NATIONAL POETRY DAY 4th OCTOBER 2018
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www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk
#PoetryforaChange
NATIONAL POETRY DAY
4th OCTOBER 2018
For schools and groups celebrating National This year National Poetry Day is on 4th October
Poetry Day and the theme is Change
National Poetry Day is an annual celebration of poetry On National Poetry Day – and every day – make sure that
and all things poetical. It’s about everybody sharing poems are everywhere for everyone. Read them, read
poetry, reading poetry, writing poetry and enjoying them aloud, illustrate them, perform them, write them,
poetry. sing them!
It can be a day for celebrating poetry already enjoyed Look out for the new anthology, Poetry for a Change
and experienced, or a launch pad for setting off that (Otter-Barry Books) containing a mix of 43 new and
experience and enjoyment. classic poems, exploring change in all its aspects.
Poetry gives so much to children’s learning. Through
poetry we can play with language, express and share our Use this pack of tips and activity ideas and join
feelings, explore what others think and feel. in the celebrations – not only on National Poetry
By joining in this celebration you can give children Day itself but all year round
opportunities to find their own connections with poetry,
and inspiration for their imaginations and creativity.
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
1. How to plan your celebration What activities would you like to do
Plan your National Poetry Day celebration all together. to achieve this? –e.g:
If poetry is already a regular part of school life, National • Poetry displays around the school
Poetry Day is a chance to celebrate it, and share it more • Have a poetry slam
widely. • Have a whole school poetry party – or a poetry party
You may want to use National Poetry Day to inspire with parents
and set activities in place for poetry to play a key part • Meet a poet!
in children and young people’s learning and reading In the next sections you’ll find more ideas for activities,
pleasure. and poetry to read.
Get every class talking about poetry – What do they How will you know what the day has achieved – and tell
know about poetry? How do they feel about poetry? people?
Decide together what you want the day to achieve – e.g: • Record it, write about it! – photos, videos, podcasts;
• More people knowing about poetry blogs and newsletters
• More people enjoying poetry • Make displays about activities and work from the day
• Knowing about more kinds of poetry • Ask everyone what they liked best, and what they got
• Feeling that you could be poets from the day
• Fun! • Are students talking about poetry more? Reading it
more? Writing it more? Enjoying it more?
How will you keep the momentum going?
See section 6 for ideas.
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
2. Things you can do – simple and fun Things to do
Some thoughts about writing a poem…
Fun with words – Alliteration!
Choosing words starting with the same letter
Here are ideas to choose from and enjoy on National Poetry The word ‘poet’ comes from the Greek word ‘poietes’, gives wonderful sounds to poems.
Day, and every day! Don’t forget, make sure you have lots of which means ‘someone who makes or creates things. Look at this description of a fox …His fur was freaked.
poetry books everywhere. In creating a poem think about: His foxy face was frantic as he flew. A few feathers
Things to talk about • Crafting your poem – looking for the right words, and fluttered out of his mouth… (F for Fox/Carol Ann Duffy)
What is poetry? What does it mean to you? the best place for them Have a go – you could make up your own sentences and
Ask people what they think poetry is – how would they • Shaping your poem – will it rhyme or be in free verse? phrases, describing different animals –e.g. ’the darting dog
describe it? What does poetry mean to them? Is it Will you use a particular form or device? – e.g. couplets, dived into the ditch’
something that rhymes; or that doesn’t have to rhyme? haiku, limerick, repetition Fun with words – Onomatapoeia!
Is it funny, beautiful, boring? Does it help you feel or • Your poem’s sound and rhythm Balloons pop. Water drips. Fierce dogs growl. Thunder roars.
understand things? Create a poem from words in a newspaper Think of some more phrases like this where the verb
Make a list and see how many different things poetry can Cut out words and phrases that you like from newspapers sounds like the thing it is describing – just as the word
be to different people. and magazines. Spread them out to see what you’ve got, ‘pop’ sounds like the sound of a balloon bursting!
You could have this discussion to start off your planning move them around and group them. What might you write a ‘List’ poems
for National Poetry Day. poem about? Arrange the cuttings to make a poem. Making a list of things can turn into a poem.
