RIC-0205 Discovering Poetry

Discovering 

Poetry 

©R.I.C. Publications 

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RIC-0205 6.9/82

Foreword 

It is my pleasure to introduce this original poetry collection for 

students and teachers. The themes are contemporary, written for 

young people in the 21st century. Some of them were written during 

my travels in Australia, where I am partly resident. Others reflect 

insights about children’s feelings and worlds gained in my work as a 

psychologist. I have tried to combine modern themes with classical 

styles to encourage students to widen their own range of literature 

awareness and to explore the rhythms and patterns of the English 

language. 

It is my hope that these explorations will help to release the creative spirit 

that lies within every student. Using these poems as stimulus, teachers 

can guide students towards creative expression through the range of 

reflective activities on the worksheets. I hope you will have fun together, 

as I did in writing the poems. 

Jo Bowler 

Contents 

Teachers Notes _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ii – iii 

Outcome Links ________________________________________________________________________________________________ iv 

The Kite ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 – 4 

Summer Berries _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 – 8 

Antarctica _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 – 12 

Air Raid __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 – 16 

Camel Ride _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 – 20 

Atomic Me _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 21 – 24 

My Friend/Moving ________________________________________________________________________________________ 25 – 28 

Eel Creek ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 29 – 32 

Rollerblading/Skateboard Skite _____________________________________________________________________________ 33 – 36 

The Pelican _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 37 – 40 

A Witchetty Grub in my Sandwich ___________________________________________________________________________ 41 – 44 

World Wide Webbing ______________________________________________________________________________________ 45 – 48 

The Mosquito _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 49 – 52 

Sun, Sea and Sand ________________________________________________________________________________________ 53 – 56 

Grandma’s Vintage Car ____________________________________________________________________________________ 57 – 60 

Butter Butter Everywhere ___________________________________________________________________________________ 61 – 64 



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Rhythm and Rhyme 

Rhythm is the flow of sound that comes from the stress patterns of spoken 

language. The rhyming patterns of poems also determine the rhythm. 

The couplet – two lines that rhyme (aa) 

I didn’t feed my guinea pig today (a) 

I hope when I get home that she’s okay 

(a) 

Alternative rhyming lines (ab ab) 

They said that the camel would know the way (a) 

That we’d amble along till we’re there (b) 

At this pace it’s going to take more than a day (a) 

And we could be lost anywhere (b) 

R.I.C. Publications www.ricgroup.com.au i Discovering Poetry

Discovering Poetry uses 21st century themes to introduce students to a range of classical poetry 

styles. It encourages students to write their own poems and to explore language in creative ways. 

Discovering Poetry contains 18 original poems. Each poem is accompanied by a: 

• page of teacher notes and lesson suggestions; 

• student worksheet on comprehension and word study activities; and 

• structured worksheet for the student’s own poetry writing. 

Teachers Notes 

Each poetry unit is four pages long: 

The first page is for the teacher. Each poetry 

unit has detailed teachers notes and lesson 

suggestions explaining: 

• themes of the poem(s) 

• guided class discussion 

• style of poetry 

• additional activities – smallgroup 

work, individual writing 

• curriculum links 

• answers 

The second page contains the poem(s). 

The third page of each unit is a student 

worksheet that accompanies the poem(s). 

The activities included here combine 

comprehension of the theme of the poem 

and word study activities. 

The final page is a structured worksheet for 

the student’s own poetry writing. The 

students must extend their thinking about the 

theme or style of the poem(s). The activities 

are suited for the middle/upper classroom. 



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The poems and accompanying lessons can be incorporated into class theme work and ongoing projects. 

Curriculum links are suggested in the teachers notes. Poems are grouped by theme for easy reference. 

Each poem and accompanying worksheets can be used as stand-alone units of work within the context of language lessons. 

The teachers notes contain a range of classroom activities, such as group discussion, individual and group writing and research 

activities. 

