Poetry writing and
appreciation in action
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8 March 2008
Pat Heung Central Primary School
Rationale
1. learning the language
 appreciate the beauty of the language
 enlarge pupils’ vocabulary and extend
their use of words
 increase understanding of how
language is used and organized
2. encouraging critical thinking and
creativity
 sharpen pupils’ aesthetic sensitivities
 open up the world of imagination
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3. fulfilling emotional needs
 share personal feelings, ideas and
experiences
 experience the joy of learning English
4. responding to the CG
 integrate language arts into the learning
Modules and Units
 actualize the mid-term focuses for
curriculum development (from 2006-7 to
2010-11)
KS1: make greater use of text types and literary and imaginative texts to
provide pleasurable and enjoyable learning experiences and encourage
free expression, imagination and creativity
KS2: make extensive use of a diversity of text types and literary or
imaginative texts to stimulate critical thinking and encourage free
expression and creativity
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Recent Research on ‘letting pupils’
voice shine through’ poetry
help the struggling and reluctant writers
find success
 proficient writers experiment with
language and enhance their creativity

Oczkus, Baura, Murray & Berry (2006)
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Pupil Learning
Review

Mixed ability
Able pupils
 understood simple instruction
 managed writing simple sentences
Pupils’ ability in general
 had limited vocabulary
 made a lot of grammatical mistakes
 wrote incomplete sentences
How to help the weak pupils?
How to stretch the able pupils’ strengths?
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Creative Writing—Shape poems
Topic: Animals Big and Small
Focus: use of adjectives
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Show and read the Shape Poems
Shiny, silver fish
Swimming in the sea.
Structure:

Two adjectives
to describe a
noun

Verb(-ing form)
and
complement
Pretty, green peacock
Opening up its tail.
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Language Input Practices
1. Brainstorming the adjectives
lion
monkey
frog
2. Brainstorming the action word and the location
Improvement on input
Using adjectives in the correct word order:
• size—colour
e.g. a big, blue fish
• size —qualities of mind/character
e.g. a big, fierce lion
• quality—colour
e.g. a beautiful red flower
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Create and Display
1. Create a sentence using at least two
adjectives and a verb to describe an
animal.
e.g. Naughty, hungry monkey jumping
on the stone.
2. Draw/select a picture of an animal and
write down the sentence round the
shape of the animal.
3. Display pupil work on the school
webpage for sharing.
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Combining Grammar and Poetry Skills
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Combining Grammar and Poetry Skills
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Small brown cute monkey
Enjoying the beautiful view
With his friends.
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Combining Grammar, Phonics
and Poetry Skills (by able pupils)
Rhyming words
Middle vowel sounds
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Creative Writing—Haiku
Theme: The Natural World
Focus: Learning the syllables
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What is a Haiku?
Structure:
Line 1: 5 syllables The white butterfly
Line 2: 7 syllables Sitting on my long black hair
Line 3: 5 syllables Not moving at all
Can you write a Haiku?
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Procedure—Day 1 (70 mins)
Motivation and revision—talk about the
weather (focus on adjectives e.g. sunny
and warm) and draw the pictures.
 Worksheets on adjectives—circle the
correct pictures.
 Introduce syllables using the adjectives
(clap hands to help pupils understand
what syllables are, e.g. happy, beautiful).

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
Introduce Haiku—show pupils some sample
poems and identify the 5/7/5 pattern of
syllables
The baby monkey
Is looking for the candies
Waiting all alone
The worried monkey
Looking everywhere sadly
Missing his mother
The baby monkey
Is calling Mr Kelly
Asking him for help
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
Introduce Haiku—show pupils some sample
poems and identify the 5/7/5 pattern of
syllables
A laughing lion
Likes to tell jokes to his friends
Before eating them
An angry lion
Showing his dirty sharp teeth
Will kill a small cub
The hungry lion
Roaring at a small rabbit
Planning to eat it
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
Read the sample poems with pupils and clap
hands to show syllables.

Brainstorm a list of phrases that tell what is
happening to the things in the natural world.

Provide pupils with pictures to help them
write their poems.

Help pupils count the syllables of their own
poems and make any changes to keep the
5/7/5 pattern.
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Procedure—Day 2 (70 mins)

Write some good poems written by
the pupils on the board for appreciation.
 Help the pupils revise and improve their
own poems, and provide a title to the
poem.
 Get pupils read aloud their poems and
clap/beat the syllables.
 Let pupils draw, illustrate and colour
their work.
 Make a class poetry book for display.
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Some good poems created by pupils
Beautiful white sheep
Walking in the fields with friends
Eating their own food
Happy hungry dogs
Chase cats at 7 o’clock
Under a tall tree
A handsome green frog
Doing something exciting
Near his happy pond
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Creative writing—poems with
rhyming words
Textbook unit:
Food from around the world
Language structure:
I like…/I don’t like…
Focuses of sound patterns:
rhyming words & rhythmic flow
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The picky eater (original)
I like bread with lots of jam
I like sandwiches made with ham
I like rice, vegetables and meat
These are the things I always eat!
I don’t like milk in my tea
I don’t like fish from the sea
I don’t like chocolate for a treat
These are the things I never eat!
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Experiencing the beauty of
rhymes and rhythms

