The Poetry Society

Resources for Teachers

The Poetry Society publishes the following educational resources:

Posters

£11.50 each set (inc. p&p)

Poetry for Early Years
(KS1)

Full colour posters featuring favourite children's poems from Christina Rossetti, A.A.Milne, Michael Rosen and Judith Nicholls, complete with teaching notes.

CONTENTS
Wind on the Hill - by A. A. Milne
I Did a Bad Thing Once - by Allan Ahlberg
Cats - by Eleanor Farjeon
Squeezes - by Brian Patten
Gramma's Biscuit Tin - John Agard
Sampan - by Tao Lang Pee
Trainers - by Michael Rosen
Giant Tale - by Judith Nicholls
Colours - by Christina Rosetti

Beginner's Riddles
(KS1/2)

Introducing word-play from around the world, introducing pupils and teachers to the quirky world of verse, with teaching notes introduced by poet George Szirtes.

EXCERPT FROM GEORGE SZIRTES' INTRODUCTION
"We are constantly having to reinvent language to convey the startling, unique, once and once only strangeness of being alive. This reinvention - close to common speech yet not entirely of it - is the business of poetry, the most language intensive of the verbal arts... A good riddle should therefore have many of the virtues of a good poem. It should be economical, apposite, surprising, rhythmically satisfying, capable of unfolding or engaging the emotions."

Animals in Poetry
(KS2)

Hugely popular, not only in the junior schools they were designed for, but in libraries and community centres as well, animal poems from Tennyson to John Agard with teaching notes covering rhyme schemes, kennings and shape-poems.

CONTENTS
The Ground, Cow, Pig, Tiger (various poems)
Don't Call Alligator Long Mouth Till You Cross the River - by John Agard
Allivator - by Roger McGough
Dolphin - by Gina Douthwaite
The Eagle - by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Poem - by William Carlos Williams
Whalesong - by Judith Nicholls
Kob Antelope - Yoruba verse (orig Nigeria)
The Owl and the Pussycat - by Edward Lear

Narrative Poetry
(KS2)

Four double-size posters designed for junior schools featuring The Listeners, The Jumblies, The Wreck of the Hesperus and Matilda, who told lies and was burned to death with background information and teaching notes by renowned anthologist Anne Harvey.

CONTENTS
Matilda, who told Lies and was Burned to Death - by Hilaire Belloc
The Jumblies - by Edward Lear
The Listeners - by Walter de la Mare
The Wreck of the Hesperus - by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Forms of Poetry
(KS2/3)

A tour from Haiku to free verse via the villanelle, taking in some of the best-loved poetry in the English language.

CONTENTS
Haiku (various haiku by James Berry, Basho, Issa, John Cooper Clarke and Eric Finney)
Nonsense Verse - Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
Rap - Poetry Jump-up by John Agard
Free Verse - Digging by Seamus Heaney and Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy
Sonnet - How do I love thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Blank Verse - Our revels now are ended by William Shakespeare
Villanelle - Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

People in Poetry
(KS3)

Twentieth-century poems introduce a rogue's gallery of anti-heroes for our time, selected and introduced by poet and expert poetry-teacher Matthew Sweeney.

CONTENTS
Why Brownlee Left, by Paul Muldoon
Swineherd, by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
nobody loses all the time, by e.e. cummings
The River Merchant's Wife - A Letter, by Li Po (transl. Ezra Pound)
My Papa's Waltz, by Theodore Roethke
Stealing, by Carol Ann Duffy
Red Roses, by Anne Sexton
Tom Bone, by Charles Causley

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Poems on the Underground

The country's most popular public art project - more information on the Poems on the Underground page.

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Books

The Poetry Book for Primary Schools

edited by Anthony Wilson and Siân Hughes

A collection of poems, games, interviews, lesson-ideas and debate to enhance poetry teaching throughout the primary years. Brought out to coincide with the Year of Reading poetry initiative, its down-to-earth expertise and humour will outlive curriculum changes for years to come.
£7.95 + £1.55 p&p

Jumpstart
Poetry in the Secondary School

edited by Cliff Yates

A phenomenally successful teacher of poetry, Cliff Yates has seen his pupils win every prize available to young writers - how does he do it? This combination of personal vision and transferable ideas gives an insight into how poetry reading and writing can be integrated into the everyday life of secondary schools.
£7.95 + £1.55 p&p

Our Thoughts are Bees: Writers Working with Schools

by Mandy Coe & Jean Sprackland

'Our Thoughts are Bees' is a groundbreaking book for teachers, writers and those who co-ordinate writing projects in schools.

The book gives advice on organising exciting projects, from the author's visit to the long-term residency. It examines the potential impact on young people's lives, and sets out a vision for the future of writing in education.
£7.95 + £1.55 p&p

As the Poet Said
Poetry Pickings and Choosings

edited by Tony Curtis from Dennis O'Driscoll's Poetry Ireland Review Column

Ideal for essay-setting and essay-writing, a collection of thought-provoking words by poets, on poets and poetry.
£4.95 + £1.55 p&p

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Choose the method of payment that suits you:

If you would prefer to print out a form and return by post, click here. Payment may be made by cheque (£ Sterling only) or credit card (Visa, Mastercard or Switch). Please make cheques payable to The Poetry Society and mail to: Education Orders, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX

If you would like to purchase materials online (Visa, Mastercard or Switch only), please enter the Poetry Shop and select 'Education Materials'.

 

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