Resources to support knowledge of poets
Centre for Literacy in Primary Education- Poetry Section https://clpe.org.uk/poetry This site is invaluable for both primary and secondary practitioners, it features different poets, their work, videos of poems being performed.
The Poetry Society has a section for young poets: https://poetrysociety.org.uk/
Forward Arts Foundation – National Poetry Day has a variety of poetry and teaching suggestions https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/poems/
Look at long and short lists for poetry awards, such as the CLIPPA – https://clpe.org.uk/poetry/CLiPPA
Get involved with your class – Poetry by Heart competition
Just Imagine is a site that has reviews of books, including poetry. Each review gives a short summary of the text and what age range/subject it may be suitable for: https://justimagine.co.uk/reviews/?book_genre%5B%5D=poetry
Explore YouTube for poet performances.
Look at what your local library has to offer. The borrowbox app has e-books that you can borrow for free through your library, https://www.borrowbox.com/
Discussions about poetry: https://childrenspoetrysummit.com
Supporting a range of voices, backgrounds and life experiences in the classroom
Tiny Owl Publishing has a range of books from global authors, such as When I Coloured in the World by the poet Ahmadreza Ahmadi, translated from Persian: https://tinyowl.co.uk/
Organisations such as the British Council and Centre for Iranian Studies can offer advice as well as resources in home languages: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-poetry https://fis-iran.org/
The Dirigible Balloon has a vast array of free poetry written for children: https://dirigibleballoon.org/
The Children’s Poetry Archive has poetry for children from around the world: https://childrens.poetryarchive.org/
Supporting your practice as a teacher
Become a reader of poetry, read widely, and find something that connects with you. Watch poets perform their poems and utilise these in the classroom.
Teaching sequences can be found on the CLPE site and the National Poetry Day site.
UKLA resources:
Teaching Poetry Webinar with Rebecca Simpson-Hargreaves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv-iweQP34M
Poetry Matters by Andrew Lambirth https://ukla.org/product/poetry-matters-2/
Open University Research Rich Pedagogies site https://ourfp.org
has a large number of resources to support poetry knowledge and practice, here are a few examples:
To help with the identification of poetry, find resources on sites that are poetry specific, look at the form it takes, e.g. is it narrative through verse, does it follow a specific pattern?
The Book Trust has a variety of poetry resources, including poetry prompts: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/resources/find-resources/poetry-prompts/
The Poetry Society has top tips for teaching poetry: https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award/top-tips-for-teaching-poetry/
A Sample of Recommended Poetry Collections
A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the very young – Michael Rosen, illustrated by Chris Riddell.
A Passing on of Shells – Simon Lamb, illustrated by Chris Riddell.
Are We Nearly There Yet? – Holiday Poems chosen by Brian Moses.
Belonging Street – Mandy Coe.
Colossal words for kids – Colette Hiller, illustrated by Tor Freeman.
England: Poems from a school – Edited by Kate Clanchy.
Hot Like Fire and Other Poems – Valerie Bloom.
I am the Seed that Grew the Tree: A Nature Poem for Every Day – In collaboration with the National Trust, chosen by Fiona Waters, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon.
Midnight Feasts: Tasty poems chosen by A.F.Harrold, illustrated by Katy Riddell.
On the Move: Poetry about migration – Michael Rosen, illustrated by Quentin Blake.
One River, Many Creeks: poems from all around the world – chosen by Valerie Bloom.
Overheard in a Tower Block – Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner.
Paint Me a Poem – Grace Nichols.
Poems to Save the World With– Chris Riddell.
Poetry for a Change – A National Poetry Day Anthology.
Silly Verse for Kids – Spike Milligan.
Spooky Poems Aloud – Joseph Coelho, Daniel Gray-Barnett.
The Black Flamingo – Dean Atta.
The Girl Who Became a Tree – Joseph Coelho.
The Jolly Christmas Postman– Janet and Allan Ahlberg.
The Same Inside: poems about empathy and friendship – Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow, Roger Stevens.
The Very Best of Paul Cookson – Paul Cookson.
Thinker My Puppy Poet and Me – Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Ehsan Abdollahi.
Tiger Tiger Burning Bright! An animal poem for every day of the year– In collaboration with the National Trust, chosen by Fiona Waters, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup.
Under the Spell of the Moon – A collection of poems chosen by world picture book illustrators.
Vikings in the Supermarket – Nick Sharratt.
Werewolf Club Rules – Joseph Coelho.
When I Coloured in the World– Ahmadreza Ahmadi, illustrated by Ehsan Abdollahi.
Wise up! Wise down! – John Agard and Jonarno Lawson, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura.