This rainbow poem of mine has been published by The School Magazine, Australia. It describes the varied, characterful colours of the rainbow, with a brief, rhyming word or phrase for each, summing up its character. Calming end, celebrating the beautiful merging and curving of the colours over the land. Picture and coloured border.

Fun learning for indoors or out! Do for 5 mins. or an hour, in writing or just out loud. Build funny sea-monster rhymes with your class, with this frame, partially done for you. List of extra rhyming words provided at bottom of page. As I was swimming in the sea, I saw a monster looking at me. A whole story unfolds - but what story, exactly? That’s for you and the children to decide. Just help them make sure that every line ends in a word that rhymes with ‘sea’. There are lots to choose from. Elicit a list, perhaps starting them off with bee, key and flee. Great for:- Literacy, Ocean,Myths, and other related topics, end-of-term fun, perhaps outside in the shade of a tree, with mini-whiteboards and pens for jotting ideas. Have fun!

’Watch for the Moon’ is a published poem for children by this author, Kate Williams. The 12-line rhyming poem is presented on a moon photo background. It is fascinating, yet easily accessible for junior-aged readers. The poem highlights the ever-changing appearance of the moon, likening it to different things - a coin, a slice, melting ice… The rhymes are fun to spot - slice/twice/ice/trice, bright/white/sight, swerve/curve, and more.

**This dragon poetry-writing frame will fire the creative zest of independent writers. See video! The dramatic and humorous illustrations will spur ideas, as will the title - Watch out! - and open-scoped line starters: Watch out for the … dragon! He’s …, … and … . His spikes are …, his … (wings/eyes/scales?) are … and he’s as … as a … . He goes … (galloping and roaring through our town at night?) His favourite food is … (always a favourite line!). Tried and tested with great success, especially after plenty of warm-up chat and acting out. Dragons can be any type a young writer likes, from wild and scary to kind and brave, or just downright bonkers. See also my simpler versions, plus Dragon’s Menu, and dragon writing and colouring sheet.

This resource comprises a picture-poem frame sheet and a one-page guide for teachers. The hand-drawn butterfly picture-poem is a Literature resource for young children. Its opening phrase invites describing words for butterflies, which can be written on the short, clear lines around the picture. There is also a simile to complete: 'They are as colourful as - ’ , and space for further ideas. There is plenty of scope for colouring too. The guidance notes (or Guide) offers word and simile suggestions to prompt for, and thoughts about the colouring aspect, as well as ideas for preparing children for the activity as a whole. The resource supports several aspects of the EYFS curriculum - Literacy, Expressive Arts & Design and Understanding the World, also providing opportunities for reading, spelling, fine motor skills and more.

Bring your dinosaurs topic alive with this fun, punchy, crazy, rhyming poem about a school child sighting a dinosaur. As a published children’s poet, I wrote this specially for TES users, for this purpose. It can also be used as reading material, an example of rhyme or rhythm, or just a great way to start the day and put a smile on everyone’s face. But DID the dinosaur cheat in the spelling test, as the narrator suspects? What’s the verdict in your classroom.

Being kind is - this opening phrase invites examples, which children can think up individually, following class discussion. The writing sheet rounds off with a simile: Kindness is like … - the more the better. An example of a completed version of the sheet is provided for teacher and pupil guidance. Recommended for Yrs 4-6 (ages 8-11).

Older children and teens can explore feelings - their own and those of others - by completing this thought-provoking poetry frame, ‘Fragile Feelings’. The sheet, which comes with an example completed version, is designed to help youngsters understand that other people have feelings like theirs, and that they are vulnerable and easily hurt, likewise. It will help develop awareness and empathy, while also providing reassurance that they are not alone in feeling down or upset sometimes. The sheet invites description and similes for feelings, starter lines for suggestions of when care is needed, and a free line and space for further writing. Will support anti-bullying drives and other social problems, individually and for the whole class.

This resource comprises a picture-poem frame and a one-page guide for the teacher’s use. Both are in PDF format. The picture-poem frame features a huge ladybird (hand-drawn). Above it is an opening phrase: ‘This ladybird is’, inviting describing words on the short, thick lines in and around the insect. Below it, there is a line for a simile, with the starting phrase ‘He is as red as’. The sheet is designed for emergent writers and newly independent ones, also providing colouring opportunities. The guidance notes offer tips for preparing children for the activity, followed by lists of words and simile ideas to prompt for. Some thoughts about the colouring aspect are also included. Although principally a Literacy activity, this resource supports other areas of the EYFS curriculum too, such as Understanding the World and Expressive Art & Design. It has been been successfully tried and tested in classrooms.

