 of 5 in the unit "Writing Like a Poet," designed for Reception-aged children (4-5 years old). The lesson focuses on understanding and using imagery and descriptive language inspired by the poem People need people. Pupils will develop their vocabulary and auditory imagination to create vivid mental images which will support their emerging writing skills.

National Curriculum Links

Literacy - Communication and Language (Reception)

• ELG: Listening, Attention and Understanding: Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions.
• ELG: Speaking: Use talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events.

Literacy - Literacy: Reading and Writing

• ELG: Comprehension: Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
• ELG: Word Reading: Recognise some written words and link sounds to letters, beginning to form letters.
• ELG: Writing: Use some of their print and letter knowledge in their early writing.

Understanding the World & Expressive Arts and Design

• Developing curiosity and imagination through language and story.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, pupils will:

• Recognise and understand how imagery (sensory language) creates pictures in their minds.
• Identify descriptive words and phrases in the poem People need people.
• Use descriptive language orally to express how something looks, sounds, feels, or smells.
• Begin to use descriptive vocabulary in simple sentences, supported by pictures and modelling.

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Resources

• Copy of People need people poem (simplified, large-print)
• Picture cards illustrating sensory experiences (e.g., fire crackling, a flower blooming, rain dripping)
• Whiteboard and colourful pens
• Drawing paper and crayons
• “Magic Bag” with objects to stimulate sensory descriptions (e.g., soft fabric, pinecone, lemon slice)

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Lesson Structure (30 minutes)

1. Warm-Up (5 mins)

Activity: Sensory Simon Says

• Teacher invites children to listen, look, or feel imaginary things (e.g., “Simon says, pretend you hear a soft rain falling,” “Simon says, pretend you smell a lemon”)
• Encourages children to close their eyes and imagine sensory experiences.
• This primes attention to sensory detail, essential for understanding imagery.

2. Introduce Poem & Imagery (7 mins)

• Read People need people aloud clearly with expression.
• Show the poem on large paper.
• Teacher highlights and underlines key descriptive words or phrases that appeal to the senses (e.g., sparkling, warm, soft).
• Discussion: Ask children what pictures they see in their heads when they hear these words. Teacher models visualising images using drawings on the whiteboard (e.g., draw flames for “warm” or drops for “sparkling”).
• Link vocabulary to senses: sight, sound, smell, touch.

3. Sensory Exploration Activity (8 mins)

• Use the “Magic Bag”. Children take turns to pull out an object.
• For each object, teacher encourages children to describe it using their senses (e.g., “How does it feel? What colour is it? What sound might it make?”).
• Teacher writes or draws children’s descriptive words on the board.
• Encourage children to say simple sentences using descriptive words, e.g., “The lemon is sour and yellow.”

4. Create Mental Images (5 mins)

• Show picture cards one by one and ask children to close their eyes and imagine the scene/sense.
• Guide children to verbalise the image they see inside their minds; e.g., “What do you hear? What might it smell like?”
• Prompt answers with descriptive vocabulary from the poem if appropriate.

5. Wrap-Up & Assessment (5 mins)

• Recap: Ask children to share one new describing word they learned today.
• Draw & Dictate: Children draw a picture inspired by a descriptive word or phrase from the poem or their favourite sensory object.
• Teacher scribes simple sentences dictated by children, focusing on use of descriptive language.

Assessment: Observe children’s participation and ability to use descriptive words verbally. Note vocabulary recall and emerging sentence structures aligned with Early Learning Goals.

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Differentiation

• Support: Provide sentence starters for children who need help (e.g., “I see a...”, “It feels...”).
• Challenge: Encourage more able children to connect multiple senses in one sentence (“The soft flower smells sweet and looks bright pink.”).

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Extension Ideas

• In subsequent lessons, children can use their sensory vocabularies to write simple poems or descriptive sentences about people or objects important to them, building on imagery learned here.
• Use sound clips or smells to deepen sensory experience before writing.

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Teacher Reflection Prompts:

• Were children able to link sensory words to mental images?
• Did all children engage in producing descriptive language orally?
• How did the use of objects and pictures aid understanding of imagery?
• What vocabulary will I revisit next session to reinforce learning?

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This lesson plan offers a multi-sensory, interactive approach to introducing imagery and descriptive language appropriate for Reception children, fully aligned with the National Curriculum for England’s Early Learning Goals in Communication, Language, and Literacy.