Tuesday, 6 August 2013



One of the poems we have studied in Room 14 is Polar Bear by James Kirkup. We got a very clear and sad picture in our heads of the polar bear from the poem. Ms Derhamy reckons that this poem is written about a real polar bear and was not written from memory or imagination. We agreed with Ms Derhamy because we noticed that the author describes the movement of the polar bear in specific detail – to the extent that it is almost like a news report.


Task: MM and DD watch the following two video clips of a polar bear in captivity and polar bears in the wild. In groups of three carefully record what you observe in detail. Use specific words. Write a short factual report for each video. You will present these back to the class.

Polar Bear

Hugging the wall, down
there in his open pit,
he ambles absently,
fFitting his whole body
to the wide curve
of dingy cement.

Backwards and forwards
loping, his big head weaving,
pressing one matted flank
and then the other
to the sun-scorched cliff
of his lonely prison.

His coat is far
from white-rather
a drab cream, with
yellow or brownish stains.
He looks unhappy in the heat,
no wonder he never

turns to growl at
us, begging for attention.


James Kirkup


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