Links with literature have been given for some of the poems but teachers could consult with the librarian or reading specialist 

to access other reading material within their school resources or on the Internet. 

R.I.C. Publications www.ricgroup.com.au ii Discovering Poetry 

ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Poetic Styles 

Literary Terms 

The styles below are explained in full in the teachers notes 

accompanying each unit. For easy reference, the poem 

titles for each of these styles are shown below. 

Ballad tells stories of heroes and folktales, often includes 

rhyming couplets, contains a repeated line 

Ballade narrative, not a serious topic, contains rhyming 

with the last two lines in each stanza repeated 

Doggerel uses rhyme to express an ordinary feeling or 

sentiment, type of verse used in greeting cards 

Eulogy admires or praises a person, object or place 

Lyric usually a short poem with two to three verses directly 

expressing the poet’s own thoughts and feelings about 

a particular topic, feeling or situation; in ancient Greece, 

short poems were written to be sung to the music of a 

lyre – a stringed instrument made of a tortoiseshell; (also 

means the words of a song) 

Monologue poet speaks to himself/herself 

Nonsense about trivial matters, uses words to make the 

situation more absurd 

Nursery Rhyme repeated vowels and internal rhymes, 

experiments playfully with words and variations on 

words, can be a nonsense element 

Narrative tells or recites a story 

Shape Poem rhyming lines compressed into the outline 

of the subject, being written so they blend together 

Sonnet fourteen lines, three stanzas of four lines with a 

rhyming couplet at the end (a Shakespearean sonnet), 

often about love 

N.B. There is also a Miltonic Sonnet (from Milton) that 

has two verses. Verse one has eight lines and verse 

two, six lines. 

Ode usually has the same rhyming pattern (abcb); is the 

Greek word for song and celebrates or expresses 

admiration for something 

Alliteration 

A recurring consonant in the same phrase; e.g. Peter’s 

in a pickle, Susie’s in a stew! 

Assonance 

The same vowel sound repeated within a verse; e.g. 

Gooseberry looseberry; Thin, pin, skin. 

Homonym 

Words that have different meanings but identical form; 

e.g. lie, saw, stake, pole (each has multiple meanings). 

Homophone 

Words with the same sound but different spelling and 

meaning; e.g. peace, piece. 

Metaphor 

Making a direct comparison with something through 

reference to its appearance, actions or manner; e.g. He’s 

a pig!. 

Onomatopoeia (pronounced ‘on-o-mat-a-pee-uh’) 

Where the sound also gives the meaning; 

e.g. ‘swish’, ‘plop’, ‘crunching’. 

Personification 

A metaphor which gives human qualities to something 

non-human; e.g. The moon was smiling. 

Simile 

Two things are compared using ‘like’ or ‘as’; e.g. He 

was as stubborn as a donkey; She runs like a gazelle. 

Verse Forms 

Couplet – two rhyming lines 

Quatrain – a verse of four lines 

Sestet – a verse of six lines 

Octet – a verse of eight lines 

Summary 



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Title Pages Poetic Style Main theme 

The Kite 1–4 shape poem action poem 

Summer Berries 5–8 nursery rhyme style fruit 

Antarctica 9–12 sonnet environment 

Air Raid 13–16 lyric environment 

Camel Ride 17–20 ballade animals 

Atomic Me 21–24 monologue people and relationships 

My Friend 25–28 narrative people and relationships 

Moving 25–28 narrative – in monologue style people and relationships 

Eel Creek 29–32 ballade animals 

Rollerblading 33–36 lyric action 

Skating Skite 33–36 lyric action 

The Pelican 37–40 ode animal 

A Witchetty Grub in my Sandwich 41–44 doggerel feelings 

World Wide Webbing 45–48 narrative technology 

The Mosquito 49–52 ballad animals/insects 

Sun, Sea, Sand 53–56 eulogy environment 

Grandma’s Vintage Car 57–60 narrative people and relationships 

Butter Butter Everywhere 61–64 nonsense verse people and relationships 

R.I.C. Publications www.ricgroup.com.au iii Discovering Poetry 

ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

The activities in this book have been written to develop the following outcomes in language. 

