Intro to Poetry

1. Intro to Poetry Today we will explore each of the following: What is Poetry? Where can it be found? The ‘lingo’ of poetry Types of poetry The crime of a rhyme Poetry KS1 Examples KS1 KS2 poetry Final thoughts

2. What is poetry? • Poetry is an art intertwined with today’s society. • Examples: Music, greetings cards, TV adverts, football chants, stories and of course poems. • Quite simply, poetry is a pattern of language. • Poetry is an opportunity for children to express their feelings and themselves. • Cross curricular opportunities: Drama, Music, PDMU.

3. The lingo • Couplet – two lines of poetry with the same rhythm. A-B A-A, A-B-C-A etc. • Stanza/verse – a group of couplets that are linked. • Meter – this is the rhythm of the poem (da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum) • Imagery – generating a mental/visual picture of the setting.

4. Types of Poetry • Acrostic – written vertically it spells out a word. • Allegory – there's a moral message hidden/disguised – Bible parables. • Blank verse – There is no rhythm or rhymes. • Free verse – there is a rhythm based upon syllables. • Personification – giving an inanimate object human characteristics. • Limerick – AA-BB-A • Alliteration or tongue twister – Slippery, snake, slithers, slowly

5. The Crime of the Rhyme • Rhyming quite simply confuses children of all ages when it comes to writing; especially those in KS1. • In KS2 I would let the children write their poetic sentences and they can then add a rhyme after if they wish to do so. • Children enjoy the rhyming element, so it is a useful way to introduce children to poetry. Use songs and nursery rhymes to assist this. • Tip: finding a rhyme can sometimes be difficult. A way of avoiding this is by changing the sentence structure. For example: • ‘The people ran in their thousands’ • ‘People in their thousands run’

6. KS1 Poetry • Focus on descriptions opposed to rhymes. • Give the ch’n a easy to follow structure For example: In the magic box there could be A fluffy, bright, colorful toy. A ___________________________ It could even be a A ___________________________ • Use writing frames: for example one lesson could be simply listing adjectives, describing objects. The next lesson could be the writing of the sentences. • Create shared poems together. • Guided fantasy activities…

7. Two examples children aged 6: A - “One suny day I sorclowdsdancin in the breezand buterflysfluterin in the sky” B - “One sunny day I sor a boy with a ball. One suny day I sor tall.” • As you can see rhymes can turn a sentence around in a way it wont make sense. • Descriptions in poems in KS1 can be extremely effective.

8. KS2 Poetry • As poetry is individual, try to give the children to freedom of choosing. E.g. Titanic narrators - explain (1st person) • Use personification to write poems, write as though you are an object that can talk (sprinkle a little magic). • Use the poetic ‘show’ don’t ‘tell’ strategy. For example: ‘Tears ran down my cheeks’ opposed to ‘I was really sad, so I cried.’ you are showing ‘sadness’ not ‘telling’. Use ‘scaffolding approach’: lesson 1: Ideas – what you see/feel/hear etc. Lesson 2: Poetic sentences Lesson 3: Structure/verses/ordering sentences and rhymes.

9. KS2 continued… • Ensure the children are telling a story. • Give them the beginning, middle and end in the frameworks to assist this. • Again, create shared poems together as a class to model the expectations. • Ensure each lesson includes input of some kind, whether is is a video clip of discussions – sometimes ideas don’t flow as freely as we hope. • Let the children redraft their work and improve it once you have given feedback. • Let the children express themselves as often as possible. You will find when placed in the position of an inanimate object they will express themselves very freely.

10. Final thoughts • Use pictures or music to stimulate writing. Looking at a picture can stimulate a thousand thoughts and ideas. • Look for flashes of originality and let the children know you are looking for great sentences/couplets not just a great poem. • Assess against specific criteria. E.g. Repetition for effect/adjectives/alliteration/show don’t tell. • Use the children's senses to assist with descriptions. • Create shared poems with the class to model the expectations. • Let the children redraft their poetry – this is very important to help them improve.