A Framework for Teaching Poetry
Why Teach Poetry?
‘Schools need poetry because poetry is uniquely placed to allow schoolchildren to say
what they really want to say in the way they want to say it’ (Michael Rosen, A Year
With Poetry’).
‘Poetry is text in which emotions, ideas and sounds of language are presented in a
way that satisfies both the writer and the reader’ (First Steps, Fiction and Poetry).
Poetry is an enjoyable form of text. It is manageable in size and begs endless rereading. The frequent reading and re-reading provides the opportunity to develop oral,
reading and writing skills in context.
Poetry is a great motivator, an excellent support to memory and can be fun. Playing
with words is a way of exploring and understanding language.
The most important thing is that children are able to listen to good poetry as often as
possible, remembering the sound and feel of language.
Poetry makes us look again at familiar things and beyond the familiar and is therefore
concerned with keen observation. Poetry is about using language in a very precise
way, playing with language and images. This process also contributes to the
development of children’s thinking skills.
‘An important part of any poetry programme is the reading of poems, many of which
have been written by poets who keep ideas/ images in notebooks- the combination of
a good diet of reading, encouragement to look closely and a focus on description
through comparison, will help pupils to develop imagery in their poetry’ (Robin
Mellor).
Strategies for Reading and Writing Poetry
Poem a Week-read the poem every day-excellent way to give children
access to high frequency words and to extend their vocabulary.
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Immerse children in a range of good quality poetry
Provide poetry anthologies (published and children’s own)
Play word games
Collect word banks/wall based on language experience activities ( develop the
senses approach using ‘Feely Box’, ‘Talk Table’)
Word Webs ( Use pictures to generate vocabulary)
Model reading with expression, focus on use of alliteration, figurative language
etc.)
Model writing various poetic forms
Shared and guided reading and writing
Writing frames
From first to final draft ( the drafting process)
Independent reading and writing
Publishing
The Literacy Session
Modelled and Shared Reading and Writing
Text Level:
 Read the chosen text aloud, paying attention to small details and
make inferences from clues in the text
 Read the poem straight through first and then go back over the
details.
 Follow the text closely using a pointer.
 Refer to words and phrases in the text to support views
Related word and Sentence Level:
 Text can provide a meaningful context for looking at word and
sentence level work.
 Introduce a rhyming dictionary and list words that rhyme in a
particular poem
 Find other ways of spelling each letter of the alphabet (useful for
reinforcing the spelling of different phonemes) Teach the term
‘homophone’
 Look at the rhyme scheme; identify rhyming pairs.
 Which words do not rhyme?
 Use dictionaries to find meanings/plurals/unusual spellings
 Collect strong verbs that describe movement
 Suggest alternative similes
 Add adverbs to all the verbs. Compare with original
Poetry Planner
Read
R Traditional
Yr1 Nursery/Modern
2
Objectives/Activities/Language
Features
Shared and guided reading and
writing activities- Model ways of
Rhymes
reading poetry. Model writing
Chants, Action
poetry
verses, Jingles,
 Re-read poems frequently
Poetry with
 Clap the rhythm of a well
predictable
known rhyme- guess the rhyme,
structures and
model first
patterned
 Read rhymes, cover words and
language
predict
 Collect rhymes in a class Big
Book/ Class anthologies
 Recite and play with patterns &
Poems with
rhyme; re-read from the text
familiar settings;
 Read rhyme with spelling
from other
patterns
cultures; by
 Read familiar poems
significant
 Recite and play; substitute
children’s
words and phrases
poets…
 Highlight alliterative aspects
Predictable &
 Compare poems
patterned, &
 Notice the punctuation
play with
language
 Know the words rhythm, rhyme
language
 Learn tongue twisters, riddles,
nonsense verse
 Identify and discuss favourite
poems
 Brainstorm, draft , use frames
and compose
 Write an extra verse
Resources
‘The
Works’
chosen by
Paul Cookson
(every kind of
poem for a
literacy
session!)
ISBN 0-33048104-5
‘Quick
Literacy
Activities’
Hamilton
Education
ISBN 095329840X
‘First Steps’
Fiction And
Poetry 1
(GHPD)
ISBN 0-43501447-1
‘The Poetry
Book’ Ed.
Anthony
Wilson/ Sian
Hughes
Poetry Soc.
