Try, try again

Exciting new... Years 3-6 have entered into a Writing Stars Poetry Competition. This entails writing a poem on one of our 4 learning powers, resilience! It must be titled 'Try, try again.' However, it is entirely up to the children how they choose to approach the poem: it could be an acrostic poem, it could be a rhyming poem, it could be free verse.

For a preview of the original poem, 'Try, try again', click here

Judging the poems produced are not only laureates and poets, but two very famous footballers, Frank Lampard and Yannick Bolasie. 

The winner of this competition has some very exciting treats in store: an exclusive awards ceremony, a poet/author visit for our school and (perhaps most excitingly) Premier League kit, the Premier League trophy and their poem read out on TV by a Premier League footballer.

Classes have received writing lines to construct their poems on. If they have not, send them to Miss Taylor in Willow where they can retrieve more. The deadline for this competition is Friday 15th December. 

Good luck. I know we have a winner in Broadford... 

Premier league stars? Poetry competition?

Today, Years 3-6 were introduced to a poetry competition that is being held in Broadford, though not your usual poetry competition. No. This is a poetry competition with a twist...

It's the 'Writing Stars Poetry Competition!' Still not enticed? Well, let me tell you more.

This competition asks you to produce a poem based on the theme of resilience (one of our 4 learning powers), entitled Try, Try Again. Now, a lightbulb may have just flashed in your minds, as you may recognise that as the title of the poem used in th TV advert for Premier League Primary Stars, encouraging you to work hard and to never give up.

For those of you that have not heard this poem, click the link below to be inspired.

https://plprimarystars.com/competitions/writing-stars

But yes, you did read correctly... A poem used on TV for Premier League Primary Stars. That leads me to my next point...

Judging the pupils’ entries are…

Children's Laureate, Lauren Child, the Young People’s Laureate for London, Caleb Femi, Jonathan Douglas from the National Literacy Trust AND possibly two familiar faces:

Frank Lampard

Yannick Bolasie

The excitement does not stop there, as you have not yet heard the prizes and awards for winning this poetry competition. Now prepare yourself.

Apart from the prestige of winning this competition, the children of Broadford could potentially win:

a school visit by a children’s author or poet, the Premier League Trophy (wow), Premier League football kit (WOW), the winning poem will be read aloud by a Premier League star and captured on film (double WOW) and an invitation to an exclusive award ceremony!

At school today, the children received writing lines to record their poems on. (If they did not, send them to Willow class where they can receive more). All they have to do now, is sculpt their poems.

The criteria:

Poems should be no more than 20 lines or 150 words 

They should be on the theme of resilience.

You can continue the Try, Try Again poem or start a new poem.

Poems can be of any structure and don't have to rhyme.

Finally, poems must be returned to Miss Taylor (Willow Class) by Friday 15th December LATEST, though if you want to hand them in earlier, that would be equally fantastic.  

Good luck everyone! And remember, if you are struggling with your poem... Try, try again!

Palm's poetry

Over the past few weeks years 6 have been working on poetry with extended metaphors. Together we went to the old school building to get some inspiration. We can with ideas that the building was a dinosaur, a vagrant, a dragon. Using as many techniques as we could we had a go at writing some of our own poem. The finished pieces were fabulous!

Year 5 poetry and drama visitor

Year 5 are lucky enough to be visited today by Jackson, an actor who is imparting his wisdom on poetry and drama to the children. Elm started off by creating a soundscape of the city, with children trying their hand at conducting. 

Grandad Rabbit Metaphor Game

In Literacy, we have been exploring the poem ' Rabbit in Mixer Survives' by Roger McGough. We have been learning about the different ways in which imagery is created and enhances poetry specifically looking at metaphors. In class, we have been exploring the main character ' Grandad Rabbit' further using metaphors. The children had to create their own metaphors for Grandad Rabbit.

The children then played the Metaphor Game, Chiefs and Indians. The children walked around the room, like Apache Indians creeping into a rival camp, and stole the best ideas. However, they had to leave a token to the gods (coloured sticker) by the idea stolen. Once the time was up, the children went back to their seats and improved two of their own images.

Here are some examples of our metaphors:

If Grandad Rabbit were a car he'd be an abandoned Beetle with smashed windows and broken headlights. (Kailen Davey)

If Grandad Rabbit were a person he'd be an aged man with a bald patch on his head, his back hunched over supported with his walking stick, waiting at a bus stop. (Harry Hinton)

If Grandad Rabbit were a drink he'd be a cold cup of tea with sour milk. (Simon Ositelu)

If Grandad Rabbit were a game he'd be the Space Invaders game, old and vintage. (Emma Groom)

If Grandad Rabbit were a piece of clothing he'd be a pair of faded, worn blue jeans. (Archie Smith)

Elm use drama in Literacy

This morning Elm are using drama to bring the poem 'Last Night I Saw the City Breathing' to life. They have a difficult task acting out the similes and personification of buildings, cars and street lamps!