World Poetry Day - KS2

What do you know about poetry?

It's like a song, but only the words. It can be spoken or written down, it can take you to different worlds.

Lots of poems love to rhyme, it's a fun way to pass the time.

You could write about a clever fox, who keeps his treasure in a box.

And some poems have a beat that can move your feet. A da-dum da-dum. That's fun to repeat.

They can also be silly, to give you a great big giggle. Like, what if your favourite teacher was secretly a giant wobbly pickle?

But they're not always for laughs. Some poems can be dramatic, or even a little bit sad.

They can help you explore big, important feelings you've had.

And some poems tell a story, like "The Owl and the Pussycat who went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat".

I think everyone's a poet, but some just don't know it.

So, what will your poem be about ? A friend or a pet?

Or simply, the best day you've had yet?

Poems are like trees.

They come in all shapes and sizes.

There are big ones.

Messy ones.

Ordered ones.

Small ones.

Haikus are small poems that share a moment in time with very few words.

They have a set number of syllables (sounds) in each line.

Every word is made up of sounds.

If I place my hand under my chin, I can count the syllables.

Each time my chin hits my hand, that’s one.

The word assembly has three: AS-SEM-BLY.

The word today has two: TO-DAY.

There are just three lines in a Haiku, with a set number of syllables in each line:

Five in the first.

Seven in the second.

And five in the third.

You have to keep trying different words until you have the right number of syllables.

The winter trees shimmer.

Hmm, that’s six. Too many syllables for the first line. I need just five.

The winter trees sway.

OK, that can work for my first line. Now I need seven syllables for my second line.

Their branches creak into song.

Good. Now for the final line I need just five syllables.

I can hear them grow.

Haikus are often written about the different seasons. But you can write one about anything.

I raced to the goal.

The match is almost over.

The ball hits the net.

That’s one of the things I love about different forms of poems. They force you to redraft and edit, which is a vital tool for anyone interested in writing. There are longer forms, like sonnets, that also use rhyme. They have fourteen lines split over four verses.

Verses one, two, and three have four lines. The last verse has two lines.

He is old and tall—the Oldman tree.

His branches reach into the sky.

The Oldman tree has knobbly knees.

He towers tall, he towers high.

His bark is rougher than a rock.

There are leaves curled in his hair.

His canopy hides an eagle flock.

You must not climb him, you must not dare.

Oldman tree sings a sappy song at night.

He hides in every forest path.

His songs are gooey-sweet, filled with delight.

Listen out for his creaking laugh.

Oldman tree grows in every wood.

Singing songs and doing good.

Just like there are trees that are balanced and ordered, and others that are wild and messy, you can write poems without any form, with verses that just sound right to you.

The monkey puzzle tree was like a giant’s hug.

Embracing me and my friends with its green hands.

Lifting us up to the sky and always caught us if we fell.

With poetry, there is no right or wrong. In fact, anything grows!

NARRATOR:

Come with me on a journey through history and time, exploring the world's best poets and the whole thing's going to rhyme!

[Cough]

Hopefully…

First to Ancient Greece and one guy we've gotta see - the famous poet, Homer who wrote the Iliad and Odyssey.

Spanning nearly twenty years, these two epic tales show a king's heroic journey through monsters, storms and gales.

Now leaving Greece for China, the country of this poet's birth. Li Bai was thought of as a god, exiled from Heaven to Earth.

Children still memorise his poems to this very day, and it's believed nearly a thousand were written along the way.

Now, you probably know this next guy, for his work's upon the stage. But did you also know he was the poet of his age?

Shakespeare's collection of sonnets numbered over one hundred and fifty.

And he made up words we still use today, which I think is pretty nifty!

And now to my personal favourite - my fellow Scotsman, Robert Burns, whose most famous poem, 'Auld Lang Syne' each New Year's Eve returns.

He even has a national day where he is celebrated with haggis, whiskey and recitals of poems he created.

Some poets are renowned in their lifetimes, and are popular far and wide, but others like Emily Dickinson found more fame once they had died.

Only ten of her poems were published while she was alive, but now one thousand eight hundred of her amazing poems survive.

And to a poet who's a doctor! Well, not a proper one that's true. He brought us the 'Cat in the Hat' and 'Horton Hears a Who'.

His colourful stories were fun and amusing, but like 'Green Eggs and Ham', they were sometimes confusing!

This poet and author wrote of singing caged birds. Spoke out on oppression and urged change with her words:

You may write me down in history with your bitter twisted liesYou may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise

Our final poet shows us that with passion we can succeed, when he left school aged just thirteen, he could neither write or read.

Birmingham's dreadlocked Bard, or Benjamin Zephaniah uses humour in his poems to educate and inspire.

Poems can be beautiful or powerful, and whether they rhyme or not, I think they're pretty amazing.

And now folks, that your lot!