Outcome Links 

State Strand Level Outcomes Statement 

National 

Reading and Viewing 

NSW 

Contextual Understanding 4 4.6 Explains possible reasons for people’s varying interpretations of a text. 

Linguistic Structures 

and Features 4 4.7 With teacher guidance, identifies and discusses how linguistic structures and features work to shape 

reader’s and viewer’s understanding of texts. 

Writing 

Texts 4 4.9 Uses writing to develop familiar ideas, events and information. 

Contextual Understanding 4 4.10 Adjusts writing to take account of aspects of context, purpose and audience. 


and Features 4 4.11 Controls most distinguishing linguistic structures and features of basic text types such as stories, 

procedure, reports and arguments 

Reading 

Context and Text 3 RS3.7 Refer to curriculum documents. 

Language Structures 

and Features 3 RS3.8 

Writing 

Producing Text 3 WS3.9 

Skills and Strategies 3 WS3.10 

Context and Text 3 WS3.13 


and Features 3 WS3.14 

SA Texts and Contexts 3 3.3 Reads and views a range of texts containing some ideas and issues of social/cultural interest and 

more complex text structures and language features and explains possible reasons for different 

interpretations of texts. 

3.4 Composes a range of texts that include ideas and information about familiar and some unfamiliar 

topics and applies an understanding of audience, purpose and context. 

Language 3 3.7 Identifies and analyses features of written language and visual images when reading and viewing 

independently, a range of texts about familiar and unfamiliar topics. 

3.8 Selects and uses a variety of language aspects when planning and composing a range of well 

structured fiction, factual and media texts about familiar, new and possible experience. 

Strategies 3 3.11 Selects and uses a variety of strategies for locating and recording information and for reading, viewing 

and critically interpreting a range of written and visual texts. 

Victoria 

WA 

Reading 

Contextual Understanding 4 4.6 Refer to curriculum documents 

Linguistic Structures 4 4.7 

Writing 

Texts 4 4.9 

Contextual Understanding 4 4.10 

Linguistic Structures 4 4.11 

Reading 

Contextual Understanding 4 R4.2 Refer to curriculum documents 

Conventions 4 R4.3 

Writing 

Use of Texts 4 W4.1 

Contextual Understanding 4 W4.2 

Conventions 4 W4.3 



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Queensland 

Refer to curriculum documents on http://www.qscc.qld.edu.au 

South Australian acknowledgment 

The extracts from the South Australian Curriculum, Standards and Accountability Framework published by kind permission of the Department of Education, Training and 

Employment, Banksia Avenue, Seacombe Gardens, South Australia, 5047. Phone (08) 8377 0399 

NATIONAL OUTCOMES acknowledgment 

The extracts from the National Statement and Profiles. Permission has been given by the publisher, Curriculum Corporation, PO Box 177, Carlton South, Victoria 3053. 

http://www.curriculum.edu.au Email: sales@curriculum.edu.au Tel.: (03) 9207 9600 Fax: (03) 9639 1616 

R.I.C. Publications www.ricgroup.com.au iv Discovering Poetry 

ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

The Kite 

This poem is about 

Themes 

Style 

Curriculum Links 

flying a kite 

wind, movement, control 

Shape poem 

It has rhyming lines but these have been compressed into the outline of the subject 

so they blend together. The size of the words in the last line also reflects their 

meaning. Shape poems can be written about any subject with a simple outline. 

sport, science (weather) 

Page 3 

1. (a) possible choices – skimming, billowing, scudding, tacking 

(b) possible choices – turning, spinning, circling, whirling, wheeling 

(c) possible choices – swivelling, turning, winding, swinging 

2. a red dragon face 

3. gusty wind (plummets, rears) but fine as well (hazy blue air) 

4. When I think it will nose-dive, it soars up; Pulling the strings I keep it in play 

5. The wind drops 

6. Teacher check 

• Kite flying requires a balance between control by 

human hands and the control of the wind and air 

currents. What other activities require a similar 

balance, and in what elements? 

