Summer 2008 Four lo eleven

a p<>ef r y -

Annie Fisher, Senior Lecturer in Primary Literacy, University College Plymouth, St. Mark and St. John

The first part of this article discussed creative and inspirationai approaches to working with poetry in theclassroom. In this part, a few key teaching points are outlined before exploring the strengths ofa possiblepoetry anthology for children in key stages 1 and 2.

Getting started on teaching a unit of poetry can sometimesappear a daunting task. Beginning and experiencedteachers are sometimes a little nervous of being able toselect poems which will interest and inspire children andprovide enough material for discussion, and possiblywriting. When working with poetry, it is important to beprepared to express a view, yet not to impose one's ownpersonal opinions on children. There are few right or wronganswers in poetry, unless discussing a particular metre orform, and the creation of a risk-taking environment freeschildren to form and voice their own opinions, and toquestion those of adults. This joint talking to meaning is avaluable experience.

Opportunities for choral reading (or remembering),especially by dividing up the poem, should be planned.Poetry comes alive when read and children often enjoyboth the intrinsic rhythm of language and adding rhythmwith percussion, either with instruments or their hands.Much can be learned through preparing for a presentationofa poem, especially about character, mood and setting.Puppets and masks can be made in design technology andused in the performance, as can simple cloaks made fromsheets or fabric remnants. The use of such devices offersa chance for children to express themselves more freely inrole.

Much of the poetry that children will have experienced inKSl will have had a strong rhythm and rhyme, since this isa key aspect of developing phonemic awareness. It is vitalthat in KS2 children share a variety of poetry, and that theysee it set out on the page. Understanding can be developedfurther by such activities as reading a poem aloud andasking the children to think of a title, or by reading the titleand asking them to speculate what the poem might beabout; for example, ¿etr/ng/n t/ieL/ghf by Elizabeth Lindsay isabout a kitten opening its eyes for the first time, rather thanopening curtains! This latter activity scaffolds the thoughtprocesses of children by encouraging metaphorical thought;

a child who might entitle a poem they have written aboutbutterflies as 'Butterflies' might then consider 'SummerDancers'or'Confetti'. The activity of writing poetry is easierfor children when this is based on interesting models toread, discuss and perform. To avoid the 'moon, June, prune'style of writing, children experience more success whenwriting 'list' poems, based on observation or the senses, thanwhen asked to rhyme or observe strict metre.

In the following section, a brief anthology presents extractsfrom poems which demonstrate a range of features,including alliteration, personification, simile and metaphor,which could be discussed in the classroom. Some poemsbegin each line with a capital, others have almost nopunctuation, and in others, the lines have to be run togetherto make meaning. The strength of many of these poemslies in the careful word choice. It would be possible to askgroups, pairs or individuals to add extra lines, and all mightbe used as a frame to write another stanza or a similarpoem: City Rain could be re-written as 'Country Rain'; Fogin November cou\d become'Snow in December', or'Rain inNovember'.

In the examples which follow the indication of year groupsshould only be taken as a guide.

For Year 3

From My Window

The waters fall in rcctongles

ClearTears

Dirt

Cities sprout umbrellaswater points a blurred picture

slide from afternoon branches...breathes a deep sigh of mud...

Zaro Weil

Four (o eleven Number 33

From My Window is a very good poem to use as a modelfor writing extra lines since all classrooms have windows,and in our part of the world it is often raining! Equallyanother stanza could be added which talks about what canbe seen on a sunny day. Note the use of metaphor andpersonification - trees cannot cry, nor mud sigh!

might be developed, or a yeti in the snow. Imagery could bedeveloped further through discussion of the ideas.

City Rain

After the stormall night before

the world looked likeon upturned mop

Kit Wright

Kit Wright's poem uses a simile, comparing the worldafter rain to a wrung out mop. Other stanzas could beadded, beginning with'After the heatwave...'or'After thehurricane...'or the children could beinvited to writea poementitled 'City Fog'. A strongly patterned poem such as thismakes a good frame for writing.

Fog in November

Fog in November, trees hove no heads,Streams only sound, walls suddenly stop

Half-way up hills, the ghost of a man spreadsDung on dead fields for next year's crop.I cannot see my hand before my face.My body does not seem to be my own.

The world becomes a far-off, foreign place.People are stranoers houses silent, unknown,

Leonard Clarke

To make sense, this poem requires the end of line 2 to beread with the first half of line 3, and similarly line 3 withline 4. Children could work in pairs to create lines for a newpoem focusing on the ghostly effect of fog. These shouldthen be scribed by the teacher and redrafted as a class tomake sure each line is not too long, and that lines run on, asin lines 2 and 3 of the example below. The A, B, A, B rhymescheme would be too difficult for the children to follow, sothis should become a list poem.

