Sometimes, in the middle of the school year, the pattern of summarising, drafting, and publishing stories based on what children have heard as part of the Main Lesson learning can become a bit repetitive. The children have worked hard through the first half of the year honing their writing skills and improving the quality of their editing and publishing, and they’re ready for a change.
Often at this point in the year, as we turn towards spring, I try and weave in some poetry as part of our Main Lesson work. In earlier years, with Class Two and Three, this was primarily Acrostic poetry, because it is just such a simple idea to grasp. In Class Four we explored Cinquain poetry (a 5 line poem that does not rhyme – they can be written about what ever you like but they must follow the syllable pattern of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2), and simple rhyming couplet poems.
This year, given the connection the Greeks had to all things poetic, it felt fitting to introduce the concept of the Ode. The children at this age are deeply reflective, open, and willing to be vulnerable on paper. I know this window of opportunity is small so bringing in Odes in the middle of Class Five seemed to be a good option. The children had really connected to the characters in the Greek Myth stories, both Heroes and Gods, so asking them to choose one they admired was only a challenge in narrowing it down! We then worked through a process from brainstorm to completed Ode, and I was absolutely blown away by the quality of work. Every student finished a beautiful Ode to their chosen God or Hero. Even those children who often resist writing and find poetry a real challenge leapt into this with huge enthusiasm. I had written a very thorough lesson plan for myself for this work because if there’s one thing I’ve discovered, it’s that I absolutely need to know how to scaffold each step of the poetry writing process for my children if I want them to actually produce what I’m hoping for. This meant that I knew what I was doing and could slowly and clearly step the students through the process so every single one experienced success with it.
Do you want a copy of the lesson plan I wrote for Odes so you can do them with your children? Just enter your email below and I’ll send it straight to you!
There’s something about poetry for children that allows the creative floodgates to open. Having a structure to work with, and the opportunity to play with words and metaphors on paper brings writing into a whole new space of creativity and reflection. There are so many wonderful forms of poetry that we can expose children to, there’s sure to be one out there for every type of writer. And the more we can allow for these moments of creativity and reflection, the better.