Playful Poetry
“I wandered lonely as a cloud…” A classic poem by William Wordsworth. Many would consider poetry as a sedentary activity. The poet sits to write it and then the audience sits to read it. But, does it have to be so? Earlier this term, we were approached by the inspirational Dr Emma Kell - would we like to contribute to the inaugural online arts event - The Power of Arts?
Having already piloted some playful poetry with Dom Traynor and Michael Rosen, we jumped at the chance.
- What ideas could we develop?
- When could we start?
- Where could we go?
Playful Poetry Process
Step 1 We took photos of various sculptures and shared one of them, ‘The Man on the Moor’ by sculptor Sean Henry, on Facebook and Twitter. Within days, we had collected words, thoughts and feelings from friends and teachers. Step 2 We shared the photos and words with Y5/6 children at the Leeds United Foundation Easter Camp for the Bramley Cluster. They sorted words into sets:- known
- unknown
Future Poetry Ideas
Having seen just how animated the children were, the next steps include creating:- performance poetry
- choreographed dances to illustrate the poems