This resource comprises a picture-poem frame and a one-page guide for the teacher’s use. The black-and-white picture-poem offers creative writing and colouring opportunities for young children, with a snail as the subject. The huge, hand-drawn snail allows plenty of room for describing words, to follow from the given phrase above, ‘This snail is’. They can be written inside the curls of the shell or anywhere else in or around the picture, except on the line below. Below, the starter word ‘He’ invites further description, statements or even a story. The activity helps children to process any recent learning about ‘creepy crawlies’ , ‘mini-beasts’ or their natural environment, while developing literacy skills, fine motor skills and artistic expression. The accompanying guidance notes (or ‘Guide’) lists suggested words and phrases to prompt for. There are also a few notes about the colouring aspect.

Watch out for the dragon - but what sort? Scary? Crazy? Hot and spiky? Red, green, wild, funny? Your Reception and KS1 children will be eager to express their ideas, both out loud and in writing. Never mind if their word is hard to spell - they can sound it out and give it a go, building confidence in their writing skills as they go. Not that dragons have to be scary, of course - ‘Watch out for the kind or friendly dragon!’ would be equally valid - as in: don’t miss him/her. The gender can also be changed. There are 3 versions here, of graded difficulty, the last inviting describing words for spikes and scales too, and ideas for the dragon’s favourite food. NB (1) Please note that my hand-drawn illustrations are sketchy. However, in my experience, children don’t mind or notice this. NB (2) Older/abler Yr 2s will welcome further lines, perhaps inviting similes, e.g. He’s as hot as a… or [colour] … as a. These could be squeezed in or written on the back, or the sheet could be manually adapted. More advanced versions coming here in due course.

Which words fit the topic? that’s the simple challenge here. Children have to read a selection of words to work out which apply to the given category (e.g. colours) and which ones don’t. There are 4 of these challenges, spread down the page, with colour variation for clarity and added fun. Able readers can complete these independently, linking or ticking relevant words with a pencil; less confident readers will need support (either one-to-one or group). Some words may be instantly recognisable, such as ‘red’ or ‘hot’, but others will need to be sounded out. Ideal for phonics learning and reading practice.

3 rhymes on one PDF file - only first one visible here. These 3 little rhymes bring phonics to life with story and humour. Animals feature in each one, making them fun to act out and easy to recall. Each rhyme has a particular phonic focus - ‘oo’, ‘ee’ and ‘u’ respectively, and would enhance any lesson on these sounds. The three-page document is for the teacher’s use, though independent KS1 readers would also enjoy reading them. Black-and-white, PDF. PLUS Here’s a beautiful lullaby celebrating the ‘ee’ phonic, by Rhodri Williams-Wandoch: https://soundcloud.com/rhodri-williams-wandoch/try-to-sleep

This dramatically illustrated writing sheet invites onomatopoeias (or ‘sound words’) and nose-linked verbs. Suggestions for these are listed on the Guide sheet, along with suggestions for embellishments and developments. It is best suited to Yrs 3-6, as a starter sheet for a poem or story on the theme. The humour and drama depicted in the illustrations, and the chaotically scattered writing lines, will motivate children to have a go. Thinking up sound words and how to spell them can be tricky, so for best results, build a word bank together first, and prompt as necessary as they write. The Guide will provide plenty of ideas. This is a home-produced sheet with hand-drawn illustrations, and has been successfully tried and tested in my poetry workshops. Both sheets are black-and-white, in PDFs format.

This resource comprises 3 sheets: a planet-themed picture-poem simile writing frame for KS2, a simpler version for younger/less confident writers, and a guidance sheet for use, with examples of full poems and suggestions for development. Children have the fun of writing their poems on a planet - or planet-shaped frame. This fires enthusiasm and ideas for the writing task, which involves description and similes, and whatever individual writers may like to add. They’ll also need to invent a name for their planet. The possibilities for description are wide open, as the two examples on the guide sheet show, so creativity can take off in this activity. A simpler and harder example is provided on the guide sheet, for Yrs 3/4 and 5/6 respectively. This home-devised, hand-illustrated sheet has proved popular and rewarding in my poetry workshops.

These punchy, fun rhymes each celebrate a colour, listing and describing different items of that colour in ways that bring it to life for children. The ‘green’ one is an action rhyme; the others are best read aloud. Invite further item suggestions for extra verses - they don’t need to rhyme, provided you can sustain the rhythm. Pick one of these to start a phonics, poetry or descriptive writing lesson. Children from Early Years to upper KS2 will find them thought-provoking and stimulating.

Rainy days can be fun when you’re being the rain yourself in a punchy action rhyme, and thinking up sounds and ‘doing-words’ to say and write - especially when writing them on an umbrella! Children who can’t write yet can colour the many-sectioned umbrella and contribute verbally. There are 2 short rhymes - actions provided - and 1 writing sheet with accompanying Guide for use/lesson plan. This resource supports Literacy, Expressive Arts & Design, Understanding the World (seasons and weather) and Physical Development. Rhymes are original, designs hand-drawn - home produced. PDFs. Here’s my poem ‘What is a Cloud’ (published): https://youtu.be/EOKVIktMh10