Pupils identify the rhyming patterns and the
rhythmic flow of the language
 They participate in individual/choral verse
speaking, clapping hands or hitting the beats
with percussion instruments.
 They create their own simple poems in groups
based on the model provided and keep the
rhyming pattern.
 They have their poems performed in front of the
whole class.
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The picky eater
Video-rehearsa l
by Tina, Betty and April
Video-rehearsal 2
Video-perform
I like bread with lots of jam
I like sandwiches made with ham
I like milkshakes, cakes and meat
These are the things I always eat!
I don’t like sugar in my tea
I don’t like melons from the tree
I don’t like jelly for a treat
These are the things I never eat!
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The picky eater
by Kelvin, Ken and Roy
Video
I like corn with lots of sweet
I like pizza made with cheese
I like cookies, jelly and cakes
These are the things I always eat!
I don’t like sugar in my milk
I don’t like curry for a meal
I don’t like lemons for the tea
These are the things I never eat!
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The picky eater
by Ruby and Amy
I don’t like bread with lots of jam
I don’t like sandwiches made with ham
I don’t like cakes for a treat
Video
These are the things I never eat!
I like milk in my tea
I like fish from the sea
I like rice, sushi and meat
These are the things I often eat!
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Other pupils’ work showing a
good combination of grammar,
phonics and poetry skills
Amy, the picky eater
I like green melons,
But I don’t like yellow lemons.
I love cold jelly,
But I don’t like hot coffee.
I like hamburgers from America,
I like tasty sushi from Japan.
I don’t like bread with jam,
I don’t like sandwiches with ham.
4S
C. Y.
Peter, the picky eater
I like sweet melons,
I love water-melons,
Buy fruit in the Harbin,
Hope it is on sale.
4S
K. Y.
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Creative Writing—poems on a
variety of themes
Food
Wonderful places
Where shall we go?
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Food Poems
Structured framework :
- Name of food
- From where
- Ingredients
- Taste
Style:
-Personification
Sentence pattern:
-comparatives/
superlatives
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Food Poems
Wonderful Hamburger
I am a wonderful hamburger.
I am made of tasty bread
and fantastic pork.
I am salty and delicious.
I come from America.
I am better than hotdogs.
I am the nicest hamburger
in the world.
4S
Peter
Delicious American
Hotdog
I am a delicious hotdog.
I come from America.
I am made of fresh vegetables, a
crunchy sausage and bread.
I am salty and crunchy.
I am more delicious than
hamburgers.
I am the most delicious food in
America.
4S
Kitty
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Poem: Wonderful Places
More challenging work for the able class
Language
knowledge
Structure:
Knowledge of
the world

Creativity
Critical thinking
Come to (adj.) (place)
 So many things to do
 (action)
 And (action)
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Poem: Wonderful Places
Content Input:
Interesting places around Hong Kong
(Textbook 4B, Unit 3)
Interesting places in the world
(brainstorming)
Interesting activities of people
(Textbook 4B, Unit 3)
Language Input:
Adjectives (wonderful, lovely,
beautiful ….)
Verb phrases (go shopping, take
photos, have fun, have lunch,
visit the market--- Textbook 4B
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p. 18)
Poem: Wonderful Places (by able pupils)
Wonderful Hong Kong
Come to wonderful Hong Kong
So many things to do
Have fun in the Ocean Park
And play the exciting roller-coaster too!
Come to wonderful Hong Kong
So many things to do
Take photos in Disneyland
And meet the Disney’s characters too!
Come to wonderful Hong Kong
So many things to do
Visit around Wan Chai
And see the Golden Bauhinia there too!
Come to wonderful Hong Kong
So many things to do
Eat seafood at the floating restaurant
And see the sea too!
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Poem: Wonderful Places (by able pupils)
Wonderful world
Come to wonderful Nepal
So many things to do
Go to visit Kathmandu
And go to temples too!
Come to wonderful U.S.A.
So many things to do
Go to the disco
And sing rap songs too!
Come to wonderful Hong Kong
So many things to do
Have lunch at the Peak
And buy nice clothes too!
Come to wonderful Thailand
So many things to do
Watch action movies
And learn Thai boxing too!
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Poem: Wonderful Places (by able pupils)
Wonderful world
Come to wonderful U.S.A.
So many things to do
Go to the lovely Disneyland
And have a happy day too!
Come to wonderful India
So many things to do
Go to the beautiful Simla
And go skiing too!
Come to wonderful Hong Kong
So many things to do
Go to the Ocean Park
And see the happy sea animals too!
Come to wonderful Nepal
So many things to do
Go to the country Park
And take photographs of flowers too!
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Poem: Where shall we go?
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Where shall we go?
Shall we go to Marine Park!?
What can we do there?
We can watch many fishes.
But I’m scared of the shark.
Shall we go to Sawant’s home?
What can we do there?
We can play with him.
But I’m scared of his mother.
Shall we go to Kam Shan?
What can we do there?
We can watch monkeys.
But I’m scared that they will pull my hair.
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Disneyland
Shall we go to the Disneyland?
What can we do there?
We can play lots of game.
But I love playing with sand.
How can we get to Disneyland?
Is it near or far?
Shall we take a bus?
Or can we go in the car?
We can get there by car.
Because it is not very near.
You can meet lots of Disney characters.
But when you return your eyes will be full
of tears.
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Appreciating creative work

Teachers:
- accept every pupil’s creative work
- look for interesting points in every pupil’s work
- try to understand individual pupil’s feelings and
ideas
- give pupils praises and have their work put on a
display

Pupils:
- read and learn a number of poems/rhymes
- more sharing activities among themselves
- be aware of the language
- learn to be imaginative, creative and critical
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To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
William Blake
Thank you!
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