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bardicbramley's review against another edition
3.0
- part of my course literature summer reading -
I am a big fan of poetry so am very excited to see children's poetry taking a larger role in my second year of studies.
I enjoyed the book itself, and will definitely be using it in the years to come. It took me a while longer to read as I was annotating and coming up with ideas of how I would use the poems that I enjoyed most in the classroom.
However, I would say I only really annotated about a third of the poems, for a mixture of reasons:
I have a personal feeling that a handful of the poems were a little older. Not so much in the way that it would be harder for children to grasp or immerse themselves in (I'm all for sharing classics and spending the time to unravel and ask questions about them), but leaning more towards it being debatable if they quite have a place in the classroom anymore. For example, "The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies" and "From a Railway Carriage". I felt they may have been put in more as a nostalgia moment for Julia Donaldson rather than their suitability.
As for the rest, I know I am /very/ picky with my poetry! So it's probably just that I personally wasn't a fan, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't use them if the right topic arose.
The ones that I did annotate however, I adored! There is so much possible to do with them, from tongue twisters, to chants, to full blown acting opportunities. I found poems that would work for small groups (3/4), that they could stage themselves very easily from the imagery provided. And others that could use the whole class (around 32 lines to give out in the poems) that can either be handed over completely, or controlled by the teacher in the position of a narrator/conductor.
There are poems with non speaking rolls, poems with single lines, and poems with full paragraphs to give out.
Poems for reception age right through to year 6s who want a challenge!
And plenty that will reach across the curriculum to prepare- I found examples that could easily bring in art, drama, music, history, geography, sports, maths, science...
Overall definitely a useful read and a good tool to take with me.
I am a big fan of poetry so am very excited to see children's poetry taking a larger role in my second year of studies.
I enjoyed the book itself, and will definitely be using it in the years to come. It took me a while longer to read as I was annotating and coming up with ideas of how I would use the poems that I enjoyed most in the classroom.
However, I would say I only really annotated about a third of the poems, for a mixture of reasons:
I have a personal feeling that a handful of the poems were a little older. Not so much in the way that it would be harder for children to grasp or immerse themselves in (I'm all for sharing classics and spending the time to unravel and ask questions about them), but leaning more towards it being debatable if they quite have a place in the classroom anymore. For example, "The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies" and "From a Railway Carriage". I felt they may have been put in more as a nostalgia moment for Julia Donaldson rather than their suitability.
As for the rest, I know I am /very/ picky with my poetry! So it's probably just that I personally wasn't a fan, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't use them if the right topic arose.
The ones that I did annotate however, I adored! There is so much possible to do with them, from tongue twisters, to chants, to full blown acting opportunities. I found poems that would work for small groups (3/4), that they could stage themselves very easily from the imagery provided. And others that could use the whole class (around 32 lines to give out in the poems) that can either be handed over completely, or controlled by the teacher in the position of a narrator/conductor.
There are poems with non speaking rolls, poems with single lines, and poems with full paragraphs to give out.
Poems for reception age right through to year 6s who want a challenge!
And plenty that will reach across the curriculum to prepare- I found examples that could easily bring in art, drama, music, history, geography, sports, maths, science...
Overall definitely a useful read and a good tool to take with me.
ellalouise99's review
5.0
A lovely collection of poems to use with primary school children of all ages. Nice as read aloud poems, for children to read individually or for work to be based around. A good book to get children interested in poetry through a nice range of styles.
kestock9's review
What a fun collection of entertaining poems! This book gave me some ideas for creative writing in the classroom.
tabithabrewer18's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
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