The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Poet: Robert Browning

Age: KS2

"And out of the houses the rats came tumbling."

The full version of this poem is quite long, so it may be best to either share the whole poem with the class then break it up for groups to focus on particular aspects or to concentrate on particular parts that are key to the narrative, as it is a narrative poem.

There are clear characters to explore in this poem, including the Mayor, Pied Piper and the townspeople. Character profiles could be made using the description in the poem, thinking about appearance but also personality and thoughts (drama opportunity - hot seating, conscience alley etc.).

Lots of English teaching could stem from this poem, such as being creative and writing leaflets to advertise Hamelin to tourists or letter writing between characters. Also, poem can be used to look at some technical features in poems like using similies and metaphors.