Primary/Elementary Poetry and ICT = Creativity and Collaboration

Try using this poem in class. First as a paired discussion activity then moving on to creating an illustrated video with children reading the poem. See ideas at the bottom.

Miss Lotte

That Miss Lotte who was nuts;

I mean completely round the bend.

She’d wear socks on her hands

And wave them at her friends.

She’d put her dress on backwards

And odd shoes on each foot.

It was definitely more than loose,

A screw was missing from her nut.

That Miss Lotte who was loopy;

I mean completely round the twist.

She said she new double dutch

And could converse with the fish.

She ate her dinner in the bath

And drank the water from the loo.

While all around her said, she was

Completely crackers and cuckoo.

That Miss Lotte who was balmy;

I mean gaga, crazy and mad.

Told the children they could riot

In the lessons that they had.

Said they should dance on the table,

Shout out and have a laugh.

But they stood open mouthed and knowing

She was noodle brained and daft.

That Miss Lotte who is bog-eyed

Is jam-headed and mungo-jerried,

Over the rainbow, out of her mind,

Tap-doo-lally and wholly wellied.

She is actually very kind.

Although not her only feature:

That Miss Lotte who is bananas,

Is the world’s greatest teacher.


Ideas for Teaching 

1. Identify the words that rhyme. use them to look at phonemes with the same sounds but different spellings e.g. foot and nut
2. Draw a picture for each verse (have children work in pairs or threes to do this.)
3. ICT Idea - Have the children illustrate parts of the poem using a simple art program. Something as easy as Paint will do this. (Tip - get the children to draw with a thick paint brush and block colour the picture for a comic strip effect) I like pixlr.com which is a photo editor.
4. ICT idea 2 - Let the children record themselves reading/speaking the poem (use simple sound recorder on PC or audioboo or something similar)
5. ICT idea 3 - combine the above ideas - use Windows Movie-Maker or another free alternative. My choice would be Videopad . Please not that with Video pad - you install it first and then uninstall it to revert from pro to the free version. (Further alternatives here.) Add the sound recording of the reading and the pictures that illustrate the poem. Give it a title and credits and publish to the web.
6.  Make a list of the words for mad/crazy from the poem.
7. Make up your own words for crazy. Try finishing these phrases. (if you get stuck add food types in the spaces)

• Mad as a ...
• ... - headed
• ... - brained 

      8.  Write their own own crazy teacher/child poem using the following structure

           Write two lines using made up words for crazy (two made up words per line for the better students)

          Write four lines of crazy things they do

          Write two lines using made up words for crazy

Writing an Alphabet Poem

A simple poem structure can still let you, as the teacher, explore a number of poetic elements. Here I look at using the alphabet poem. Often thought of as over simplistic, this poem will grab all of your students' attention. They will laugh outloud as they explore the different sound effects. All writers, from the weakest to the most boyish, will be happy to have a go.The individual lines are sophisticated enough to stretch the most able of children.You will find the poem linked below with a writing scaffolding template linked as well. Alternatively I have often just put the first few lines on the board (IWB or hand--written) and the structure speaks for itself.

Start a lesson by asking children if they have ever made a sound for a gun while playing a game. Go around the class listening to suggested sounds and phonetically transcribe the sounds on the board for all to see.

Introduce the next poem as about an alien that comes to earth in a spaceship and shoots lots of different things before returning to space. Ask the children to think about the size of the things that the Gwolsh shoots and to decide if this might give an idea to the size of the Gwolsh.

Read A Gwolsh with a Gun by Tricky McDee.

Using the Poem

1. Look at the structure of the poem - identify the alphabetic pattern
2. Look at the pattern from line to line where the alphabetic pattern starts (sound effect first word, three words of alliteration, animal/object in the middle of line, effect or what happens on the end)
3. Spot changes to the pattern - does it matter?
4. Write their own part to the poem using the writing scaffolding frame here
5. older or higher ability children can attempt the writing scaffolding without seeing the original poem

Follow Up

Sound effects are for saying out loud. The children should read the poems putting as much effort into making their sound effect words as possible.

Larry's Helmet: Poem and Resources 6-11 yrs of Age

Larry’s Helmet

Larry had a helmet.

He brought it into school.

We all crowded round him,

Thought he looked so cool.

But when you put it on,

It was the strangest of things.

Weird ideas in your head.

New powers at your fingers.

You could make it fire out

Orange lasers at your friends.

Teleport them to the roof,

Till they accept your demands.

Invisibly walk around

Pushing little ‘uns out your way.

Make them think a monster

Had descended on their day.

But the thing I liked the most

Was the timely teacher test.

A smack around the head was when

The helmet worked the best.

 

Larry's Helmet is a poem by children's poet Tricky McDee. It is a poem that rhymes and that rhyme scheme can be explored. A good source of discussion is whether lines 6 and 8 rhyme. Older children can be introduced to the term half rhyme and could brainstorm half rhyme pairs on their table wipe-boards. 'ing' would be a good place to start with half rhyme creation.

Although Larry's Helmet contains rhyme, it does not mean it needs rhyme to make it a poem. This point must be stressed when teaching. This can be reinforced by asking the children to write their own poems. I will advocate a structured procedure below, but if you have children that understand and appreciate poetry writing, then don't tie them into this procedure. Just ask them to brainstorm around some areas before they set off writing.

The poem can be downloaded here.

6-8 Years of Age

Read the poem a couple of times. Have the children imagine they were putting the helmet on. What powers would it give them?

Write a poem by following the defined structure.

1. Decide on a child's name and ask them to describe their helmet
2. Write a line about what the helmet will do to their friends
3. Write a line about what their helmet will do in class
4. Write a line about a good/bad thing that the helmet will do (depends on the bias of the first two lines - third should be opposite)
5. Write a line about when the helmet works the best

For the younger children or in an ESL setting I would brainstorm each of these on the whiteboard; writing the answers given by the children in note form. The lowest ability children will then be able to choose lines from each category; cutting and pasting their ideas together to form their poem.

9-11 years

I would still follow the above structure but ask the children to write rhyming paired lines for each of the lines above. I would also ask the children to consider each of the senses to add depth to the poem. (Consider sight and add a colour - if it fits, consider sound and a suitable adjective.)

Follow up

The writing process should be:

• think
• write
• edit
• re-draft
• final draft

Above we covered think and write. The children should be given the opportunity to re-draft and finally do a presentation piece on a regular basis. (At least once every three weeks.) I like to use line guides behind plain white paper. Once they have written it out on paper, ensure they give their work a title and include a design or illustration or illustrated border.