Overview and Outcomes:

This is an 11-session Literary Leaf for the narrative poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning through which children explore an alternative version of this well-known story.  Written in Old-English, each session will begin with a chance for children to explore new and unfamiliar vocabulary in the context of the poem.  Lessons will provide opportunities for children to infer about characters, summarise sections of the poem in their own words and explore the shape of the poem and its rhyming structure.  There are also chances for children to consider the moral messages of the story within the poem and, if time, role play characters from the story to express their thoughts and opinions.

Synopsis of Text:

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a tale originating in the Middle Ages and concerning the mysterious disappearance of a great number of children from a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. This particular version (in the form of a children's poem) is penned by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889), an English playwright and lyricist whose mastery of dramatic verse made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.

The poem is included in the Literary Leaf but a book containing the poem and illustrations by Kate Greenaway can also be used. There is also an animation, narrated by Robert Hardy, available for free online which should be used in conjunction with the text to aid comprehension. 

Links to Curriculum areas, other Literary Leaves and Planning Sequences:

This text would complement the study of Michael Morpurgo's version of The Pied Piper, a planning sequence on the Literary Curriculum for Year 3.

Narrative poetry, Old-English, Germany, Hamelin, rats, mayor