Three beautiful, fun, punchy rhymes about spring, for Early Years and KS1. Baby animals, hatching birds, green leaves, budding flowers, growing grass, fresh, blue skies and other wonders of springtime are addressed in these buoyant little verses. They can be read out for listening, chanted and clapped together, enacted, discussed, illustrated, put to music or percussion, and referred to for inspiration and guidance when going outside to enjoy a fine spring day. The poems are my own.

Reading/sounding out + learning about shells, seaside, nature and more. Eight describing words for shells for young readers (Reception - Y2), big, bright and clear, around a colourful photo of shells on beach. Words: shells, hard, curly, dry, shiny, hollow, sandy, wet. Help children turn sheet to read the words. Watch my video on seaside shells: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wkeZ8K6iCfcFQneZ9 See my other seaside and phonics resources too.

My poem ‘Dragon in the Sky’ is a simple yet exciting and atmospheric poem, published in The School Magazine, Australia, who have also made a highly popular YouTube video of the poem. 19 lines. Upbeat ending. Offers inspiration and poetry-writing ideas for young writers. Supports dragon topic too.

**Dragon writing! ** This illustrated writing frame invites similes, description, and action words for dragons - plus suggestions for their favourite food. Not Teachers on Toast, surely?!? The Guide sheet provides teacher support for firing enthusiasm, ideas and language, and presenting the sheet. Supports literacy, poetry, vocabulary-building, speaking and listening skills, expressive movement (in the recommended warm-up enactments), and study of mythical beasts. Best for lower juniors (7-9 year-olds).

Sun and sunshine similes with starter phrases in an attractive frame with picture prompts all round, for Yrs 2-4 approx. The sun is as hot as, as yellow as, as bright as, as round as…, and as - (gap for idea) as. And when it’s sunny, I like to – (line for filling). SEE ALSO: Weather Poetry Bundle - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/weather-poetry-bundle-ks1-11974784 **+ SEA SIMILES: **https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/weather-poetry-bundle-ks1-11974784 .

Exciting, illustrated writing frames supporting Journeys, Explorers, Transport, Space, Ocean and World topics, harder and easier versions. Children write in first person, as the explorer, describing their imaginary expedition: destination, means of transport, clothes, equipment, dangers (3 invited), and how they’re feeling. An activity to get everyone on board, fired up and thinking, also developing literacy skills.

Children love rhymes, but they can be tricky to construct, so this resource provides 4 structured rhyme frames on the theme ‘seabed’, with a sheet of tips and examples to help them along. Suitable for Yrs 5/6 working mostly independently, and for Yrs 3/4 with teacher support. However, all will benefit from a whole-class rhyme produced together, chanted and clapped to check rhythm, and written up on the board as an example. Year 2 would also enjoy a shared rhyme challenge, using a selected verse from the sheet. The resource supports literacy, especially poetry and linguistics, developing language dexterity and control of rhyme and rhythm. It would also support any topic related to sea, pirates, holidays, maritime history or the environment. Contents: 2 sheets, black-and-white, PDF.

‘Juicy Fruit Queen’ is the fun title of this lively, rhythmic poem. Clap and swing along to it with your class, to liven up your healthy eating guidance and encourage fruit-eating. As a published children’s poet, I’ve written this multi-verse poem specially for TES users. It’s versatile for a range of applications and age groups, also serving as an introduction to poetry-writing, rhyme fun or discussion, or as an action rhyme to get your class up and moving.

This is a funny, crazy rhyme about face masks, for a little light relief in Coronavirus times. While taking a humorous look at our masks, and how they can come in handy for non-health purposes too, this three-verse, rhyming poem will also develop children’s sense of rhythm, rhyme and poetic form, stretching vocabulary and ideas, too. It also has great scope for actions and performance, and offers welcome cheer and fun for students and teachers alike at this time. Written by the author - a published children’s poet.

The Thrill of December - this is the title of my uplifting, 4-verse poem for children and their teachers. Enjoy the magical images, the rhythm and rhyme, the sparkle and glow of natural, outdoor Christmastime in this upbeat poem. Discuss, share similar experiences, add a verse of your own. Poem written by me, a published children’s poet.