• Without describing it, the person flying the kite in 

the poem is experiencing certain emotions. What 

are they and what words in the poem suggest this 

to you? 

• Small-group Work 

Kite flying is an ancient sport. Students can use 

encyclopedias and the Internet to research its history 

and prepare a report. 

Make a group design for a kite that will fly. This will 

require research. Make the kite and fly it! 



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• Individual Writing 

Students write a short story about a kite-flying 

contest. 

Write an explanation of how, and why, wind is 

necessary on Earth. 

The old Aesop fable of the contest between the sun 

and the wind to see which had the power to make a 

farmer remove his coat. 

R.I.C. Publications www .ricgr oup.com.au 1 Discovering Poetry 

ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

The Kite 

The Kite is a shape poem. It has rhyming lines, but these have been compressed into the 

outline of the subject being written about so they blend together. The size of the words 

in the last line also reflects their meaning. Shape poems can be written about any subject 

with a simple outline. 

wind 

the 

tails 

The Kite 

It’s swooping and bucking over my head. When 

I think it will nose-dive, it soars up instead. 

It circles and skims in the hazy blue air. 

A red dragon face grinning down 

on me here. Pulling the 

strings I keep it in play, 

and it plummets and 

rears till 



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away 


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The Kite 

Comprehension and Word Study 

The poem describes some of the actions 

of a kite in the wind. Below are some 

other things that are driven by wind. Find 

words to describe their movements. An 

example is given from the poem. 

Example: The kite plummets, rears, nose-dive, bucking, soars 

(a) Yacht sails 

(b) Windmills 

(c) Weather vanes 

A metaphor makes a comparison without using ‘like’. What metaphor is used in the 

poem? 

Describe the weather conditions when the kite is being flown. What words in the 

poem suggest these weather conditions? 

The person flying this kite is experiencing excitement. What particular phrases suggest 

this? 

How does nature end this activity of kite flying? 

Kites come in many shapes. Draw a different shaped kite and write about it. 



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The Kite 

To write a shape poem you need to include information about a topic through the 

words you choose. Practise by writing a shape poem about a fruit or vegetable. 

Choose words that describe the characteristics of the fruit, and how it presents 

itself to the senses. Practise below by finding words to describe the foods listed. 

Draw the outline of your chosen fruit or vegetable in the box below, using a pencil. 

Write some lines to describe this food and arrange them in order to make sense. Try 

to include some rhyme. Now fit your lines to the outline you have drawn. The words 

can run over into the next line. Refer back to the poem The Kite and see how the full 

stops show the end of each line. Write your completed poem in your outline. Arrange 

your words to create the correct shape and rub out your pencil line. 

Order 

Description (draft) 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Summer Berries 


Themes 

Style 


the berry fruits of summer 

taste, texture, variety, sensory pleasure 

Nursery rhyme style 

The poem includes repeated vowel sounds and internal rhymes (assonance). It 

experiments playfully with words and variations on words. There is a nonsense 

verse element, with a description and monologue section in the last seven lines. 

health, nutrition 

Page 6 

1. Real – blueberry, loganberry, boisenberry, gooseberry etc. 

Imaginary – jackberry, looseberry, wilderberry, snappleberry, glowberry etc. 

2. sour/ours, near/earn, more/Rome, eat/tea 

3. merry, glow 


5. Happy, jolly, carefree mood, festive feelings 


• What beneficial plants grow wild where you live? What 

makes them beneficial? What is difficult to cultivate 

in your area? What fruits and vegetables have to be 

imported and why? 

• What is genetic engineering? What are the benefits 

and disadvantages of genetically engineering 

produce? 