What kinds of poetry do you know? Reading aloud e.g. In Michael Rosen’s poem The Greatest each verse is a list
Make a list of all the different kinds of poetry people know of – Enjoy reading aloud your favourite poems, and listening to of people and the things they are greatest at: I’m the world’s
e.g. funny verse, limericks, rap, haikus, nursery rhymes, free verse, each other reading theirs. Look for story poems like The greatest at sport…. …I’m the world’s greatest inventor
story poems. Put the list up on the wall for people to see, and Highwayman (Alfred Noyes), The Owl and the Pussycat Rupert Brooke, in his poem The Great Lover, lists the
add to it as they meet new kinds of poetry. (Edward Lear) or The Lady of Shalott (Alfred Lord things he loves in life:
Talking about a poem Tennyson) – and how about picture books in rhyme, like ‘White plates and cups, clean-gleaming…Wet roofs,
When you share a poem together read it through more The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson) and The Cat in the Hat (Dr beneath the lamplight; the strong crust Of friendly bread…
than once, maybe a few times. Have copies of it for people Seuss)? Rainbows; and the blue bitter smoke of wood…’
to read; ask people if they would like to read it aloud to Learning poetry off by heart Make a list of all your favourite things and shape it into a
the class. Learning to say or perform a poem aloud, on your own or as poem. You could start it with Brooke’s phrase: ‘These have
Then talk about it – start by asking people ‘Why do you a group, can be a great confidence builder – and great fun. I loved:…’
like – or not like – this poem?’ Make it clear that everyone And it can indeed be ‘by heart’ – getting pleasure from the Inspiration with a well-known poem
is right – there is no right or wrong answer. Everyone will poetry, and a deeper understanding of the words - and being Here is a way of further enjoying a favourite poem or
find their own meanings, likes and dislikes, and that makes able to share that pleasure with others. getting to know a new one – and then being inspired to
for great arguments and discussion! Here are some more Watch poets ‘live’ write your own.
questions you could ask: Watch poets reading and talking about their work on CD, Choose a poem, and spend time reading it together and
• What do you think is the main thing being said in this video and the internet. Find and listen to your favourites, talking about it, including the context in which it was
poem? and get to know new ones, like the National Poetry Day written. Hide the title – and ask people what title they
• How does the poem make you feel? Why? Ambassadors http://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/ambassador/ would give it. When you feel you’re getting to know the
• Are there any lines or words which you specially like? poem, have a go at giving it a new first or last line.
Or take the first line and then follow on by writing your own
poem. This can be a powerful way of being inspired by the
feelings of the original to write about your own feelings.
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
3 Change and Poetry **Growing and learning The changing seasons
Find a poem you like about one of the four
Spring (Deborah Alma)
The theme for this year’s National Poetry Day is Change – …a tiny bird… seasons. Write out your favourite lines and decorate them; or
here are some ideas based on this theme to inspire some of the marvel and the magic of it learn your poem by heart, find some matching music (Vivaldi’s
your poetry activities. in love with itself - Four Seasons!), and recite it to the music.
Poetry for a Change with what it can suddenly do. Have a look at these well-known poems about the seasons
Published by Otter-Barry Books Illustrated by Chie Hosaka spring is like a perhaps hand (e. e. cummings), Summer is
Think about the changes we see in the spring – and about
978-1-910959-50-3 icumen in (Anon), Autumn Fires (R.L.Stevenson), and Stopping
growing up and learning new things. See The Seedling
This is a National Poetry Day anthology and in her by the Woods on a Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)
(Paul Dunbar), Out of the Fire, a Spark (Michaela Morgan),
introduction to it Susannah Herbert, Director of National Advice from a Caterpillar (Rachel Rooney) – and more, in this Change: what people say
Poetry Day, writes: anthology. Look at these sayings and quotations about Change. Talk
This book contains 43 poems – more than half are freshly together about them: What do they mean? Do you agree or
written by living,breathing poets, the rest include classics that **Then and now
not? Are there ideas here you might use for a poem?
they want to share with you, by writers as various as Emily Fire (Brian Moses) • Be the change that you wish to see in the world.
