A comprehensive KS3/KS4 creative writing lesson plan using King Henry’s famous ‘Once more unto the breach’ speech from William Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ as inspiration. Includes extracts from the play, as well as an abridged version of the speech for younger students.

A fantastic Welsh language resource written by Casia Wiliam, former Bardd Plant Cyrmu for National Poetry Day 2019. Featuring a poem from Karen Owen.

This guide illustrates how to share your vision of your own special place. Designed for KS3/4/5 and featuring a poem by Seamus Heaney, this guide allows students to push their descriptive language skills in order to build an accurate picture of their vision for another person.

A guide to outlining your poetic vision for our planet and the environment by Sue Hardy-Dawson. Designed for KS2, this guide includes a poem from Where the Zebra’s Go (Otter-Barry Books) as well as links to more helpful videos from Sue on writing poetry and free teaching resources from CLPE.

A short exercise for KS2 exploring poetry and visual art, from poet John Hegley. Featuring a poem from John and text by Clare Elstow, this guide suggests simple ways to use art to engage poetic responses from students. These activities form part of a larger resource pack produced by Tom MacAndrew, access details are included in this resource.

A guide to exploring how using metaphors in poems can help to build pictures and images in our minds. Designed for KS1/2/3 and featuring an extract from ‘Granny Is’ by Valerie Bloom, use this resource structure to discuss how poems form images in our heads and how metaphors can be used to describe characters.

A comprehensive creative writing lesson plan for KS3 students, designed to teach them the value of drawing from personal experiences when writing creatively. Includes a copy of Joshua Siegal’s poem ‘The Both of Us’ and further resources from the National Literary Trust as inspiration. A National Poetry Day resource created by the National Literacy Trust.

A complete lesson plan for KS2/KS3 students, using a poem by a 13 year old winner of the Betjeman Poetry Prize as a way of encouraging students to think more deeply about language. Includes a copy of Rebecca MacLean’s poem.

Classroom activities for KS1 and KS2 students based on Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem ‘Fair Play’. Designed to teach students about using humour and falsehoods in poetry to entertain their audience or readers. The activity encourages performance and group work.

A comprehensive poetry analysis lesson plan for KS2 English students that uses Charles Causley’s poem ‘The Owl Looked Out of the Ivy Bush’ to encourage students to think more deeply about poetic voices and the intention’s behind ‘nonsense poetry’. Includes a copy of the poem and suggested lesson structure.

Activities and lesson plans for KS3 students based on Henry Normal’s poem ‘Three Lies and One Truth about the Moon’. Designed to explore the ‘fake news’ phenomena through poetry and performance. Includes poem and detailed instructions for a lesson plan.

Using a classic poem from Paul Laurence Dunbar (influential for poets such as Maya Angelou), this guide explores how to write a poem about freedom (or its opposite). Group activities designed for KS3, and featuring links and prompts for further exploration of Dunbar’s legacy and other poetry writing techniques.

A guide to exploring limits through poetry, featuring the poem ‘Eye Chart’ by partially sighted poet Nuala Watt. Designed for KS3/4, this resource encourages students to examine their own strengths and weaknesses, and how these abilities make them feel, using this to create their own ‘Eye Chart’.

A guide to exploring the meaning behind words and finding connections to inspire writing. For Key Stages 3-4 and featuring ‘Semantics’ by Keisha Thompson.

This guide offers practical steps to utilise Poetry By Heart’s vast online collections to enjoy this National Poetry Day challenge on your own or with friends. For Key Stages 3-5 and featuring ‘We Wear the Mask’ by Paul Dunbar.

A classroom activity for KS2 students based on Richard O’Brien’s poem ‘Iguanadon’t’. Designed to teach students to experiment with wordplay and repetition, to find different ways to tell a story through poetry. The Emma Press encourage you to send the students work through to them to take a look. Resource include Richard O’Brien’s poem.

This exercise encourages KS3 students to be open and draw on personal experiences which can help to produce powerful pieces of writing. Featuring First Story Young Writer, Shakur Grant’s poem ‘Injustice’.

Activities for KS4 students based on Foyle Young Poet of the Year 2015 Award winner Andrew Telford’s poem ‘6 Ways to Look at The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. Encouraging inventive ways of thinking through poetry analysis and group work. Includes Telford’s poem and extension activity for keen and curious learners.

A guide to encouraging reading poetry aloud as a means to inspire Vision, using photography and tips from poet Glyn Maxwell’s handbook On Poetry (Oberon Books). This resource also features a poem by Charles E. Carryl and is adaptable for all key stages.

There are lots of ways to celebrate poetry on National Poetry Day, or any day of the year. Take a look at our bank of resources to get your class started on their poetry day and to celebrate with us!