If you are looking for new ways to approach writing – and performing – poetry, you'll find a great range of poetry resources to get the ball rolling and students on their feet!
For those of you who’d like an accessible introduction to the power of writing poetry, With this pen is a lovely KS3 resource which allows your students to explore what the act of writing means to them, and to draw on their own experience to craft a personal response.
If you want something more focused for your poetry lessons, war poetry is a popular topic across all English key stages or year groups, and it is often studied from a reading or assessment perspective. Write your own war poem is the perfect resource to encourage more creative responses. Tailor it to your students' interests and help them to understand the importance of making an emotional connection with the reader in their poetry writing.
Looking ahead to the autumn or if you are teaching a Gothic scheme of learning, it’s always useful to have a topical and engaging resource or two up your sleeve. Halloween poems focuses on 3 short poems on vampires, witches and ghosts to inspire your students to play around with rhyme in their own poems – but at the beginning of lines, rather than the end.
For even later in the year, Christmas poems also focuses on the power of rhyme and rhythm when writing poems. Both approaches would particularly lend themselves to students performing their seasonal poems out loud!
If you want to take performance poetry even further, look no further than this Poetry slam resource which explains the origins and purpose of spoken word or performance poetry before your students take that first step towards reading their poetry out loud. You could accompany these activities with videos of performance poets, such as Salena Godden, Maya Angelou (her performance of ‘And Still I Rise’ is timeless), John Hegley, Roger McGough, Kae Tempest or Spoz, or hip hop artists like Akala.
Try a complementary resource on Preparing to perform poetry which uses Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Jabberwocky’ to guide your students through the performance poetry process from start to finish.
This article was first published as an Editor's pick newsletter in 2022.
More poetry resources?
If you are looking for more support with teaching poetry, try Teachit's comprehensive poetry schemes of learning and teaching packs.
Download Unseen poetry, Poetry through the ages and World War I poetry teaching packs for everything you need to teach, including lesson plans and classroom resources.