ISBN 1-900771128
Y3
Read
Objectives/Activities/Language
Features
Resources
Poems based on
observation and
the senses
 Discuss choice of words
 Notice and comment on rhyme
and rhythm/non rhyme and
layout
 Look at verbs, variety and
impact and try alternative verbs
 Collect and classify adjectives,
discuss impact of adjectives in
shared writing
 Write simple string poems,
using activities like ‘Pirate Pete’
(First Steps)
 Learn poems by heart
 Choose and prepare readings of
poems (themes or favourites)
 Collect class/individual
anthologies with comments
 Note onomatopoeia
 Write and present calligrams
Footprints
On The
Page Fiona
Waters
Shape poems
Oral and
performance
poetry from
different
cultures
Humorous
poetry; playing
with language,
word puzzles,
puns, riddles
ISBN 0-23751844-9
Thoughts
Like An
Ocean Neil
Nuttall &
Andy
Hawkins-Pont
Spike
Milligan Silly
Verse For
Kids
Read
Y4
Y5
Objectives/Activities/Language
Features
 Write poems about personal or
imagined experience (drafting
process)
 Play ‘The Furniture Game’
(metaphor)
 Learn and read about poets
 Collect poems from a favourite
poet
Range:haiku,
 Understand and recognise:
Cinquain,
verse, chorus, couplet, stanza,
couplets, lists,
syllable
thin poems,
 Clap and count syllables in
alphabets,
regular poetry
conversations,
 Discuss expressive and
monologues,
figurative language
syllabics,
 Read ‘School Poems’ Make a
prayers, epitaphs
booklet for mums to read with
Songs, rhyming
their children who are about to
verse/ free verse
start school.
 Read poems about feelings, see
pictures in your head. Paint a
picture for each verse.
Resources
Poems based on
classic themes..
Classic and
modern poetry,
including from
the past and
other cultures
Concrete poetrry
Longer classic
poems,
including
narrative
Poems from a
variety of
cultures and
traditions
Choral and
performance
poems
 Analyse and compare poems
 Model response to shades of
meaning
 Comment on forms and themes
by ‘significant’ poets
 Play with metaphors
 Perform and recognise features
of ballad, rap, sonnet, elegy
 Recognise differences between
literal and figurative
 Write poems about feelings
 Write additional verses
‘First Day at
School’Roger
McGough
‘Things I
Have Been
Doing
Lately’- Allan
Ahlberg
‘Bedtime’- A.
Ahlberg
Read
Y6
Poetry by long
established
authors
Range:kennings,
limericks,
riddles,
cinquain, tanka;
in other forms:
adverts, letters,
diary: free verse,
nonsense verse
Comparison of
poems by
significant
authors;
comparison of
different authors
treatment of
same theme
Objectives/Activities/Language
Features
 Develop personal response
 Discuss the use/ impact of
personification
 Look for meaning beyond the
literal (reading between the
lines)
 Annotating poems
Resources
Text/s:
Context
Learning Objectives
Text/ Sentence/ Word Level
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to discuss and collect words
related to particular theme
to write own poems from
initial jottings and words
Possible Activities/ Resources
Whole class/Guided/ Group/ Individual Work inc. differentiation
Opportunities for
assessment/Evaluation
Whole class
 shared reading of poems
 Discuss what a poem is
 Talk about the 5 senses
 Model a senses frame- ‘I see, hear etc.
 Discuss possible themes for senses poem, e.g. something that
you have seen based on recent language experience or work in
other areas of the curriculum
 Use ‘Feely Box’/ ‘Talk Table’/ Word webs to generate
vocabulary
 Ask children to give ideas e.g. ‘The sea
looks/smells/tastes/sounds/feels’…write their suggestions and
model putting in to lines/ verses- The sea is/ The sea….(verb)
Group/individual
 Provide each group with a language experience object/stimulus
and generate vocabulary using word web frame
 Children to write group poem using their words, simple list
poem ( based on given model e.g. nouns and adjectives)
 Cut up a well known poem and re-arrange
Plenary (Discuss group words/phrases/poems)
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Assess children’s vocabulary,
awareness of poetic form
The Seaside
Are we nearly there?
Can you see the sea?
Who will be ready first?
Me! me! me!
Does the sand tickle?
Down by the sea?
Who can make footprints?
Me! me! me!
The seagulls are crying,
‘Shush,’ says the sea.
Who dares put a toe in?
Me! me! me!
Joe Peters
Five Little Senses All in a
Row
You’re so sweet! said Lickety
Lips,
Keep in touch! said Fingertips
See you soon! said Eye with a
wink
Said the nose, Don’t cause a
stink!
Hear me out! Said the ears
immense,
Together, we make a lot of
SENSE!
The Sea
The sea is blue
It can be mysterious,
Threatening.
It’s bigger than memore powerful.
The waves are fierce.
White sea-horses
charging, rearing,
coming towards me.
The sea crashes,
lashes.
Like a beckoning call,
it can be peacefulsoft and soothing,
calmly flowing,
a shush over the stones.
The sea is bitter,
Salt on the edge of your tongue.
It feels cold
but gentle on your skin.
It can be clammy,
salt crusts on your hand.
The sea carries a scent
with the tide. Fishy.
The sea is a small ocean,
A large puddle
full of oily birds and creatures
like lice on a cat.
The sea is a sleek snake.
Julie Rainsbury & Carmarthenshire Writing
Squads March 2001
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Ideas for Key Stage 1
Poems with rhyme and rhythm are memorable, children learn them by heart
quickly. This is of great value in reinforcing early reading as once learnt children
can then relate the oral to the written. Read a poem a week.
Make a class poem using a simple pattern such as a list taken from the children,
e.g. rainy days.
-We stay indoors
-There are puddles everywhere
-The sky is cloudy
-We put umbrellas up
Teacher scribes ideas, make a chorus.
Rain, rain!
We stay indoors
Rain rain!
Umbrellas up!
Number poems e.g animals at the zoo…
One elephant
Two monkeys
Three kangaroos
What were they doing?
One elephant waving his trunk
Down at the zoo!
Down at the Zoo!
Two monkeys…..
Weather Poems Name a type of weather, suggest two words to desribe it e.g.
Snow, cold, white.
Icy, hard hail.
Bitter wind howling.
Warm, golden sunshine.
Weather, weather, everywhere.
Three word poems( Promotes the skill of choosing words carefully) Draw lines
or fold a piece of paper to make three columns. In the centre column write the
names of some things connected with the theme e.g. a town street. In the left hand
column write a word that describes the thing in the centre. Finally in the right
hand column, put a word that says what these things are doing
busy
people
shopping
noisy
cars
driving
red
buses
rumbling
fussy
pigeons
eating
Key Stage 2 Suggested Activities
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Developing Response
Introduction to Imagery and Ideas for Non-Rhyming Poems
‘A successful poet is a skilful observer’ Robin Mellor
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Create an image list, write a list of objects on a chart and next to each write what
different thing it is like. Use ‘like a …’ or as…as a …
Encourage children to look at everyday things, observe when out and about and
comment on similarities and images
Write about six things you lost ‘One was a…Two was a ….. etc.
Imagine you have a special box in which you put your most precious thing
‘Here’s my box
I’ll open the lid,
To see what inside is hid’
‘If I Moved House’ what would you miss and why
Question and Answer, Dragon, how did you breathe fire?/ I crashed into the sun
and I survived that’s how.
Children need to be guided towards the idea that many things can described in
terms of other things that are quite different. The key is to decide what qualities
are to be described and then look for something different that will highlight those
qualities. (Furniture Game)
On a chart write a list of objects and next to each write what different thing it is
like
Language experience approach, give children plenty of ‘hands on’ experiences
including visits, observing surroundings/objects so that they learn the language of
that particular object or situation. Use the senses as a framework for discussion.
Object/action
What else it looks like
falling rain
a puddle
spearheads
a hole in the ground
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Other words to describe
it
glistening
Shiny
Certain poems lend themselves to asking children to consider why the poet wrote
this poem, what occasioned the poem, who wrote the poem, who was it written
for?
Supply some biographical information to supplement the answers to the above
questions.
Pupils work in pairs or small groups to prepare a presentation. They will have to
consider meaning from the poem and convey this to the audience
Read a poem ; guess the title.
Circle in one colour the words and ideas they like in a poem; compare lists; why
have they chosen these particular words?
Underline parts not understood; discuss possible meaning and groups report back.
Read poem; list questions to ask the poet.
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Hold sessions where pupils can browse, select and read aloud poems they like;
justify their choice.
Display anthology of favourite poems with reasons for choice.
Poetry and Advanced Phonics at Key Stage 2 (Susan JenningsNATE 2000 A phonics booster programme for poor readers in
Year 5)
Pupils who have difficulty in tackling polysyllabic words need to be
taught appropriate decoding strategies if they are to become ‘good’
readers.
Poor readers continue to struggle in years 3 and 4 if they have not
grasped basic phonics by year2. Struggling readers lack many of the
skills which good readers bring to the task of reading. Their skills of
analysis, analogy, memory and deduction are poor. Their decoding
skills are also usually still poor despite the level of teacher input.
The decoding of polysyllabic words is an advanced phonic skill, in
order to decode longer words, individual letters need to be grouped
together into syllables.
Polysyllabic words also contain new phonic knowledge information,
particularly in their endings.
The Teaching Programme: Phonics and Poetry
This is essentially a phonics programme with the words presented in a
meaningful context through the use of poetry.
The target group has a daily 50- minute lesson for four weeks.
