A Poetry Teacher's Toolkit
Top Tips and Links for teaching creative writing
I get a fine warm feeling when I'm doing well, but that pleasure is pretty much negated by the pain of getting started each day. Let's face it, writing is hell. (William Styron).
That just about sums up the love/hate affair that many professional writers have with their craft. But they are volunteers, and deserve no sympathy whatsoever! The ones we should feel sorry for are the press-ganged kids who are obliged to 'write a story' or 'write a poem', whether they feel inspired or not (usually not!). For many of them, it really must be hell. And it can be pretty hellish for the teacher trying to inspire them too!
Below, is a bullet-point chapter based on one from 'A Poetry Teacher's Toolkit'. Although the emphasis is on poetry, much of it applies to creative writing generally. You can scroll down the page, or use this navigation bar to explore the various themes.
| How do you feel about poetry? | A Poetry Atmosphere |
| On being a writer | Inspiration |
| Drafting & Redrafting | Grammar |
| Ne'er More These Things a Poet Does | Appreciation & Analysis |
| Links |
How do you feel about poetry?
- Forgive me if I'm preaching to the converted. But, I think that Algebra is for schooldays, and Poetry is for life. It's important!
- So, if you're not yet enthusiastic about poetry, fake it for now because I hope you soon will be! As in everything else, enthusiasm from the teacher equals enthusiasm from the children.
- You won`t overcome barriers in the mind of a child until you overcome any that you might have.
- Nobody likes all poetry; so find out what you do like. Children's poetry is an easy read; soak yourself in it.
- Start a collection of your favourites, and make your own booklist. Let the kids to browse through.
- Petition for an INSET day with an established children's poet.
- Have a performance poet come into school.
- For 'performance poet', read 'Mike Jubb'!
- Seriously, it's good to ring the changes. Try a different writer each term.
Create a poetry atmosphere
- Have a good, and changing, selection of poetry books and tapes in your classroom, and allow time for the children to explore them.
- Make your own poetry tapes, and encourage the children (and tame parents) to do the same.
- Read a new poem to your class each day, maybe in the ten minutes before lunch.
- Sometimes, read narrative poetry at 'story time'.
- Get the children to write out, at home, the words of their favourite pop songs and adverts, and bring the transcripts in.
- Please don't just have a poetry 'unit' and think "Well, I've done poetry now." 'A little and often' will show that you really value poetry. You can slip a poem in almost anywhere by linking it with other themes, such as the weather or festivals. And if you can't find a poem to fit, write one yourself. Yes you can!
- Display a 'Poem of the Week'. Choose a reasonably short one, so that children can copy it into a special book, along with their own favourites, to create a personal anthology. This is copying with a purpose. It`s allowed.
- Use poetry for handwriting practice.
- Use all your display skills to show off children's own poetry in exciting ways; 'publication' of their work is vital.
- Encourage and reward learning poetry by heart. It`s fun.
- Encourage performance of poems learnt. The sense of achievement is huge.
- Would you be willing to start a school 'Poetry Choir'? See Volume 4 'Language and Performance', Chapter 4, 'That`s the way to do it!'
- Create illustrated class anthologies: by theme, or with each child choosing a favourite.
Every
classroom should have a flipchart, in
my not-so-humble opinion. When you're writing a poem with the whole class,
or brainstorming, or making word collections, or experimenting with any
kind of wordplay, it's worth keeping the results as a possible future
resource. - TOP TIP for encouraging children to write poetry: write poetry yourself. Yes you can! Don't argue with me!
On being a writer
- I often meet teachers who say they can't write poetry. And yet, we ask children to!
- The truth is, poetry has something special going for it. Not everyone can write a novel, but everyone can write poetry.
- If, for argument's sake, Shakespeare lives at the top of the poetry skyscraper, and nursery rhymes dwell on the ground floor, it follows that there is a room for everyone.
- Everyone can write poetry. And I believe that every primary school teacher should write poetry.
- The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn't write. (Unknown source)
- If you would be a writer, first be a reader. (Allan W. Eckert)
- Children learn to speak through imitation, not by constantly being corrected. Is there a lesson for writing here?
- Read everything . . . trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. (William Faulkner)
- Some people think that it's unreasonable to expect the whole class to write about the same thing at the same time. Well, many of the poems that I write come about because an anthologist has requested poems about a particular subject. This 'restriction' frees my mind of other topics; tells me what to concentrate on. If all the children are writing about the same thing, ideas start buzzing around. We don't want outright copying, but writers are always pinching (sorry, 'adapting') each other's ideas.
- Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic fear, which is inherent in a human situation. (Graham Greene)
Inspiration
- Hopefully, you will find much in this series to inspire both you and your children. But I think this quotation is relevant:
- I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning. (Peter De Vries)
- In other words, a writer has to make it happen. And as teachers, I think we need to relax the children into believing that any words are better than no words. That statement might jar with you at first, but please see 'Drafting and re-drafting' below.
- Unless all five senses have ceased working, everybody has something to write about. The trouble is, many children don't realise it and don't believe in themselves. So, we may have to supply their inspiration (as well as their discipline!).
- The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. (Mary Heaton Vorse)
- The ideal view for daily writing, hour on hour, is the blank brick wall of a cold storage warehouse. (Edna Ferba)
Drafting and re-drafting
- The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. (Robert Cormier)
- It is perfectly okay to write garbage - as long as you edit brilliantly. (C.J. Cherryh)
- There is no great writing, only great rewriting. (Justice Brandeis)
- I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter. (Blaise Pascal)
- In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give to your style. (Sydney Smith)
- Successful creative writing is not about individual lessons; it's about creating an atmosphere in which children feel free to take risks. And if you weren't already convinced about the importance of re-writing, I hope you are now. The tricky bit is to persuade the children!