Dickinson, Yeats and that playful shape-shifter Anon. There was a fire in our house Mahatma Gandhi
The theme of change threads through them all, and though when I was a boy, • A change is as good as a rest. Anon.
you will spot recurring subjects – the seasons, seeds, time – a living, breathing family fire… • Life is like the moon, now full, now dark. A saying from
we hope you will also be jolted into laughter and surprise by …Nothing like that these days Poland
poems which change as you read them… …radiators • Life turns on a dime. Stephen King
Here are some ideas from the poems in this anthology which with a cosy and safe sort of heat… • If nothing ever changed there’d be no butterflies. Anon.
might inspire your thinking and your poetry making. Collect Look at the changes that happen with time: new buildings, • It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will
and write down your thoughts and feelings, to use in shaping places abandoned ,new ways and inventions, new things in survive, it is those who can best manage change.
a poem (see general tips above). your life. See too The Way through the Woods (Rudyard Charles Darwin
Kipling) and Portobello’s Soul (Remi Graves).
**How we change and adapt ourselves Change acrostic
Front Door (Imtiaz Darker) **The smallest thing… This is a poem where, if you read down the first letters of the
Wherever I have lived, For Want of a Nail (Anon) lines of the poem, you get a word that is actually the subject
walking out of the front door …For want of a battle the kingdom was lost, of the poem – e.g:
every morning and all for the want of a horseshoe nail. Choose to change
means crossing over Can you think of times in your life when the smallest thing Have an open mind
to a foreign country… has had an effect on what has happened? For example what Accept new ideas
This poem shows how we all change – our manner, our words, could have happened – or wouldn’t have happened – if you New skills, new understanding
our expressions – on crossing the threshold between home turned left instead of right going to school one day, or if you Grow and learn
and the outside. didn’t notice that your shoe lace was undone? Write a story Enjoy each season
poem about this!
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
4 More things you can do Poetry ‘X Factor’! Poetry party
You might want to do this individually, in pairs, or in This would be a lovely event for National
Here are some more ideas for poetry activities,
small groups. It will work well in schools, or in libraries Poetry Day, especially with schools and reading
including several involving the whole school and
with reading groups. groups!
families. You’ll also find some great ideas in the
Choose a poem and decide how you are going to Invite parents and friends to a special poetry party
National Poetry Day special Education Resources
‘perform’ it – e.g. learn and recite it, read it aloud with poetry performances, music, slide shows of
http://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/education/
together, take turns in reading different parts, add pupils’ poetry. It could include any of the activities
Poetry aloud: Poetry slam noises and actions, beat out a rhythm. Then have a above – e.g. a poetry slam, ‘X factor’, or choral poetry.
A poetry slam is a poetry competition where poems are special poetry show – read and recite your chosen Depending on the space and audience size, people
judged by the audience who give each poem a mark. poems to your group/class/the school. You could could sit at tables with refreshments – even dance to
• People read their favourite poems – or poems have a ‘judging panel’ – e.g. teacher/some pupils – the poetry!
which they have written to give feedback. Make the feedback positive and This would also make a great intergenerational
• Take turns in reading out the poems helpful, with tips and ideas for how else you could activity – older and younger people enjoying poetry
• After each poem the audience holds up score present the poem. together.
cards (1-5) – or gives a show of hands at the end ofVote for the poem you think has the biggest X Factor! Tell us about your events
each round Acting out poems Anyone can hold an event for National Poetry Day.
Hold rounds, with one person going out in each round
Many poems work well in performance. For some We invite everyone to list any public event on the
until you have a winner.
ideas have a look at Julia Donaldson’s Perform a events map on website. You are welcome to charge
Poetry aloud: Choral poetry Poem – and choose a poem which everyone is keen to for your event. If you used our logos or posters,
With choral poetry everyone learns and recites a have a go with. take pictures and put them on social media with the
poem together in a group. It’s an enjoyable way of Read and talk about the poem together, and then hashtag #nationalpoetryday.
experiencing poetry with everyone joining in together. divide it up so that children in twos or threes can
• Short, humorous narrative poems are good for this work together on actions for their part of the poem.