Fog in November, children hove no hands,TTie cars are just engines, teachers suddenly appear

In the playground, the ghost

Children should be encouraged to use some words from thefirst version since the tighter the writing frame, the morescaffolding it offers. It could also be adapted to'Wind inOctober','Snow in December','Rain in September'.....buttheimages should also be adapted to suit the weather. Linkwith knowledge from other curriculum areas: if talking aboutrain, the idea of Neptune/Poseidon being in the playground

BalloonsI

A Uuiiuuri

is Q wildspace animal,

restless petwho bumps and butts

its headon the cage walls

of a room -

Judith Thurman

Judith Thurman's poem is really an extended metaphor.It develops the idea of a balloon being a space animal.It would be possible to focus on the idea of a range ofeveryday objects and speculate what else they might be. Apoem should then be written, focusing on the alternativeidentity. Scissors might be a form of domesticated crocodile,or a light bulb a small piece broken from a star. Althoughmetaphor is not specifically identified in the NLS until Y6,children benefit from working with this concept from theearliest stages possible.

For Year 4

is the news from Space

The Space News Agency Atmos reportthat the sun can be seen quite a lot

these daysbut not verv much nt niaht

The spokesman in the moon said:'Hey diddle diddle

The cat and the fiddle

Michael Rosen

Like Roger McGough, Michael Rosen loves to play withwords and images, turning the everyday on its head. Herehe takes a well known nursery rhyme and writes it in thestyle of a news bulletin. Children could take another rhymeand re-write it in a similar style. Twinkle, Twinkle LittieSforand HumpfyDumpfy, for example, offer interestingpossibilities, although it might be better still to take asuggestion from the children. Local newspaper reports canbe used to help with the language of police reports.

IT

Moonscape

No air, no mist, no beast.No water flows from her Sea of Showers,

no trees, no flowers fringe her Lake of Dreams

Judith Nicholls

Summer 2008 Four to eleven

Störs

They present light as evidence of the past;Their brightness reaches us from another time:

They were there when the earth was waste.When lifeslit^"' '"' ' ' ^"+ '^-f humid slime.

Alan Bold

These poems are on a simitar theme, but the first is fullof lyrical language whilst the second has an effective useof alliteration in the final line. They need, first, to be readaloud and then names of different features on the moon, orof stars and galaxies can be used to create a lyrical poem.In Moonscape each name is used to suggest a contrastbetween our earthly concept of geographical features andthe reality ofthe moon itself.

Bully Night

Bully nightI do not like

the company you keepThe burglars and the bogeymen

who slink

Roger McGough

Buliy Nigtit \s a poem that begs to be performed. RogerMcGough plays with the feelings of anxiety that childrenoften have when sent upstairs to bed on their own. Heuses personification to give the night the most threateninghuman characteristics, drawing on phrases and noises thatwe associate with threat. The last stanza needs to be spokenquietly, fading away towards the final ellipsis.. .which holdsa terror of its own! Links could be made with personal, socialand health education (PSHE), with children discussing theirown fears. These could be addressed through writing ashared poem with the fear being defeated at the end, ratherthan being allowed to win (unless the ellipsis denotes fallingasleep at last!)

Blue Monday

Mondays I feel I m useless,That I'm no good at all -

A damp November firework;A sad, split tennis ball;

A broken-handled cricket bat;A rain-bedraggled tabby cat;

A liquid bowl of raspberry jelly,A single, oncient, smelly welly

John KJtching

We all have feelings like this sometimes, and for manychildren Monday is a problem. This poem begs for anotherstanza beginning:'but on Fridays...'and it doesn't haveto rhyme! Look carefully at the first stanza from A BoyWrote a Poem (below) to see what can be done to childrenunwittingly.

A Boy Wrote a Poem

A boy wrote a poem.I t was for homework from class.He wrote about the cliff-tops.

And how the winds pass.He just let it flow

From his head to his pen.But his spelling was bad,

C, do this again!'

Nicholas Chapman.

For Year S

Wind (an extract)

This house has been far* out at sea all night.The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills.

Winds stampeding the fields under the windowFloundering black astride and blinding wet

Till day rose. Then, under an orange sky,The hills had new places, and wind wielded

Blade-light, luminous black and emeraldFixing like the lens of a mad eye.

