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.

Activities and lesson plans for KS3 students based on Thembe Mvula’s poem ‘Moving House’. Designed to teach students different ways of responding to a poem and how to then relate that poem to personal experiences they may have had. Includes poem and detailed instructions for a lesson plan.

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 comprehensive KS3/KS4 lesson plan designed to teach students how to respond to a poem, study the language of a poem, perform the poem, and then finally use that poem as inspiration to write something new. Includes a recording of Valerie Bloom reading her poem ‘Two Seasons’ as inspiration.

A comprehensive creative writing lesson plan for KS1/KS2 students, designed to teach them the value of drawing from personal experiences when writing creatively. Includes a copy of the poem ‘Blackpool Tower’ and further resources from the National Literary Trust as inspiration. A National Poetry Day resource created by the National Literacy Trust.

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

A comprehensive poetry analysis lesson plan for KS2 English students that uses Joseph Coelho’s poem ‘Gingerbread Man’. The poem deals with issues around being teased or picked on at school, and includes useful links and resources on how to broach this subject sensitively in the classroom. Includes a copy of Joseph’s poem as well as links to more of his work and free teaching resources from CLPE.

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.

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 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.

Activities and lesson plans for KS2 students based on Rachel Rooney’s poem ‘Liar’. Designed to explore the ‘fake news’ phenomena through poetry and performance. Includes poem and detailed instructions for a lesson plan.

A lesson plan for KS2 and KS3 students based on Philip Gross’ poem ‘Nanny Neverly’. With activities covering reading, writing and spoken language, children are encouraged to create poems on their ‘Granny’, whether funny or sad, with suggested further reading ideas for contrast with Gross’ poem.

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.

Riddle writing poetry activities for KS3 students. Includes 3 riddles (and answers for teachers!) as well as detailed prompts for how to structure activities for different group sizes (class, group and individual work).

National Poetry Day (October 3rd, 2019) is an annual celebration of poetry and all things poetical. It is about everybody sharing poetry, reading poetry, writing poetry and enjoying poetry. Use this pack of tips and activity ideas and join in the celebrations – not only on National Poetry Day itself but all year round. It’s full of activities schools can do (primary and secondary) and also contains book recommendations.

Activities and lesson plans for KS4 students based on Rue Gombochuma’s poem ‘The truth’. Designed to encourage children to think of stories and fantasies they heard growing up and how to reflect on these using a variety of poetic devices. Includes poem and detailed instructions for a lesson plan.

A poetry writing resource using a brand new poem from Bardd Plant Cymru, Gruffudd Owen. Designed for KS3, this resource is also available in English.

Use this guide to make a rainbow poem with the whole class (or school). Designed for KS2, this resource uses colour association to create poetry, including a classic poem from Christina Rossetti and some handy video links to help students think about colour from other perspectives – have you ever seen what colour is like for a snake? Find out with this resource.