• As well as unison, include solo voices, or children The groups then come together and each group acts
reciting in pairs or threes out their part. Give feedback to each other – say
• Think about variations in pace and volume – you which parts worked well and suggest ideas for how
can have good fun with this! it might be better, so that together you can shape up
• And actions, gestures, body movements and finger the whole performance.
plays
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
5 Meeting a poet Libraries and bookshops Link up with your school library
A number of libraries and bookshops will be offering and local library
Actually meeting a poet and hearing them read and National Poetry Day events, including opportunities They can suggest poets you might like to invite
talk about their work, can be a special experience, to meet with poets and listen to their poetry. and they may be able to help in booking them.
triggering fresh enthusiasm for poetry, or
Planning In addition they can lend copies of the poet’s
encouraging pupils to realise that they can be poets
Book your poet well in advance! books, and, if needed, a venue for sessions.
too. Here are practical tips for arranging a visit:
Writers’ diaries usually get well-booked up, often a Enjoy!
Where to book whole year ahead for events like World Book Day
• Direct with poets via their websites Other things you might think about:
– and National Poetry Day. An early booking will
• Through your school library service, or public also give you plenty of time to make arrangements Book sales: This depends on a school’s policy. If
library service with them, and for your class to start to get to you do offer books for sale you can arrange this
• Through your local bookshop know their poetry. Sort out practical arrangements via your poet or their publisher (usually as sale-or-
• The Poetry Society www.poetrysociety.org.uk together about fee, invoicing etc. return), or with your local bookshop.
• Authors Aloud www.authorsaloud.co.uk Skype/live web-chat: If you can’t afford or arrange
Look after your poet
• Contact an Author http://www.contactanauthor. a real-life visit, maybe a virtual one is possible!
Make sure your poet knows how to find your
co.uk/ See http://virtualauthors.co.uk/ This could be
school. Plan the day together, and any equipment
• Speaking of Books http://www.speakingofbooks. especially exciting for making contact with a poet
needed. Make them welcome, have someone to
studysupport.info/ in another country.
take them round, and offer tea/coffee/ lunch.
Schools Think about what you hope will come out of the visit… Booktrust offers a useful checklist for planning
If funding is tight, think about joining up with other …and talk about this when you’re arranging the day an author visit: http://www.booktrust.org.uk/
schools. Your poet could maybe visit two schools together – e.g. programmes/arranging-an-author-visit/
in the same day – or schools could come together, • Children’s increased enthusiasm for poetry It also has a funny but sometimes-true poem by
especially where a poet likes to do sessions with • Children more confident about reciting poetry children’s author Philip Ardagh.
larger audiences. • Children more confident about writing poetry
It’s great to get involved with local poets – and • A special book or slide show of children’s poetry
they might also then like to become a Patron of written following the visit
Reading at your school.
• A really enjoyable day – with pictures and maybe
http://www.patronofreading.co.uk/ See section 6
a film of the day!
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
6 Keeping poetry on the programme have lots of post-its available so that pupils can put
After all the excitement of the day, make sure that you up around the poem their thoughts and responses
keep up the momentum so that poetry is alive and well about it.
and enjoyed throughout your school. Build some of these Make individual or class poetry anthologies
poetry ideas into school life; enjoy them in library activities These could be anthologies of favourite poems or parts of
and reading groups. poems, as well as pupils’ own poems. Think of a title for
Tell everyone about National Poetry Day the anthology and design and create a title page. Use a ring-
Make a display around the school’s celebration of National binder to collect all the poems together – you could make
Poetry Day, with photographs, quotes about the day, and several copies, and make them available in classrooms and in
poetry inspired by the day. the school library.
Write about the day for the school newsletter and website. Set up a blog about poetry
Poetry display boards Another way for pupils to write and talk (podcasts) about
their favourite – and not so favourite- poems, and share their
If you haven’t already set these up for National Poetry Day,
own writing.
put them up now so that they are all around the school.
