Teach Primary Issue 19.6

This architectural phenomenon provides the perfect hook to start linking what the children might already recognise and understand, with what we want them to learn about. What gates exist in the world? What are they for? How about the boundaries of private or municipal gardens, churchyards, towns, parishes and so on? If you use a familiar and unique piece of architecture such as this, pupils will not only start building a sense of place – ‘ this is my village, and this is what makes it special ’ – but you are threading the weft into the warp of what they already understand. Have you walked your locality? Do you know what your children see on their way to school? Always do this. And bear in mind that they see the world from far lower down than you do! Three dimensions Another way to lift the curriculum off the page and directly into pupils’ lives is to ensure you have something in 3D. This is as simple as bringing an orange into the classroom. Pass it around. Smell it. Wonder at it. Peel it. Has anyone eaten one? Are oranges grown here in the UK? Why not? How might they get here? This is you pre-heating the oven before you hit the required learning – be it climate zones, trade routes, or what have you. I know that many schools and trusts have invested in pre-written curriculums, so you might be grappling with ready-made lesson plans, but there’s always an opportunity find something real to bring the learning to life. Poetry and stories There is not enough space here to dig deeply into both of these. But, in short, if you can pull the learning out of a story – about a child in northern Scandinavia who wears thick boots for four to five months of the year, for example, and what that detail might tell us about where they live – then you will catch the children’s imaginations and the learning will happen more effortlessly. Laura Theis recently won the Caterpillar Prize for children’s poetry, for her poem, ‘I Complain to My Friend Who Has Been Turned into a Tree’ ( tinyurl. com/tp-LauraTheis ). This poem is gold dust if you want to teach pupils about the impact of urban development on biodiversity. ‘ What about soil compaction? ’ the tree says. ‘ Sometimes the dust on my leaves can get so thick I can no longer breathe .’ Rather than clicking through some slides, this poem will do nearly all the work for you, and in a much more engaging way. Poetry has a way of reaching in, deeper than anything else. Read lots of it. You can find a treasure trove of poems at dirigiblebaloon.org , searchable by word. It is a wonderful resource and, with a little bit of hunting and evaluating, you should be able to find an accessible piece for nearly any lesson. Find some examples and links for some suggested poems in the panel above. The annual CLiPPA Awards also celebrates newly published poetry collections, written specifically for children. If you look at the list of nominated texts each year, then you will be able to keep your curriculum offer very fresh, as these books are hot off the press. The Centre for Literacy for Primary Education (CLPE) runs the CLiPPA , and its website also has a really great stock of films of many of the poets, reading their shortlisted (or winning!) poems, bringing them alive for your pupils. TP Rebecca Leek has been a primary and secondary classroom teacher, head of department, SENCo, headteacher andMAT CEO. She is currently the executive director of the Suffolk Primary Headteachers' Association and works as a freelance speaker, trainer and writer. Liven up your teaching with related and relatable poems like these: ‘Clouds’, by Barbara Bleiman – for teaching about weather dirigibleballoon.org/poem/ Clouds ‘How Far Can a Balloon Go?’, by Angela Marinelli – for map-making, travel and scale dirigibleballoon. org/poem/How-Far-Can-a- Balloon-Go ‘Email’, by Martin J Elster – for changes in transportation over time dirigibleballoon.org/poem/ Email COME AL I VE WI TH POETRY @rebeccaleek rebeccaleek.com 64 | www.teachwire.net