Teach-Reading-and-Writing-Issue-22

grumble . Some children will already be thinking up their own rhyming couplets, and a colourful mix of concepts will be emerging. Finally, take one of their rhymes and prompt for developments. As ideas spin, go easy on rhyme rule – they’re poetry-crafting now. 2 Alliteration Name a fictional place (Treasure Island, Fairyland, an undiscovered planet..?). Draw its imagined outline on the board and mark in a landmark, and here’s the key: make it a two-word, alliterative name, but with the second word missing: Forest of F...., Lake of L... , or Desert of D... In my experience, some hands will be up in an instant, the challenge understood, while others hesitate and a few children miss the alliteration cue altogether, so be sure to clarify this. It’s the only rule of the game. Suggest a few words yourself to open up the possibilities – Forest of Flip-flops, Lake of Love, Desert of Danger and Dread , perhaps. Now watch, as eyes widen and arms wave for attention around the room. Let your class amaze, amuse, scare and charm you with their crazy double-word names, first out loud, then on P oetry-writing is a tricky thing to teach – if ‘teach’ is indeed the word. Perhaps nurture is more apt, but even nurturing can be hard, especially with children who freeze up or freak out at the mention of verse. But there’s one approach that works for me every time: games! Rhymes and other appealing challenges can serve as a fantastic building block, drawing your class in, unleashing ideas and setting pens dashing. Once everyone’s on board, you can sail into deeper poetic waters – if the game hasn’t got you there already. Meanwhile, it will be invaluable in itself, boosting linguistic agility and confidence. Here are six of my favourite games to pick from... 1 Rhyming couplets Starting with a one-syllable word like hat , elicit rhymes from your class ( bat, cat, chat, fat... ), jotting them down on the board. Now tag on a phrase – I saw a cat , say – and prompt for a rhyming phrase – It was wearing a hat . Some children struggle with word order in rhymes, so draw attention to the importance of putting the two rhyming words at the line ends, one under the other. After concocting and enjoying a few more phrasal rhymes together, keep them on their toes by swapping in a different word from the list... then two-syllable rhymes, like lazy/crazy or tumble/ paper with their own fantasy maps. Finally, ask them to pick one and elaborate: a poem has begun! 3 Recipes Start at square one with a chat about meals, ingredients, directions for cooking, and measuring utensils. Who cooks what at home? Now reveal the plan: to write a recipe but not for anything edible. Announce your exciting theme (ocean? Storm? Jungle?) and see the bewildered faces. Taking ocean here, set the ball rolling with a cookery measurement combined with an ocean feature: a cup of spray or a bowl of blue , perhaps. Invite a few more ( a pinch, teaspoon, jar, sprinkle ), then abandon the kitchen. How about a salty swirl of spray or a mirror of summer-sky blue ? Open up the possibilities: what about treasure, fish scales, ship sails, floating picnic basket , and some concepts – tranquillity, danger, mystery ? What can the kids think up? Allow time for mixing, stirring and decorating instructions. Adventure TIME Leap into a veritable volcano of verse and let pupils fearlessly fly away on their own imaginations, leaving their worries about poetry behind KATE WI LL I AMS “Rhymes and other appealing challenges can serve as a fantastic building block, drawing your class in and unleashing ideas” 62 | www.teachwire.net