What We Found at the Seaside - published by The School Magazine, Australia, celebrates natural seaside wonders, in a flowing pattern. 15 short lines, starting: Waves purring wind stirring      gulls chuckling      crabs scuttling spray splashing fish dashing Supports: poetry appreciation, poetry crafting, creative writing, ocean studies, nature, environment, green living, vocabulary, speaking and listening, and PSHE - calming and soothing.

Ocean poetry is exciting to write. This rhyme bank and the example verses on the next page will help you and your class to concoct fantastic poems about the wild and wonderful oceans, dangerous voyages, pirates, treasure and more. Supports literacy, as well as study of oceans, travel, history, geography and any class reading book with the theme. Recommended particularly for Yrs 4-7.

Emergent and newly independent writers will enjoy thinking up describing words to write on the swirly, little lines on their cloud. Think up some together first, e.g. - fluffy, puffy, white, grey, floaty, soft, light, high, drifting, quiet, slow, pink, dark, stormy, woolly, silky, silver, whirly, swirly or candy floss. Here’s a published poem of mine about clouds on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EOKVIktMh10 Let children sound out the words, whether or not correctly, to sustain flow and build confidence. See my other weather writing frames, including harder version of this: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/weather-poetry-bundle-ks1-11974784

These 3 punchy rhymes bring the past alive. Their titles are: Who Lived in the Castle?, Bowing and Curtseying, and My Castle is Old. Each contain rhyme and rhythm, while offering scope for alternative words to be slotted in (notes below provide ideas for these). There is also scope for acting-out, adding sound effects and enhancing with percussion. Suggestions for all of these are provided. They serve to prepare children for writing about castles, also enriching their vocabulary, developing their sense of rhyme and rhythm, and providing a window on the past. In addition, they promote physical development: the actions involved are fun and imagination-triggering, encouraging creative expression and physical exertion. The rhymes and illustrations are my own. 3 sheets in total -PDF.

A beautiful, calming snow scene to write on, following the snow’s gentle curves. The starter phrases invite describing words and similes.

Dinosaurs are exciting to write about, especially when you invent your own! This accessible, illustrated creative writing frame comes in easy and harder versions, for approx. Yrs 2 - 4. Supports Dinosaurs and related topics, and Literacy too. Get your whole class writing with enthusiasm and expression, while thinking and learning about the prehistoric world too!

Healthy eating becomes meaningful for children when thinking up healthy foods beginning with particular letters, e.g. Green beans for the last letter in “Healthy eating”. Adjectives, like Gorgeous, and phrases, like Good for you (for the G letter), are also fun and meaningful to select. The Ideas Sheet provides plenty of suggestions for each letter of the acrostic, to prompt for as needed. Supports Literacy as well as healthy eating drives. Recommended for upper Juniors (9-11 approx.).

This rhyme bank and examples page will provide all the back-up you need to concoct verses about castle characters with your class. There are rhyme lists for King, Queen, Knight, Prince, Princess and Ghost, with an example verse for each on the next page. Tips for presenting and guiding are also provided. Bring history alive by inventing funny, crazy, spooky or beautiful rhyming couplets (or more) about the people who lived in our ancient castles, or bring your literacy or poetry lesson alive this way. I introduce rhymes like these in my poetry workshops, adapting the presentation to suit the different literacy levels. It’s an activity that gets everyone hooked.

This sheet combines poetry-writing with emotional outlets, supporting Literacy and PSHE simultaneously. If sadness, happiness, excitement, and one emotion to choose, were sounds, what would they be? Suggestions are provided on the Example Sheet, which will support teacher and pupils alike, also offering prompts for a warm-up discussion about feelings and what they’re like. This resource would support anti-bullying drives and other social issues, as well as providing openings for maturing children and teens to explore and share their own feelings and moods. The metaphors invited will stretch creative writing techniques at the same time. Encourage embellishments, such as adjectives and onomatopoeia.

Children love this activity. Dragons can be sizzling-hot, ice-cold, fierce, friendly, clumsy, graceful - whatever the individual child wants them to be, and their exciting features, shown in the illustration, are sure to trigger a colourful array of possibilities, as your class dash down their descriptive word ideas on the lines. They’ll need to turn the sheet round as they go to follow the line angles - adding to the fun! Encourage able writers to add in similes under the lines, as demonstrated in the accompanying guide. Suggestions are provided there for warm-up and follow-on activities, as well as for words. See my other resources for more dragon-focused activities and supporting posters.