Poetry & literacy resources by published children's poet.
I also lead poetry workshops for UK primary schools.
Website: katewilliamspoet.com
Book news - Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Animal poems - out 9th January '25. Publisher: Otter-Barry Books.
Poetry & literacy resources by published children's poet.
I also lead poetry workshops for UK primary schools.
Website: katewilliamspoet.com
Book news - Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Animal poems - out 9th January '25. Publisher: Otter-Barry Books.
This lively action-rhyme consists of four couplets. Each tells of a spider’s movements, dangling, landing (on your head), running round your hair… running everywhere. The notes below it provide tips for acting out these different stages.
The rhyme supports all-round literacy, including vocabulary, speaking and listening, expressive and creative presentation, and rhythm and rhyme development. It also teaches children about spiders and helps them to appreciate these delicate mini creatures, reducing any fears they may have of them.
Tapping or shaking the beat will add to the punch and fun of this rhyme, while acting out provides an alternative approach. Perhaps do both by turn.
This two-verse ladybird rhyme has rhythm, rhyme and word fun. There’s ample scope for acting out, too, and the notes below the text provide a few tips for this.
The rhyme supports all-round literacy, including vocabulary, rhyme and imagery (red as a poppy). It also develops awareness of insects and appreciation of their tiny, delicate features. Enacting the verses will encourage creative, expressive movement, and the cheerful tone will support mental wellbeing, too.
You may also like my spider rhyme: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/rhyme-spider-12304548
A royal crown, in black and white, to colour in. For young children to celebrate royal birthdays, such as that of the British Queen on June 13th, and also to support learning about kings and queens through history, and associated topics.
Children will enjoy choosing bright, beautiful colours to shade in the various shapes presented on this crown. They will also develop skills, such as fine motor control, colour differentiation and designing.
Butterfly-themed haiku poems: frames and guidance.
A teacher’s resource sheet, containing:
haiku frames (3), starter lines (3), haiku guidelines, syllable clarification, using names to demonstrate, warm-up tips, and a list of butterfly marvels to discuss and write about.
For more haiku themes, see my other sheets. Trees, birds, dragons - and more to come!
Haiku look simple, but are surprisingly challenging to create, with syllables to count and concepts to convey within three short lines. Children enjoy the mix of theme, words and counting, and the brevity of the poem, visually. A series of these pocket-sized poems can be stunning to listen to in quick succession. Enjoy!
Alphabet letters g, h, i, and their sounds, are presented here in pale colours for over-writing, alongside pictures of familiar things starting with those letters/sounds: gorilla, hat, igloo.
The full words are left to the young reader to think of and sound out, bringing meaning and relevance to the letters, rather than baffling them with whole written words.
This activity links up with my others in this style, so far a, b, c, d, and (recapping) c, d, e, f. You’ll find these and lots more simple phonics activities at my shop (search for ‘Phonics’ and ‘Phonic’).
Also colouring to do.
Tried and tested with success.
Get your reluctant writers dashing down ideas on this crazy-fun writing sheet!
Supporting video (2nd half): https://youtu.be/sITQrMuDrfg
What would a Martian, or alien, like to eat? Star dust salad? Rocket roast? Soup served on a flying saucer? The starter words spur ideas to fill up the lines, with desserts and drinks included! Accompanying Ideas Sheet offers teacher-support for prompting and guiding.
Supports space study, literacy and food science, all in one!
**SEE ALSO: Funny Space Rhymes: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/funny-space-rhymes-12051967.
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Also many space poetry resources to read, write and build together, at my TES shop, .e.g. on page 2: ces/shop/katewilliams_poetry?p=2 .
Children of all ages will love this inspiring, yet simple creative writing frame. The flowing lines between the gliding, twirling dragonflies offer infinite scope for poetic expression. IDEAS: Some children may like to fill the lines with adjectives (glittery, bright, fast, delicate…), others with verbs (darting, gliding, shooting, dancing…); others again might write phrases (like - dazzling dragonflies hovering in the silky blue), similes (fast as jets, bright as bows…), or rhymes (delicate dragonfly/in the azure sky/lightly, brightly zig-zagging by).
PREPARE your class by building ideas and language, perhaps with the help of watching real ones, live or on a video, miming their movements and sharing language ideas.
Supports Literacy, including poetry, vocabulary and creativity. Also supports topics: seasons & weather, mini-beasts, flight, animals, forces, travel, symmetry, colour, movement, environment, and more.
**SEE ALSO: BUTTERFLY - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/butterfly-picture-poem-frame-eyfs-y1-guidance-notes-11885225 , LADYBIRD - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/ladybird-picture-poem-frame-early-yrs-yr1-guidance-notes-11885212, SPIDER - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/2-spider-picture-poem-frames-guide-11887282 .
A fun literacy activity, supporting transport, journey and design studies. Recommended for Juniors (7-11 yrs). The illustrated writing sheet invites ideas for colour, name and vehicle features, with wide scope and plenty of writing space for imaginative ideas. Two similes are also invited: as shiny as, and as fast as. Will appeal to boys and girls alike, and to writers of all working levels.