Encourage classes and individual pupils to put up their Invite a poet to be a Patron of Reading for your school
own poems, and their favourite poems. Have fun too in A Patron of Reading is a school’s special children’s author,
illustrating the poems and decorating the boards. poet, storyteller or illustrator. The school and their patron
Poem of the week develop a relationship over a period of time, with the
patron helping to encourage and develop a reading for
On your display boards have a special space for ‘Poem of
pleasure culture in the school.
the week’. Teachers could take it in turn to choose this –
www.patronofreading.co.uk
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
7 More reading ideas
Here are some suggestions for classroom and library poetry bookshelves! It includes books by National Poetry Day Ambassadors,
plus just a few suggestions from the many inspiring, and enjoyable poetry collections for children and young people.
National Poetry Day, Poetry For a Change, Otter- Sarah Crossan, Moonrise (a YA novel written in Gaby Morgan (ed.), Read Me 2: A Poem for Every
Barry Books, 978-1910959503 free verse), Bloomsbury, 978-1408867808 Day of the Year, Macmillan, 978-1447294009
John Agard & Satoshi Kitamura, The Rainmaker Nicola Davies & Mark Hearld, A First Book of Michaela Morgan, Wonderland: Alice in Poetry,
Danced, Hodder, 978-1444932607 Nature, Walker Books, 978-1406349160 Macmillan, 978-1509818846
Valerie Bloom, Hot Like Fire, Bloomsbury, 978- Jean Dean & Roger Stevens, The Penguin in Lost Brian Moses, Lost Magic: the very best of Brian
0747599739 Property, Macmillan, 978-1447248583 Moses, Macmillan, 978-1509838769
Liz Brownlee, Roger Stevens & Matt Goodfellow, Julia Donaldson & Clare Melinsky, Poems to Karl Nova, Rhythm and Poetry, Caboodle Books,
The Same Inside: Poems about Empathy & Perform, Macmillan, 978-1447243397 978-0995488540
Friendship, Macmillan, 978-1509854509 Carol Ann Duffy (ed), 101 Poems for Children: Rachel Rooney & Chris Riddell, A Kid in My Class
Liz Brownlee, Roger Stevens & Matt Goodfellow, A Laureate’s Choice, Macmillan, 978-1447220268 (coming August 2018), Otter-Barry Books
Reaching the Stars: Poems about Extraordinary Chrissie Gittins, Adder, Bluebell, Lobster, Otter- Joshua Seigal, Little Lemur Laughing, Bloomsbury,
Women and Girls, Macmillan, 978-1509814282 Barry Books, 978-1910959558 978-1472930040
Joseph Coelho & Kate Milner, Overheard in a Matt Goodfellow & Hannah Asen, Chicken on the Roger Stevens, Off By Heart, A & C Black,
Tower Block, Otter-Barry Books, 978-1910959589 Roof, Otter-Barry Books, 978-1910959909 978-1408192948
Paul Cookson, The Very Best of Paul Cookson: Sue Hardy-Dawson, Where Zebras Go, Otter-Barry Roger Stevens, Liz Brownlee & Sue Hardy-
Let No-one Steal Your Dreams, Macmillan, 978- Books, 978-1910959312 Dawson, Apes to Zebras: an A-Z of Shape Poems,
1509883493 Bloomsbury, 978-1472929525
John Hegley, I Am a Poetato, Frances Lincoln,
Paul Cookson, The Works: Every poem you will 978-1847803979 See also
ever need at school (Anthology), Macmillan, 978-
1447273493 Ted Hughes, Collected poems for children, Faber, Michael Rosen & Jill Calder, What is Poetry?
978-0571215027 The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing
Sally Crabtree & Sonia Esplugas, Magic Train Ride, Poems, Walker Books, 978-1844287635
Barefoot Books, 978-1846866579 Roger McGough, M Rosen, K Paul, You Tell Me!,
Frances Lincoln, 978-1847804440
Find even more information and inspiration
www.nationalpoetryday.org
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