Lessons have a set structure:
 Groups of polysyllabic words with similar endings are decoded and
discussed
 Pupils make up sentences with the words
 Some of the words are practised as spellings
 Poems ( one per week) containing some of the new words are read
and practised
 A weekly spelling test and poetry performance
Three separate strands of phonics ran through the programme
 Identification of syllables by their vowels
 The rules governing soft c and g
 Word endings, words are introduced in groups with the same or
similar endings
Week 1
 Words containing unstressed vowels with the letter r making the
sound ‘ur’:
register, inspector, calendar, splendour
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If the letter i appears in front of the other vowel, then the sound is
‘yur’, familiar, behaviour.
 Ask the pupils to think of words, display and note the syllables
Week 2
 Endings that say ‘us’ : cactus, tremendous
 Letters ci,si,ti xi, ssi and sci all make the sound ‘sh’ when at the
beginning of a final syllable: precious, superstitious, anxious,
concious
These letter combinations appear with many different and common
Syllables:
ancient, patient ;inertia, Patricia; nation ,mansion, impression;
special, impartial, controversial, etc.
 Endings with unstressed-ent, which is pronounced ‘unt’ whether the
ending is-ent,-cent, -scent, -cient,-tient, or –ment
 Words ending in-al,-ical,-tial,-cial, and –sial, the unstressed vowel
makes an ‘u’ sound
Week 3
 Words with endings that say ‘un’: darken cousin, human, foreign,
potion, extension,procession, question (an irregular one where the ti
says ‘ch’ not ‘sh’)
Week 4
 Endings with-y: -ly, -ity ,-vity, inity ,-acity,- arity,-ility,-ality (using
the poem ‘Macavity, the Mystery Cat’ by T.S. Eliot
 Revise all work covered in the previous weeks
Organisation
The teaching programme is based on collaborative and oral activities to
ensure that there is maximum participation and active learning strategies.
This approach is particularly powerful especially in terms of the modelled
and shared reading and writing approach to literacy.
 Each day the pupils read 20 or 30 new target words, discuss their
meanings and orally make up sentences which include them.(Silly
sentences are particularly enjoyable)
 Each pupil chooses to write three of the sentences.
 Three of the target words are selected to add to the week’s spelling
list, which is practised using the ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’
method.
The words that are read provide new vocabulary for the pupils, writing
the sentences helps to give a context for remembering the meaning, as do
the poems.
The poems allow pupils to practice reading the words in context
repeatedly in an enjoyable way. Frequent rereading of the words is
essential, poems beg to be reread.
Pupils practise for performance, the poem may be split up so that some
sections are read in chorus, some in pairs and some individually,
according to each pupil’s choice. Pupils with poor memory skills are
supported and encouraged through this approach.
Poetry can provide the fun element of reading, reading is fundamental.
Aspects of language such as alliteration, onomatopoeia and word play
may be explored through poetry.
‘Playing with words is not a mindless activity but a way of exploring and
understanding language (Crystal, 1996, 1998).
In addition to humour, rhyme and a strong rhythm are important in the
choice of poems.
Clapping the rhythm as the poem is read helps pupils to ‘hear’ the
syllables and improve their sense of rhythm
Bank of Words
Letter strings: was, want, what- obey the regular phonic rule that wa is
pronounced as ‘wo’: wasp, wallet, wander, watch, swan. The irregular
ones are wag or waggle.
War rhymes with for, not with car:wart,reward, dwarf, swarm: whereas
wor rhymes with fur, not with for: worm, work, world.
Suggested Poems
‘Macavity, the Mystery Cat’ T.S. Eliot
‘Night Mail’ W. H. Auden
(Insert work sheets) plan weekly sheet progs with poems
Activities to Develop Early Phonological Awareness
 Collect ‘Big Book’ or poster versions of favourite rhymes
 Use a wipe-off pen on laminated texts, highlight the rhyming words by
using a visual pattern
 Highlight the words that rhyme by sound but not by the appearance of
the word. Children need to see spoken language represented in print;
in this way they can also begin to understand more about the nature of
writing
 Play games with names to highlight alliteration. Children can make up
names for characters or experiment with their own names for example,
pretty Patsy, happy Henry
 Learn tongue twisters and make up their own
 Play the ‘Odd One Out’ game in which the teacher says three words
and they have to find the odd one out. (initial phonemes or endings or
medial sounds)
Useful Resources to develop early phonological awareness:
J. Agard and G. Nichols, No Hickory No Dickory No Dock.
F. Charles, The Kiskadee Queen.
D. Gadsby and B. Harrop (eds), Harlequin.
B. Harrop, Okki-Tokki-Unga.
E. Matterson, This Little Puffin.
I.and P. Opie, The Lore and Language of School Children
M. Rosen, Walking the Bridge of Your Nose.
C. Sansom, Speech Rhymes