Teach-Primary-Issue-19.8

Discover how a boot on the beach and a chilly hillside can inspire pupils to create their greatest creative writing O ne of my favourite poets is George Mackay Brown. He lived in the Orkney Islands and much of his writing captures and celebrates his local environment. Several of his poems make good models for writing. The poem ‘Beachcomber’ can easily be found through any search engine. In it, Mackay Brown describes what a beachcomber might find each day of the week, walking the tideline of the local beach: Monday I found a boot – Rust and salt leather. I gave it back to the sea, to dance in. When teaching writing, I look for models that have a scaffold that will liberate children’s creativity and not constrain their thinking. It is also important to take the idea and attempt a version yourself to see if it will work and to share with the class. So, I took the idea of using the days of the week as a structure for writing. To prompt detail and ideas, I took several wintry walks: Walking the Village On Monday, I followed a fox’s pawprints in snow. On Tuesday, an ice skin on the memorial trough. On Wednesday, snow drops and primroses by the Holy Well. On Thursday, deer on Strawberry Banks. On Friday, a charm of goldfinches on the bird feeder. On Saturday, the postman’s van stuck on the Farm Hill. On Sunday, snow melts and church bells’ clatter. © Pie Corbett Poetry in YOUR PLACE P I E CORBETT T E ACH RE AD I NG AND WR I T I NG www.teachwire.net | 55