On this blog you can use the search bar in the right hand column to search for poems, Poetry book reviews, interviews with poets under interviews or the search term ‘poet’s piece’, quick poetry lesson ideas for teachers, poetry craft ideas, poetry videos, poetry fun, and poets’ favourite poetry books among many other categories!
Most poets (including me!) have individual websites and blogs, but there are also several general poetry websites in the UK:
Brian Moses‘ blog has many poetry teaching ideas and other excellent poem resource material.
National Poetry Day is the annual mass celebration on the first Thursday of October that encourages all to enjoy, discover and share poetry. It generates an explosion of activity nationwide, thousands of amazing events across the UK – on doorsteps and at kitchen tables, in gardens and streets, in schools, libraries and public spaces both online and offline – all celebrating poetry’s power to bring people together. On their blog you will find many ideas to celebrate poetry on NPD and throughout the year, a list of the National Poetry Day Ambassadors (including me) and their poems for National Poetry Day this year and past years. If you would like to invite a National Poetry Day Ambassador to your event or school during the year, here are their contact details. Liz Brownlee Deborah Alma Victoria Adukwei Bulley Joseph Coelho Paul Cookson Sally Crabtree Jan Dean Chrissie Gittins Matt Goodfellow Remi Graves Sophie Herxheimer Sophie McKeand Michaela Morgan Brian Moses Rachel Rooney Joshua Seigal Roger Stevens Indigo Williams
Poetry Zone is an excellent website run by wonderful Roger Stevens. You will find interviews with poets about being poets here, poetry book reviews, and also your class of children or individual children can send in poems to be posted. There are poetry competitions, too, usually with book prizes.
The CLPE are a small independent charity with a national and international reputation, a huge purpose and the potential to reach thousands of children. They provide well evidenced, creative, literacy training and support for primary school teachers and others that work in primary schools and run the CLiPPA, an international poetry prize for poetry book excellence. You can find poetry lesson plans and poetry videos from past winners on their website.
The Children’s Poetry Summit is a blog written by members of the children’s poetry summit and guests. The CPS is a UK network of individuals and organisations actively interested in poetry for children. It provides a regular forum for discussion, information exchange, sharing of ideas and good practice, and a pressure group which campaigns for children’s poetry. Members are children’s poets (including me!), publishers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, organisations and individuals interested in children’s poetry
The Reading Realm (this links to a list of poetry-writing ideas) is a fabulous app for your iPad – you will find it full of shelves of books with extracts to intrigue children into reading the whole book. There are poems and poem writing ideas here too, poems linked to the curriculum, interviews with authors and poets and a brilliant new poetry realm app!
Poets’ Websites with updating content:
Poetry4Kids is Kenn Nesbitt’s own blog – it contains his own poems but also has poetry writing lessons, a list of types of poem and how to write them, and a rhyming dictionary.
If you have a children’s poetry blog with a variety of updated content and wish to be listed here, please contact me for listing on a reciprocal basis, which will help drive traffic to both our blogs!
There are also many huge supporters of poetry on Twitter – if you are a teacher and want poetry ideas and a constant stream of ideas and inspiration on how to use poetry in the classroom as a tool to support reading, writing and learning any other subject, follow the people listed below on Twitter:
Poets
@Lizpoet (of course! Lots of poetry-related content)
@PoetryZone
@EarlyTrain
@JulieAnnaPoetry
@lauramucha
@RumbleCoral
@MichaelamorganM
@mandycoepoet
@JosephACoelho
@joshuaseigal
@nealzetterpoet
@KarlNova
@MichaelRosenYes
@homeofpolar
@nikkigamble
@Adisapoet
@SophiaThakur
@andyseedauthor
@chriswhitepoet
@piecorbett
@PoetryVal
@LynneRickards
Teachers and educators with poetry content:
@jonnywalker_edu
Poetry Roundabout 