Poetry Art and Craft

National Poetry Day – Vision, and a Firework Poetry Craft Idea

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Liz Brownlee

This year’s National Poetry Day word is VISION! If you are a school you can sign up to the NPD Newsletter so you can be first to hear about all the amazing lesson plans, poems, a schools toolkit to plan your National Poetry Day, and all sorts of give-aways such as posters and badges, and exciting opportunities.

Here is my first VISION poem. It is about fireworks – I don’t like fireworks that bang as they scare birds and horses and other farm animals, our cat used to be terrified every firework night, and my assistance dog also trembles all evening. I’m a big fan of SILENT fireworks which all VISION and no violence, so that is what my poem is about!

Read my poem, and then you can follow the instructions to write your own firework poem and decorate it with some crafty-firework fun!

A Silent Vision

Shooting to space in the freezing night air

we wait in suspense as they fly

then in a splash of colour and light

they burst into being in the sky

a theatre of sparkles and spangles they flash

reflected as stars in our eyes

we marvel and wonder, we ooh and we aaah

as we turn up our faces and sigh

there are streamers and twinkles and lingering sprinkles

a sky full of flare and surprise

and then they’re just ghosts in a cloud of white smoke

which melts into darkness – goodbye!

Liz Brownlee

So would you like to write a firework poem? My poem above rhymes – but this poem is not going to rhyme. YOU are going to be the firework – you will write the poem from a firework’s point of view.

Your first line will describe what you can hear as you wait. Think of what is happening – a bonfire, people watching, sparklers, toffee apples for sale, people trying to keep themselves warm, chatting etc. This is my first line:

The bonfire flames lick and spit through wood

Your second line describes the anticipation and excitement; you will use a simile – you feel ‘as excited as’, or ‘excited like’. This is my second line:

I’m as excited as a shaken fizzy drink

Your third line uses another simile to describe your flight through the air. This is my third line:

until I whizz through dark like a shut umbrella

Your fourth line describes what happens next – this is my fourth line.

and open into the sky as a thousand glittering stars!

You have finished your poem! Here is mine, written out:

Firework

The bonfire flames lick and spit through wood

I’m as excited as a shaken fizzy drink

until I whizz through dark like a shut umbrella

and open into the sky as a thousand glittering stars!

Liz Brownlee

You can write your poem on a piece of paper, and draw fireworks, or you can make some fireworks from coloured paper like this – read all the instructions first so you have everything you need and someone handy to help:

Get a square of coloured paper and fold it so it is a triangle:

Fold that triangle in half so it is a smaller triangle:

Then you have to fold this triangle in from both sides so that it folds into thirds, like this – you may need help at this stage:

When you have done that the triangle has two little sticky-out bits:

On one side there is a straight line – cut a straight line across that line so the sticky-out bits come off.

Now you are left with another triangle:

Hold your triangle so the open end is at the top:

And cut into the near edge to make curved triangle shapes making sure you do not cut too near the tip of the triangle on the left there or go TOO near the opposite edge. Cut into a point at the top. You can draw in pencil to plan where to cut if you like – I did. This can be hard if the paper is thick – I used origami paper. Get someone to help if it is hard, as the cutting has to be quite precise.

Then very carefully open up your paper. It should look a bit like a firework opening in the sky.

You can leave it like that or, like I did, you can carefully cut through where the pattern joins, except in the middle, to make it look more firework-like.

I then did it all again using a smaller square of contrasting colour.

You now have fireworks to put on your poem paper:

Draw four pencil lines with a ruler as shown on a piece of paper and write your words along them in pencil – try to keep the poem in the bottom half of the paper.

Then write over the poem in ink, rub out the lines, and staple or glue your ‘fireworks’ on the top – turn your paper up the other way, and voila, your firework poem is complete!

Writing a Moon Poem and Hanging it on a 3D Moon!

Posted on June 15, 2020June 13, 2020 by Liz Brownlee

Today I’m going to guide you to write a poem about the moon – this can be written out onto paper or a disc of card and hung up, or written onto a 3D moon to hang as a mobile!

This is a circular poem – the first line is the same as the last line, and on the mobile it IS the same line. If you write it correctly, it doesn’t matter where you start in the poem, it will still make sense.

Start every line with a capital letter. Do not use rhyme.

You will be writing your poem from what is known as ‘the first person’ perspective. That just means you are writing as if you ARE the moon. You only use words like ‘I’ and ‘My’ and ‘Me’. Your first line (and last line!) is:

Because I am the moon

Your second line starts ‘I am the colour’ – try and think of interesting, unusual, or surprising things that are the same colour as the moon. My second line is:

I am the colour of cobwebs and smoke

Your third line begins ‘My mountains’. This line will be a lie. The mountains will do something that mountains cannot really do. My third line is:

My mountains tell me stories

Your fourth line begins ‘My secrets can be found’. This line is also a lie. Try and think of the most wonderful, unusual, exciting, amazing place the moon’s secrets might be found. My fourth line is:

My secrets can be found in silver coins

Your fifth line starts ‘I wish’. What ambition might the moon have? Think about what might be exciting to you if you were the moon.