- Children should feel liberated by the thought that professional writers don't get it right first time; that they don't begin at the beginning, go through the middle, get to the end . . . . and that's it.
- The beginning/middle/end thing is an important concept, for the reader or listener; but the writer doesn't have to work that way, providing the outcome has structure. S/he could 'start' with a punchline, and work backwards.
- We need to relax children about creative writing. We must persuade them that they can't get it 'wrong' in a first draft. Of course, we can help them to improve their writing but, if we're too judgemental, we'll scare them off.
- For the first draft: no rubbers and no spellings. They slow down creativity. The most important thing is to get words on to paper as quickly as possible. Errors can be put right, and improvements made, later. It's rotten to ask children to be creative, and then burden them (or allow them to burden themselves) with secretarial matters that could be sorted out after the poem or story has evolved.
- 'Show Don't Tell', e.g. 'She was angry' merely TELLS us about her anger; but 'She threw her hairbrush at the mirror' SHOWS us her anger. It's far more powerful writing. See Volume 4, Chapter 1 'Slam the door'.
- When writing, we tend to concentrate on the visual, to the neglect of our other senses. That's a waste of resources. Again, see Volume 4, Chapter 1 'Slam the door'.
- Always be SPECIFIC. Don't say 'I saw a dog', say 'I saw a white poodle'. There are many opportunities to improve writing by this simple trick of the trade. (For more about being specific, see Volume 4, 'Language and Performance')
- The second draft is not just a neater copy of the first.
- All words are not born equal. If you can cut out a word, and the poem doesn't 'miss' it, then cut it out. Same with prose.
- The poem's title is always the last thing that I write, so that it fits what I`ve written and not the other way round.
- Don't be afraid to be bad. Every drop of high-performance gasoline starts as crude oil. (R.E. Lee)
Grammar
- Grammar to a poet is almost a total irrelevance.
- By 1870, there were still no professors of modern English at Oxford and Cambridge.
- English grammar was based on Latin and Ancient Greek . . . great languages for grammarians because they are DEAD, and the rules can be set in stone.
- That's why we have such tired commandments as: Never begin a sentence with 'And' or 'But'; Never split an infinitive; Never end a sentence with prepositions like 'with', 'on', 'to', 'for'.
- In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light": and there was light. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
- Six sentences beginning with 'And'. Grammar has its place, but it shouldn't get in the way of what we want to say, or the way we want to say it.
- 'And did those feet in ancient time . . .' Point made.
Ne`er more these things a poet does
Many thanks to my friend Colin Archer for these ideas.
- A modern poet strives not to be 'poetical', e'en for the sake of rhythm or rhyme.
- We change not the usual order of words.
- We don't use 'poetical' contractions such as: ne`er, e`en, `tis, `twas, o`er, `twixt, `neath.
- We don't put in a 'do' or 'did' where it wouldn't be used in normal speech. So, 'I cried' is fine, but 'I did cry' is OUT.
- Cut out all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke. (F.Scott Fitzgerald)
- We don't use 'poetical' exclamations like: O!, Oh! and Ah!
- We avoid words that don't occur in normal conversation. So: woe, befall, adieu, thee, thine, fain etc are all OUT.
- We avoid clichés and overworked phrases (like the plague, of course).
- We would rather write unrhymed poetry, or prose, than settle for second or third best words just to achieve a rhyme. The aim is that every word should be exactly the right one.
- We never pop in an extra word, or two, just to make the rhythm right. Every word in a poem must earn its keep.
- Like a clown on a trapeze, knowing the rules, we might occasionally break them. This is also known as Mike Jubb's 'get-out' clause!
Appreciation and analysis
- Reading poetry out loud is the best way of appreciating its musical qualities, and making it come alive.
- When you read a poem to children, think ' PERFORMANCE'. Try to practise beforehand, making sure that you can read it with proper pace, timing and inflection.
- Putting on different voices may not come naturally to you but, if a poem calls for it, at least try a different pitch. After all, you do that when you're singing.
- Children often rush when reading aloud; you should err on the side of slowness; 'savour the flavour'.
- If you can perform poetry well, no child will ever leave your class not liking poetry . . . . despite what some boys may say.
- In a ten or fifteen minute session, read the poem once, and then ask the children to listen for something specific, such as an example of alliteration or a metaphor, during a second reading. Finish with a third reading.
- If you take up my 'Poem of the Week' idea, try to read it aloud several times during the week, highlighting a different aspect each time.
- The words 'analysis' and 'appreciation' sound boring, and may have connotations with indifferent poetry teaching during your own schooldays. These things are a requirement of the National Literacy Strategy, but they don't have to be boring. Well-taught, they are not.
- Poetry for children should firstly be for pleasure. Recognising the tricks of the writer's trade can add to that pleasure. However, in a short session it's better to highlight just one technique than to dissect the poem totally.
Links
There is a vast amount of free information, ideas and lesson plans out here waiting for you. Here are a few sites well worth investigating:
| Lots of literacy help: | Lesson plans and more: | |
| www.bbc.co.uk/schools/4_11/literacy.shtml | ||
| www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/literacy | www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk | |
| www.teachernet.gov.uk | ||
| For word lovers: | ||
| www.fun-with-words.com | ||
| http://thinks.com/words | The Poetry Society, with more useful links. | |
| www.wordsmith.org/anagram | ||
| www.wolinskyweb.net/word.htm | ||
Where children can post their poems. Plenty for teachers too: |
Excellent sites about children's books and their writers: |
|
| www.wordpool.co.uk | ||
'Words and Pictures' (BBC. KS1) |
www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk | |
I'd like to extend this list. So, if you know of any outstanding sites, please email me at mike@mikejubb.co.uk . Top Tips menu