Ted Hughes

This poem has produced some particularly effective resultswhen working in Cornish classrooms on a windy day. Often,old schools can sound like ships as the wind roars down ablocked-up chimney. In the light ofthe recent resurgenceof Lord of the Rings, it would be interesting to explore withchildren what they felt was meant by'blade-light', and the'lens of a mad eye'. The use of music, light and sound toaccompany a reading, or filming, of the poem could also bediscussed. Children can be encouraged to think of othersea metaphors to describe what they can see and hear. Thiscould be linked with The Seo by James Reeves which usesthe metaphor of a dog rolling upon the shore to describethe waves. Again, it is important to stress when discussingpoems with children that there are few right and wronganswers. We are trying to encourage a personal responseto text, with an ability to justify that opinion, regardless ofwhether we agree with it or not.

Hfl

Four lo elL'ven Number 33

The Way Through the Woods

They shut the road through the woodsSeventy years ago

Weather and rain have undone i t again,And you would never know

There was once a road through the woodsBefore they planted the trees.

I t is underneath the coppice and heathAnd the thin anemones.Only the keeper sees

Rudyord Kipling

Year 6: an opportunity to introduce Shakespeare

The Way Through the Woods offers opportunities toexamine vocabulary we do not use today. Children can beencouraged to visualise the scene; how would a film directorshoot it? What colours would be used; what music wouldbe suitable to accompany the film? Should there be a singlevoiceover or a sibilant whispering chorus? This type ofanalysis helps children to dig into the poem and respond ona deeper level.

Cargoes

Quinquereme of Ninevah from distant OphirRowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,

With a cargo of ivory.And apes and peacocks,

Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,Dipping through the tropics by the palm-green shores,

With a cargo of diamonds.Emeralds, amethysts.

Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stackBatting through the channel in the mad March days.

With a cargo of Tyne coal.Road-roil, pig-lead.

Firewood, ironware and cheap tin trays.

John Masefield

Cargoes is an interesting poem, partly because the finalstanza represents a way of life which has passed, as surely asthat of stanzas one and two. Again, words that are new tothe children could be investigated and linked with history,for example the Greeks, the Armada or 20th century Britain.There is also a musical score available which emphasises thechanging rhythm: stately sailing in stanzas one and two, andchugging in the final stanza. Children could develop theirown score using instruments or voices.

From -As You Like I t , Act 2, scene 7

All the worlds a stageAnd all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances:And one man in his time plays many parts.

His acts being seven ages. At f irst the infant.Mewling and puking in his nurse's arms.

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like a snail

Unwillingly to school.

I chose this speech because you will find speeches fromMacbeth in several other anthologies, and this one seemsto have more immediate relevance for children. What is a'shining face', and what is the play on words? Shakespeare'svocabulary is rich and diverse - will children be surprisedto know that'puking'appears in his work? This poem couldbe linked with drama, mask-making and art. If you capturetheir interest, they will want to know what the other fiveages are!

Further suggestions

YEAR 3ft Sensemaya: A Chant for Killing a Snake. N. Guillen (trans.

G.R. Coulthard) in Merrick, B. 099:) Exploring Poetry 8 - 13.NATE,

ft Jamaica Market. Agnes Maxwell-Hall in Brownjohn, S. (ed.)(1994) Ofrafci/ousDoy.'Ginn.

ft Until I Saw the Sea. Lilian Moore in Boyles, B. (ed.) (1988)What's in a Poem? Collins Educational,

ft ßadßudCors. Roger McGough (1997) Penguin.ft Midnight Forest. Judith Nicholls in Foster, J. L (ed.) (1998)

Another Second Poetry Book. Oxford University Press.ft I'm a Parrot. Grace Nichols in Foster, J. & Mellor, B. (eds.)

(2001 ) I've Got a Poem for You: Poems to Perform. OxfordUniversity Press,

ft The Sea. James Reeves in Graham, E. (ed.) (1970) A PufñnQuartet of Poets. Puffin Books.

YEAR 4ft Who the cap fit, let dem wear it. John Agard in Foster, J. L

(ed.) (1998) Anot/ier Second Poetry ßocik. Oxford UniversityPress.*

ft John Barleycorn. Robert Burns atwww.poetrybookshoponline.com/poemlist.asp

ft /Weg Mem7/es. John Keats in Wilson, R. (ed.) (1997) ThePufUn Book of Classic Verse. Puffin Books.

ft Five Eyes. Walter De La Mare in (2001 ) Peacock Pie. FaberChildren's Books,

ft Forforesr. Grace Nichols in Styles, M.(ed.) (1988) T/iere'5 aPoet Behind You! A & C Black,

ft Winter Days. Gareth Owen in Maybury, B. (ed.) (1971)Wordscapes. Oxford University Press.

ft From a Railway Carriage. R.L. Stevenson in (1995) A Child'sGarden of Verses. Mainstream Publishing.

