English (Poetry) Resources to try out as they are, or tweak, or use as templates for your own activities!

Ballad Sort

This is a devious plot to persuade folk o read more ballads from ancient to modern and from sentimental to pragmatic and to see the links between the ballad tradition and poetry. It is very tweakable and I hope classes produce their own more decorative and more varied versions and send examples back to us. A sorting board activity: six different boards so that you can jigsaw and groups can feed back to the class.

Canterbury Tales Prologue

A fairly intense look at the language of some of the first lines of the prologue with the intention of making the reading of the whole less challenging. Designed for KS3 or even KS2 on the principle that anything can be made more accessible. Easily adaptable to examining other chunks of Chaucer. Similar to the Word Detective work in the Shakespeare section which actually turns out to be more difficult because the changes of meaning are not as obvious.

Daffodils

A very straightforward way to make a poem accessible. Two grids which share information in different formats. One grid can be cut up into cards and then the cards can be placed on the remaining grid. More difficult: both grids can be made into cards. Easily adaptable to any poem. Like the one below!

Early Purges

Two grids on the same principle as the Wordsworth poem above.

Factory Girl's Last Day

A more detailed look a political ballad written by an MP. Text (complete), paraphrase and some excellent drawings for matching and sorting.

Haiku

Text, picture and poem. A sorting activity designed to build confidence in producing your own animal ( or vegetable or mineral haiku)

John Agard Sort

A way of tempting folk to look at John Agard's Half Caste anthology in more detail. First lines and a sorting board. You will need enough copies of the anthology: two for every group of four would be best.

Lady of Shalott

A wide range of activities to access the poem and provide links to the background:

Legend or History?

Arthur and Camelot

Power Pyramids

Storyboard

Crimes and Curses

Responses to the poem: rhythm and rhyme

Love Poetry

Examining how poets have dealt with this topic over different periods. A range of sorting and matching activities.

Macavity the Mystery Cat

Matching crimes and alibis and constructing stories about mysterious crimes. Activities designed to encourage children to read the poem, talk about the poem and go on to do some writing and drawing.

Chaucer: Pardoner's Tale

Using pictures you can construct a new version of the story. This activity was designed as a prequel to reading the poem.