My memories of poetry at school were not very enjoyable.  The usual topic was almost always Scots poems for Burns day or less enjoyable, acrostic poems based on the class topic at that time. I always found it difficult to write poems, in particular poems that do not have to rhyme. My dislike for poetry developed further at high school during my time in higher English, having to critically analyse poems and learn them  to be able to write an essay on them in the exam.

However the poetry workshops with Anna have sparked a surprising interest and enjoyment in poetry. In particular I have enjoyed the quick warm up activities of taking objects and giving them life which can then  be turned into a poem. The workshops have allowed me to see that writing poetry can be fun for children if it is taught properly especially using quick activities to get the children thinking and create enjoyment.

Myself and a couple of others had a go at writing our own poem on our favourite food in today’s workshop. We had a lot of fun creating the poem. Playing around with words until we were happy with how it sounded was particularly fun which is something I think is important for the children to explore while writing poetry.

Our pizza poem:

Thin crust
Stuffed crust
Cheesy twisted garlic crust
The tasty dough is a must

 Swirl on the tomato sauce
And garlic butter too
Sprinkle on some mozzarella
Made by the Italian crew

 Chicken, ham and pepperoni
Sounds so divine
Don’t forget the tomatoes and peppers
Your pizza will be ready in no time.