Small-group Work 

Students choose from the following topics: 

– Noxious weeds 

– Edible wild food 

– Composting 

– Local crop farming 



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Have relevant resources available (library, Internet, topic 

books) for the students to use to research and write about 

their topic. Reports or posters can be created and 

presented to the class. 

Individual Writing 

Students write an original nursery rhyme on a subject of 

their choice. 

Students write a short story that begins: ‘I peered through 

the window and froze! I could hardly believe what I saw 

growing in there!‘ 

R.I.C. Publications www.ricgroup.com.au 5 Discovering Poetry 

ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


Summer Berries is a nonsense poem written in a nursery rhyme style. It experiments 

playfully with words and variations on words. The effect comes from repetition of the 

word ‘berry’ and the rhymes inside the lines. 


Summer season hot and merry 

Eat a fat and purple berry 

Thin berry thick berry 

Come along and pick berry 

Blackberry jackberry 

In a paper sack berry 

Raspberry blueberry 

How do you do berry! 

Loganberry boisenberry 

Gooseberry loose berry 

Elderberry youngerberry 

Wildberry wilderberry 

crab apple snapple berry 

Merry little cherry berry 

Flower berry sour berry 

Ooh yuk! Sour berry! 

Dried berry sweet and airy 

Growing wild near the dairy 

Bumble berry rowanberry 

Bilberry still berry 

Sloe berry glow berry 

Luscious luscious strawberries 

Are there any more berries? 

I adore strawberries 

Strawberries strawberries 

Squashy with no core berries 

Mouth staining, it’s raining 

Juice! Juice! Juice! 



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Some of the berries in the poem are real fruit and some 

are imaginary. List them. 

An anagram is a word composed of letters that can 

be rearranged to make another word (e.g. pool/loop). 

Here are two words from the poem that you can use 

to make anagrams. Write your new word beside each. 

Find another word in the poem that can also make an 

anagram. 

(a) sour 

(b) near 

Find two different words in the poem that suggest cheerfulness. 

Select your own favourite berry and write two sentences to describe it. Try to use 

either alliteration (starting a group of words with the same letter; for example,light 

luscious loganberry), or assonance (rhyming vowel sounds; for example, Nan’s a 

fan for cranberry) in your writing. 



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Reread the poem and then write a sentence describing the mood of the person 

saying this rhyme. 

(c) 

Invent a new berry and give it a name and colour. Illustrate it and write a description. 


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Plants have many parts, such as 

stems, leaves, petals, fruits and 

branches. Think of a plant you know 

well and write words to describe its 

parts in the space below. 

Write your own nursery rhyme style 

poem about a plant. Include your 

nonsense words in your poem. 

Take one or two of the words from 

your list above and play with them 

by creating nonsense words that 

sound similar. If your first one doesn’t 

work, try another until you have 

generated a list of six, eight or more! 

For example; ‘hairy leaves, fairy 

leaves’ or ‘drippy nectar, sippy 

nectar’. 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Antarctica 


Themes 

Style 

Curriculum links 

the Antarctic environment 

isolation, ghost towns, coldness, eeriness, hostile climates 

sonnet 

society and environment – harsh environments, early explorers 

science – animal adaptation, weather 

Page 11 

1. surfaces of glass; frozen; green and white; cold and bare 

2. snow, stretching; sea to sea; swish of sliding seals; penguins pass; Great surfaces of glass 

3. swish, sleek, gliding, stretching, whispering 

4. penguin, seal, albatross 

5. loneliness, isolation, reinforced by the sensations of coldness 


Explorers go into new and strange environments. This takes 

courage and preparation. Brainstorm some famous explorers 

(e.g. Scott, Amundsen, Hillary) and list words to describe the 

kinds of environments they faced. What kinds of courage do 

people need to deal with everyday life? (Examples: facing bullies, 

trying something new, giving a speech, visiting the dentist.) How 

can you prepare for these situations? 


