It is the season of lists of varied usefulness and as children’s squat pens start digging into their exercise books many primary teachers’ thoughts turn to poetry.
From Chocolate Cake to The ABC, Tes has picked out a few recommendations which teachers discussed on Twitter under the #Primaryrocks hashtag this week. Here is a small taste:
Twitter user Miss Crowe from the Isle of Man loves the iconic Michael Rosen. Chocolate Cake was not the only poem by the ex-children’s laureate that featured, but it popped up a number of times.
A4. I always love sharing ‘Chocolate Cake’ by Michael Rosen as it gets them giggling and more confident to try something a bit weird and wonderful in their performances. #primaryrocks
- Miss Crowe (@Crowe1Leah) September 9, 2019
Animals are another hot topic for poetry in class, some less predictable than others.
#PrimaryRocks A4 I am walking with my iguana, what a line, super poem. Anything by Michael Rosen!
- Darren Brady (@Darren1Brady) September 9, 2019
I personally love recipe for a wolf by @PieCorbett chn can innovate it so much. Get some incredible pieces of work from it #primaryrocks
- Miss W (@MissW_KS2) September 9, 2019
The legendary Spike Milligan made the cut for Maxim Kelly, with The ABC a safe choice if you want to bring grins to your pupils’ faces.
A4. I’ve always loved Spike Milligan’s poetry. Silly, daft - but so much great use of language and writing devices. A favourite is The ABC - leads to great art work too. #PrimaryRocks https://t.co/5UcO1dCSFA
- Maxim Kelly (@maximjkelly) September 9, 2019
Recent favourites include the Kate Greenaway award-winning bookThe Lost Words.
#primaryrocks Q4 I’ve loved using Lost Words. It’s insanely rich!
- Stephen LockYer (@mrlockyer) September 9, 2019
And the long-standing classics are still enthusing teachers.
Love The Highwayman. Classic. #PrimaryRocks
- Paul Steenkamp™??♂️ (@Paul_Steenkamp) September 9, 2019
I did ‘the raven’ once and used the simpsons to help understand the story of it - my y6 loved it and I got some really haunting, atmospheric poems out of them inspired by the poem #PrimaryRocks
- Becky (@PrimaryteacherB) September 9, 2019
One thing is pretty clear: poetry is as important in school as it ever was.
What. A. Question. For me poetry is the most personal form of literature we will EVER expose children too. Know your children and find poetry that will resonate and sing to their heart. We can do that in primary before certain poems have to become universal #primaryrocks
- Teacher Glitter (@Teacherglitter) September 9, 2019