Summer 2008 Four to eleven

ft Clockface. Judith Thurman in Foster, J.L (ed.) (1983) AFourth Poetry Book. Oxford University Press.

ft The Bully Asleep. John Walsh in Pattern, B. (ed.) (2006) ThePufñn Book of 20th Century Children's Verse. Puffin Books.

YEAR 5ft Night Mail. W. H. Auden in Brownjohn, S. (ed.) (1994)

Poetry Express: The World's Stage Years 5&6. Ginn.ft My Mother saw a Dancing Bear. Charles Causley in (2000)

Collected Poems for Children. Macmillan.ft Macavity the Mystery Cat. T.S. Elliot in (2001 ) Old Possum's

Book of Practical Cats. Faber Children's Classics.ft Weekend in the Country. Robert Froman in Foster, J.

(ed.) (1998) Word Whirls and Other Shape Poems. OxfordUniversity Press.

ft Spring is. Bobbi Katz in Harrison, M. and Stuart-Clark, C.(eds.) 0996) A Year Full of Poems. Oxford University Press.

ft The Listeners. Walter de La Mere in Merrick, B. (1991 )Exploring Poetry 8 - 13. NATE.

ft The Highwayman. Alfred Noyes in Harrison, M. & Stuart-Clark, C. (eds.) (2006) The Oxford Book of Story Poems.Oxford University Press.

YEAR 6ft We are Going to see the Rabbit. Alan Brownjohn in (2006)

Collected Poems. Enitharmon Press.ft The Tyger. William Blake in Sword, E. H. & McCarthy, V. A.

(eds.) (2006) A Child's Anthology of Poetry Blackwell *ft Jabberwocky. Lewis Carroll in Sword, E. H. & McCarthy, V.

A. (eds.) (2006) A Child's Anthology of Poetry Blackwell,ft La Belle Dame Sans Merci. John Keats in Harrison, M. &

Stuart-Clark, C. (eds.) (2006) The Oxford Book of StoryPoems. Oxford University Press.*

ft The Song of Hiawatha. Longfellow in Brownjohn, S. (ed.)(1994) Poetry Express: The World's Stage Years 5&6. Ginn,

ft Posting Letters. Gregory Harrison in Merrick, B. (1991)Exploring Poetry 8 - 13. NATE,

ft Days. Brian Moses in Moses, B. (ed.) (2004) /Remember, /Remember: Poems of Childhood. Macmillan.

ft Haiku Bestiary. Sandra Willingham in Brownjohn, S. (ed.)(1994) O Frab/ous Day/Ginn.

ft This Letter's To Say. Raymond Wilson in Merrick, B. (1991)ExpioringPoetry8- U.NATE.

Poems quoted in article:ft From My Window. Zaro Weil in Harrison, M. & Stuart-Clark,

C. (eds.) (1996) >4 VearFu//o/^Poems. Oxford UniversityPress.

ft City Rain. Kit Wright in Harrison, M. & Stuart-Clark, C. (eds.)(1996) A Year Full of Poems. Oxford University Press,

ft Fog in November. Leonard Clark in Harrison, M. &Stuart-Clark, C. (eds.) (1996) A Year Full of Poems. OxfordUniversity Press.

ft ßa//oons.'Judith Thurman in Foster, J. L. (ed.) (1979) A FirstPoetry Book. Oxford University Press,

ft Here is the news from Space. Michael Rosen in Foster, J.(ed.) (1986) Spaceways: An Anthology of Space Poetry.Oxford University Press.

ft /Moonscape. Judith Nicholls in Foster, J. (ed.) (1986)Spaceways: An Anthology of Space Poetry. OxfordUniversity Press,

ft Stars. Alan Bold in Foster, J. (ed.) (1986) Spaceways: AnAnthology of Space Poetry. Oxford University Press,

ft Bully Night. Roger McGough in Baalam, J. & Merrick, B.(eds.) (1987) Exploring Poetry 5 - 8. NATE.

ft Blue Monday John Kitching in Foster, J. L (ed.) (1987)yAThird Poetry Book. Oxford University Press,

ft A Boy Wrote a Poem. Nicholas Chapman in Foster, J. L. (ed.)(1989)/AnofherFourt/iPoefryßoo/c. Oxford University Press.

ft Wind. Ted Hughes in (1986) Poetry in the Making. Faberand Faber.

ft The Way Through the Woods. Rudyard Kipling in Larkin,P (ed.) (1973) The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Verse.Oxford University Press,

ft Cargoes. John Masefield in Brownjohn, S. (ed.) (1994)Poetry Express: The World's Stage Years 5&6. Ginn,

ft Ariel's Song. William Shakespeare in The Tempest.*

* Indicates'challenging'