Children love colours, and are always keen to say which their favourite colour is, so they’ll love this writing and colouring sheet. There is one writing line, starting - I like the colour ___ , with a large space for them to write their favourite one. Let them sound it out and have a go at the writing, even if the spelling is wrong, to build confidence in writing. Later, they could repeat the task with a word card to guide their spelling. They can colour in the shapes with that colour, or with a mix for variety and design fun. This resource promotes shape and pattern awareness as well as literacy, colour sense and fine motor control.
Newly independent readers will enjoy sounding out the words in this sentence - “The gold dragon blows smoke for a joke” and looking at the picture. They will also be interested to notice (with adult prompting) the number of “oe” sounds, as in “no” or “go”. Can they think of any more? This resource promotes phonic-learning, reading, speaking and listening. See the others in this series.
Beginner readers will enjoy sounding out the words in this question - “Do you like these nice, white mice?” and pointing to the picture. Adult support may be needed, both for sounding out the sentence and for identifying the “iy” sounds. How many are there? Discuss mice and their characteristics with the reader, using the picture as a talking point, developing speaking and listening skills too.
As children colour in this star, in their own way, they’ll focus in on the concept of space, also absorbing and perhaps colouring in the other features in the picture. They’ll develop design technique, creativity, colour differentiation and fine motor control, and enjoy discussing the picture too, so this simple resource offers multiple learning and development potential.
**SEE ALSO: ROCKET colouring sheet ** - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/rocket-colouring-sheet-11975239 + MY STAR IS - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/my-star-is-3-graded-versions-of-a-star-picture-poem-frame-early-yrs-yr-1-yr-2-11886766 .
Young children will enjoy thinking up a word to complete the given phrase - This ladybird is…, and having a go at writing it on the line. Encourage sounding out rather than accurate spelling, to build confidence in independent writing. Some words to prompt for, if ideas are needed - red, spotty, bright, tiny, shiny, shy, crawly, quiet. After writing, your pupils will be keen to colour in the picture. This resource promotes literacy, fine motor control, colour and pattern appreciation, and an appreciation of the mini-beast world and nature in general.
Young children will enjoy thinking up a word to complete the phrase - This butterfly is…, sounding out their word and having a go at writing it. Colouring the picture could be a reward for their writing effort. Perhaps prompt for words like - pretty, colourful, red, blue, gentle, peaceful, soft, floaty, little, dancing, flappy, happy, beautiful. Let them attempt long words as they wish, building confidence in independent, expressive writing.
Let imagination take off with this exciting rocket writing and colouring sheet. Young children will enjoy choosing one or more items to complete the given phrase - I can see, sounding out the word(s) and having a go at spelling them. If anyone needs idea prompts, perhaps suggest a rocket, stars, sun, moon, spaceman or dog. The colouring part of the activity could be presented as a reward for the writing. This resource promotes literacy, fine motor skills, colour and shape awareness and an understanding of the concept of space and its contents.
Your emergent writers will love choosing an item or more from this lively picture and writing the word in the space provided to complete the phrase - I can see… More words can be added, on the line or below. Where prompts are needed, point to familiar items in the picture, e.g. dog, boy, bus or bird, and help to sound out the word. Colouring in the picture can be a reward for the writing effort. This resource promotes literacy (vocabulary, phonics, independent expression and handwriting), fine motor skills, colour awareness, shading control, and awareness of the world outside. The picture also provides a focus for discussion.
Young children will enjoy thinking up a word or more to complete the phrase - I can see…, after studying this multi-featured picture. They might choose ducks, a frog, a pond, a bird, flowers, a bee or a ladybird, for instance. They can then sound out the phonics and have a go at writing out the word(s), before colouring in the picture.
This resource promotes literacy, creativity, fine motor control, a love of nature and animals, an understanding of the natural environment, and more.
See my two higher-graded versions too.
This cheerfully illustrated woodland writing sheet invites emergent writers to think of a woodland creature - and perhaps a describing word to go with it, to complete the phrase: I see a . There’s an extra line below, for anything more a child might like to add. Colouring scope adds to the fun and interest. Supports studies of animals, woods, environment and seasons. See my 3 higher level versions too - easier, mid-level and hard.
At our school we ___ and ___ , this sheet says, inviting action words for the line slots. These could be: play and learn, read and write, have lunch and play ball, eat and drink, dance and sing, talk and laugh, run and jump, draw and colour, make and build, cut and stick, make friends and have fun, or other possibilities. The extra line is for any further thoughts.
This sheet offers support to newcomers to the school or class, as well as literacy support. They can express their feelings and reflect their experiences, while also trying out their writing skills.
Delicious, scrumptious, hot, spicy and tasty are words your children may choose to describe their school dinners on this sheet. Or, with your encouragement, they may think up many other interesting adjectives, such as wholesome, enjoyable, filling, satisfying, refreshing, chunky, gooey, crispy, chewy, and perhaps even tempting, nutritious, colourful and other thoughtful descriptions. As for their ‘magic food’ ideas for the last line - who knows what they’ll dream up! This resource supports both literacy and healthy eating drives, also offering end-of-day or term fun.