I wish I was a shooting star

Your sixth line begins ‘I’m sad’ – the moon might be lonely all on its own in space. It has no air, no water, no plants or animals. Because there is no air, there is no sound, because sound waves use air to travel though. Think about being the moon, and decide what you would miss the most. This is my sixth line:

I’m sad I cannot hear Earth’s songs

Your seventh line starts ‘I dream’. What would the moon dream about? Perhaps another of those things she does not possess? Maybe there is something she would like to do, or try, or someone/something she would like to meet? My seventh line is:

I dream of being kissed with clouds

Your eighth line begins with ‘My seas of dust hide’. What extraordinary thing might the moon’s dust hide? Creatures? Jewels? Words? Magic? Tunnels to another place? My eighth line is:

My seas of dust hide night time lullabies

The last line after this is ‘Because I am the moon’ – the same as the first line. BUT unless you are writing this poem out on a piece of paper, you will not write this onto your 3D shape – because it shares a place with the first line. You will see what I mean when you make your shape!

Here is my poem written out:

Because I am the moon

I am the colour of cobwebs and smoke

My mountains tell me stories

My secrets can be found in silver coins

I wish I was a shooting star

I’m sad I cannot hear your songs

I dream of being kissed with clouds

My seas of dust hide night time lullabies

Because I am the moon

Here is how to write your poem onto a moon!

First you need four pieces of A4 paper. Fold them all in half. Then, either use a pair of compasses to draw a circle or find a saucer or something round that is just smaller than the width of the folded paper to draw round.

Then cut the circle through the 4 layers. Or, if you are unsure of doing it this way, draw your circle onto each folded piece of paper and cut each folded piece out separately. You will end up with 8 paper circles. Fold them in half and open them up again.

Write one line of your poem on each of the circles. Remember, you only need one ‘Because I am the moon’.

If you want to illustrate your poem or colour in the circles, it is best done now – it becomes harder later! Then stack the circles with your poem in order, first line at the top- ‘Because I am the moon’.

Then take the top circle and fold it in half, so the right side folds onto the left side.

Glue this half.

Take the second circle with the second line of your poem on and stick the left hand side of this circle onto the other glued half circle. Make sure the fold matches the fold in the other circle. Be as accurate as you can.

Then fold this second circle in half and glue the side facing you.

And add the next circle on top – again, making sure the folds are all lined up.

Do this with all of the circles, until you have none left. Then turn the circles over so you have half of the first circle on your right and half the last circle on your left.

Take a long piece of hanging string, embroidery thread or wool and stick it in the crack in the middle of the half circles. Use sticky tape to keep it in place.

Then glue the left-hand circle side and stick it to the right-hand half circle. The shape is now 3D and will open up into your 3D moon poem.

Can you see that now the first and last line of your poem is ‘Because I am the Moon’? In fact, because of the way it is written, any line can be the first line, so it doesn’t matter if the moon is not facing the right way when you begin to read it. It still makes sense. You are ready to hang up your moon poem!

Poetry Art and Craft

Words Grow on Trees – Art and Poetry Idea from Sue Hardy-Dawson

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Liz Brownlee

Yay! I’m very happy to have a guest art and poetry blog post here from the lovely Sue Hardy-Dawson!

Words Grow on Trees

Why not write and decorate your own word tree? Here’s how:

First of all you might start with a list of tree related words – I sometimes write my list as a mind map.

I have put a few ideas in mine, I bet you can think of lots more things the parts of the tree look, feel, sound and smell like.

I started mine with, ‘Words grow on trees’, because we’re making a word tree. Also when I was small and used to ask for more of my share of something grownups often used to say ‘Do you think they grow on trees?’ which if it was new shoes or a biscuit I thought was funny.

The first verse is about the roots. You will have different ideas so your roots will be made of different things.

Words grow on trees

from knotted roots

like coiled ropes

round ancient bones.

The next verse is about the trunk, I thought about the texture, things it reminded me of.

My tree has a fat trunk

bark, leathery and cracked

as elephant skin.

The next verse is about the branches, I thought about them being held up to the sky like arms, you will have your own ideas.

Long, strong branches

that can hold the moon.

The last verse is about the leaves. Mine are spring leaves, soft, green and new but yours might be autumn leaves and different colours or thick dark shady ones. I wanted my poem to end with words as it was a word tree and I thought about trees whispering words. Again it’s your poem so there are no wrong ideas.

Spring brings new buds

of soft green leaves

everyone of them soon

whispering different words.

Once you have written your poem, you are ready to make your word tree. Here’s my finished poem and this is what you do next.

Words Grow on Trees

Words grow on trees

from knotted roots

like coiled ropes

round ancient bones.

My tree has a fat trunk,

bark, leathery and cracked

as elephant skin.

Long, strong branches

that can hold the moon.

Spring brings new buds

of soft green leaves.

Everyone of them soon

whispering different words.

So here’s how to write out your poem, in the shape of a tree, starting with the roots at the bottom, so you read it up instead of down. It’s probably easier to show you so here is a picture:

Now the really good thing about trees is that you can’t really go wrong, so if as I did you have a word that sticks out it just looks like a twig. Basically, as long as it’s sort of thin in the middle, is wider at the root and has some branches it’s going to look like a tree.

Once you have written your poem in a tree shape, you are ready to put the leaves on. You could just draw them of course but I did mine with finger prints in paint. It works best with two or more colours and I would suggest you have another spare sheet of paper nearby to dab your finger on first so it’s not too thick and drippy.

Here’s how I built mine up:

So here’s my tree and I think it looks quite nice like that and of course you might just want to leave it there.

However I thought it might be even nicer to cut it out and stick it onto a different colour background and add some grass and other bits. So that’s what I did with mine and here it is:

Thank you so much Sue for that fabulous idea!