Come Quick! There’s A Dragon In The Garden!!
Click here to download a free poetry ebook for your primary class and get your children performing!
Come Quick! There’s a Dragon In The Garden!
Some time ago I posted a piece on my blog about poems to perform detailing some of my favourite poems to share, learn and recite with children in KS1 and 2. My top 5 list of favourite performance poems for children changes every day and every time I pick up a poetry anthology I discover new and exciting examples.
Narrative poems are amongst my favourite poems to learn and perform. Children and teachers looking for high quality and exciting narrative poems to learn off by heart could do much worse than discovering or rediscovering the work of Charles Causley, Alfred Noyes, Roald Dahl and even Tennyson. But what if children want to write their own narrative poems? Is there an easy and accessible way of doing this in the primary classroom without falling into the trap of dodgy word selection, wonky rhythms and forced rhymes???
One of my favourite workshops to run with children in upper KS2 is on narrative poems. After reading the class some of my favourite examples I bring their attention to a few verses of what I call my Emergency Poem:
There’s a dragon in the garden!
There’s a dragon in my garden
He’s broke into our shed
Come quick, you have to help us
Or soon we’ll all be dead!
He’s set fire to the fencing
He’s torn down the garden gate
Oh won’t you come and rescue me
Before I meet my fate!
He’s spotted me, he’s coming now
He’s at the kitchen door
How long before he eats me up
I’m really not that sure!
I explain to the children that they are going to have a go at a narrative poem that will involve a crazy and fun journey around their house with a scary monster of their choice. It may start in the garden, then move to the kitchen then upstairs into their bedroom. It could involve different members of their family or even one of their pets. One thing however is for sure; their poem is going to be a fast moving, roller coaster of a journey that will be exciting to perform for their classmates, friends and family.
After carefully looking at how my example is structured in terms of rhythm and rhyme (an ABCB rhyme scheme) I ask the children to come up with their own unique title. In the past I have had There’s a Zombie In My Kitchen!, There’s a Vampire In The Cellar! There’s A Goblin In The Attic, even, There’s A Shark In The Bathroom! Once they have their title they are ready to begin. I remind the children that it’s a good idea for each of the verses to feature in a different part of the house and that the action should be light hearted and swift. This is a great poem to write in pairs with children swapping ideas and writing alternate verses.
Examples of verses that children have recently produced are as follows:
There’s an alien in my bedroom
I’m telling you it’s true,
It’s smashing up my wardrobe
And I don’t know what to do!
There’s an alien in my kitchen
It’s looking for some food
He’s gobbled up our toaster
He’s quite a nasty dude!
There’s an alien in my garden
He’s pulling up the plants
He’s playing with the washing
And trying on my pants!!
There’s an alien in my bathroom
He’s getting in the shower
He’s sipping on conditioner
He’s been in there for hours!
After lots of editing, redrafting and fine tuning I move onto the performance section of the workshop. Remember, this is an emergency poem so the tone of the performance is one of fun desperation and the performer is to give the impression that they need help- and they need it quick!!! After learning their poem and becoming comfortable with it I encourage the children to use actions and move around their space while performing and this can greatly add to the overall effect and power of the piece.
Over the years this workshop has produced some very memorable poems and performances. I often get children posting new versions of their narrative poems on my blog days or even weeks after my visit to their school and this is a good indicator of how popular this workshop can be. Many teachers illustrate their poems and turn them into class anthologies- something that OFSTED would be very impressed by! They could also be performed live in an assembly or video recorded for the school website and therefore enjoyed at home with families.
So, if you are stuck for an idea for poetry writing with your class why not have a go at your very own narrative poem? An Emergency Poem is a simple, quick, accessible and above all fun way for children to produce their own unique piece of work that they will just love to perform for others.
Click here to download a free poetry ebook for your primary class and get your children performing!
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