Poetry in Motion CD

Using the environment to inspire children to write poetry.

Poetry resources for primary children need be fun and engaging. Poetry in Motion is a new poetry resource which uses the environment to inspire primary school pupils to write poetry. The resource provides exciting and stimulating ways to encourage teachers to take their children out into the world and find real subjects to write about.

With an ever-changing canvas (seasons, weather, day, night), the outdoors provide a wealth of stimuli for all the senses. Poetry is an excellent way of conveying sights, smells and sounds to the reader by using specific and descriptive language and therefore creating an effective image in the reader’s mind.

Poetry Resources that Inspire

The resource is organised into sections for different places (school grounds, historical places, urban areas, the countryside, etc) and broader ideas that can be applied to different locations building up poems by looking at small details.

The authors have concentrated on using ‘real experiences’ to inspire children’s poetry. The ideas are based on activities that have been successfully taught with children, and many of them can be adapted for different age groups (from Reception to Year 6).

This is not just a poetry resource – it is also about encouraging children to investigate and appreciate their local and wider environment.

 What the National Literacy Association is saying about this resource.

About the Authors

Roger Butts

Roger Butts was born and educated in Birmingham but, from an early age, always tried to escape from the confines of the city into the countryside. He managed to do so permanently after attending teacher training college at St Peter’s College, Saltley, and took up his first teaching post in Falmouth, Cornwall.

Apart from educating primary-age children, Roger’s other reason for being on earth is an interest in natural history. A life-long birdwatcher, he has always shared a love of the outdoors with the children he has taught. From teacher to head teacher, Roger has always believed in the value of giving children, whenever possible, real experiences to enhance their learning.

He worked for nine years in Cornwall’s Education Advisory Service as Advisory Teacher for Outdoor Education, working with teachers and children, using all manner of exciting environments as a classroom. During this time, Roger worked with poets, writers, musicians and artists of all kinds, organising practical creative projects for schools and communities in many different settings, both rural and urban. He has worked with the National Trust, English Heritage, RSPB, English Nature and many other bodies, often holding major exhibitions of children’s work.

For many years, Roger ran OUTLOOK, an agency for all manner of artisans who would work with children, using the richness of their experiences to develop quality learning at its best. Always interested in children’s creative language, Roger’s input into OUTLOOK was to use the wonderful world on our doorstep as an inspiration to teachers and children to write poetry.

Juliette Green

Juliette Green is a Birmingham-based primary school teacher who has taught all year groups from Nursery to Year 6. She has previously written various primary literacy and history teaching resources plus those focused on outdoor learning. Juliette has a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Environmental and Resource Science and a Primary Education PGCE. She is also involved with the charity National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE), where she works on their website.

Juliette is also the author of our Learning Outside the Classroom books.

Poetry in Motion – Competition Winners

The winners and runners up of our recent Poetry in Motion
competition are below:

KEY STAGE 1

Jonas  (Year 1/2 class)  Winner Key Stage 1       
Elodie (Year 1/2 class)   Runner up Key Stage 1
Benjamin (Year 1/2 class) Runner up Key Stage 1   

From:
St Paul’s C of E Primary School
Withington
Manchester
M20 4PG

Entries submitted by Miss Mansfield - Class teacher

KEY STAGE 2

Felicity (Year 4) Winner Key Stage 2 (Yrs 3 & 4)

From:
Mayfield Primary School
Warwick Road
Cambridge
CB4 3HN

Entries submitted by Mrs J. Hill - Headteacher

Joseph  (Year 3)  Runner up - Key Stage 2 (Yrs 3 & 4) 
Alice  (Year 3)   Runner up - Key Stage 2 (Yrs 3 & 4)
Megan   (Year 6)  Runner up - Key Stage 2 (Yrs 5 & 6)

From:
Weston All Saints CE Primary School
Broadmoor Lane
Weston
Bath
BA1 4JR

Entries submitted by Mrs A Bull - Headteacher

Rosaleen (Year 5/6 class)  Winner Key Stage 2 (Yrs 5 & 6) 
Xanthe (Year 5/6 class)   Runner up Key Stage 2 (Yrs 5 & 6)
Lowenna (Year 5/6 class)  Runner up Key Stage 2 (Yrs 5 & 6)

From:
Mousehole Community Primary School
Foxes Lane
Mousehole
Penzance
TR19 6QQ

Entries submitted by: Caroline Newborne

The winning schools all received a copy of our Non-Fiction Reading Cards and will receive a FREE copy of Poetry in Motion once published too. The runners up all received a copy of our Non-Fiction Reading Cards.