Year 4 · English · Literature
Poetry and imagery
Exploring how poets use sensory words, rhythm and line breaks to create pictures in the reader's mind, and writing short descriptive poems.
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These lessons were written around Australian Curriculum strands and matched to UK year groups by age (Year 1 is the year a child turns 6 in England). They are not mapped to the National Curriculum in England or the curricula of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, so check them against your own plans.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Identify sensory words in a poem and the sense each one appeals to.
- Explain how rhythm, rhyme and line breaks help create pictures in the reader's mind.
- Write a short descriptive poem using sensory language.
Success looks like
- I can find words in a poem that help me see, hear, smell, taste or feel something.
- I can explain why a poet might break a line in a certain place.
- I can write a short poem with at least three sensory words.
The big idea
Poets choose words very carefully so that readers can almost see, hear, smell, taste and feel what is described. These word pictures are called imagery. The words that create them are called sensory words.
Read this poem aloud. It is called 'Morning at the Market'.
- Crunchy apples, shiny red, / Warm and crusty loaves of bread, / Sizzling onions, smoky air, / Laughing voices everywhere.
Look at the senses in the poem. Sight: shiny red. Touch and taste: crunchy, warm, crusty. Hearing: sizzling, laughing voices. Smell: smoky air. In just four lines, the poet has woken up all five senses and we can imagine standing in the market.
Rhythm and rhyme help too. Each line has a similar beat, and the lines rhyme in pairs: red/bread and air/everywhere. The steady rhythm makes the poem feel lively, like a busy market.
Line breaks are where a poet chooses to end a line. A line break makes the reader pause briefly. Poets use this pause to give an important word extra attention, or to keep the rhythm steady. A word at the end of a line, or alone on its own line, stands out.
To write a descriptive poem, choose one place or thing, brainstorm words for each of the five senses, and then pick the strongest words. Short phrases work better than long sentences.
Worked examples
Matching words to senses
Which sense does each phrase appeal to: 'shiny red', 'sizzling onions', 'smoky air'?
- 'Shiny red': you see colour and shine with your eyes, so it is sight.
- 'Sizzling onions': sizzling is a sound, so it is hearing.
- 'Smoky air': you notice smoke with your nose, so it is smell.
Answer: shiny red = sight; sizzling onions = hearing; smoky air = smell.
Improving with sensory words
Turn 'The beach was nice.' into a line of poetry with imagery.
- Ask what you could see, hear, smell, taste and feel at the beach.
- Choose vivid words: golden sand, crashing waves, salty wind.
- Write a line: 'Golden sand and crashing waves, / salty wind upon my face.'
Answer: Golden sand and crashing waves, / salty wind upon my face.
Using a line break
Where could you break this line to make 'Splash!' stand out: 'The frog leapt into the pond. Splash!'
- Put the action on the first line: 'The frog leapt into the pond.'
- Put 'Splash!' on its own line.
- The pause before it makes the reader 'hear' the splash.
Answer: The frog leapt into the pond. / Splash!
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Which sense does 'sizzling' appeal to?
hearing — Sizzling is a sound, so it appeals to hearing.
'Smoky air' mostly appeals to which sense?
smell — We notice smoke in the air with our nose.
Which pair of words rhyme in 'Morning at the Market'?
red and bread — 'Red' and 'bread' end with the same sound.
What is imagery?
words that help the reader see, hear, smell, taste or feel something — Imagery creates pictures and sensations in the reader's mind.
Why might a poet put one word on a line by itself?
to make the reader pause and notice that word — A line break creates a pause, which makes the word stand out.
Type the word in the first line of the poem that describes how the apples sound or feel when you bite them.
crunchy — 'Crunchy apples' appeals to hearing, touch and taste.
Which word in the poem rhymes with 'air'? Type it.
everywhere — 'Air' and 'everywhere' rhyme in the last two lines.
How many lines are in 'Morning at the Market', not counting the title? Type a number.
4 — The poem has four lines.
Watch out for
- Thinking imagery only means things you can see. Imagery can appeal to all five senses.
- Thinking a poem must rhyme. Many strong poems use imagery and rhythm without rhyme.
- Ending lines at random or only when the page runs out. Line breaks are a choice that changes how the poem is read.
Tips for parents
- Read the poem aloud twice: once to enjoy it, and once to hunt for sensory words.
- Take your child somewhere interesting (the garden, a market, the kitchen while cooking) and collect sensory words together.
- Praise vivid word choices rather than neat handwriting or rhyme.
Go further
- Write a 'five senses' poem about a season, with one line for each sense.
- Play a mystery bag game: describe an object using only sensory words while a family member guesses what it is.
- Rewrite a short paragraph from a story as a poem, choosing where to break each line.
About 40 minutes
You'll need
- The poem 'Morning at the Market' (below), copied out
- Five coloured pencils, one for each sense
- A bowl of everyday objects to explore with the senses (an orange, a pine cone, a bell, a piece of soft fabric)
Key words
- imagery
- Words that create pictures, sounds, smells, tastes or feelings in the reader's mind.
- sensory words
- Words linked to the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
- rhythm
- The beat or flow of a poem when it is read aloud.
- line break
- The place where a poet ends one line and starts the next.
- rhyme
- Words with the same ending sound, such as 'red' and 'bread'.
Still tricky?
For parents
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