• Group students into penguins, seals, albatross, whales, sealions 

and dolphins etc. Each group brainstorms to generate 

a list of adjectives, adverbs and verbs relating to their 

particular creature. These lists then form the basis of group 

poems. The group task is to create a poem on its topic, 

illustrate it and display it in poster form. 

• In groups, students research the life of a well-known 

explorer and write a short illustrated biography. 




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• Students imagine they are an iceberg whose time has come 

to break loose from Antarctica. Ask them to tell the story of 

their adventures. 

• Students write their own sonnets on a theme and topic of 

their own choice. They will need to decide first whether 

they will use Shakespeare’s form (three quatrains and a 

couplet) or Milton’s form (an octet and a sestet). 

Antarctica is a Shakespearean sonnet because it has three 

quatrains and a rhyming couplet. The poet, Milton, also wrote 

sonnets using a different pattern – an octet (8 lines) followed 

by a sestet (6 lines). Use the Internet or library to find examples 

of both kinds. 


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Antarctica 

Antarctica is a modern sonnet. Traditional sonnets date from the 16th century. They 

have 14 lines. Sonnets can be on any topic but were often about love. 

Antarctica 

Antarctic streets are canyons 

Great surfaces of glass 

Where ghosts of lost explorers roam 

And sleek wet penguins pass 

Antarctic towns are frozen 

The air is green and white 

The only movement’s high above 

An albatross in flight 

Antarctic parks are cold and bare 

There’s nothing here to see 

But South Pole winter dark and long 

Snow, stretching sea to sea 

And the whispering swish of sliding seals 

Echoes over empty fields 



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Antarctica 


Write any words and phrases in the poem which 

describe the extreme coldness of Antarctica. 

Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant in the same line. For example, 

tropical torrents. Find three examples of alliteration in different lines in this poem. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

Onomatopoeia is the name for words that sound like their meanings; e.g. crash, 

bang. Write three examples from the poem. 

There are three creatures mentioned in the poem. Write each one below and next to 

each,write a word that best describes how it moves. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

Poems use words to create an atmosphere that expresses the theme. Explain the 

main theme in Antarctica. 

The poem talks about Antarctic streets and towns. Draw a picture of how these 

might look and describe your picture below. 



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Antarctica 

Think of different ways to describe 

the wind when it blows cold. 

Fill the wind gust with your words. 

Imagine the Antarctic with icebergs, freezing seas and the biting winds. How would 

it feel to be there? Imagine you are in the Antarctic and complete the sentences. 

(a) I feel 

(b) My breath 

(c) I can see 

(d) In the distance 

(e) I am wearing 

(f) Moving around here is 

Use these phrases to help you write a poem. Write it in the shape of an iceberg with 

one word on the first line, two on the second and so on. 



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Air Raid 


Theme 

Style 

Curriculum links 

the damage caused by plastic bags 

pollution 

lyric and narrative 

A lyric is a short poem, usually with 2–3 verses, directly expressing the poet’s 

own thoughts. Air Raid is an extended metaphor using personification to compare 

plastic bags with humans and armies. 

society and environment – environmental pollution 

Page 15 


2. (a) fluttering (b) formation 

(c) descending (d) lurking 

3. slush, rush, squashed, clog, stifle 

4. (a) jellyfish, roadkill; (b) Teacher check 

5. pollution of the sea, earth and air 


Brainstorm different types of waste materials. Group them into categories; 

for example - recyclable, hazardous, compostable. Should there be laws 

against littering and dumping? (Why? Why not?) The ideas from this 

discussion can be collated and used as the basis of a class project such as 

writing and performing a play or designing posters about recycling plastic 

bags to be displayed around the school. 


• Discuss ways in which recycling is done at home and at school. Create 

an environmental poster using ‘pollution’ words and collage textures. 

• Students write a short poem about aluminium drink cans, using 

personification, considering what they could compare them with. Ask 

them to discuss their properties (e.g. sound, flexibility, colour, capacity) 

and to use these qualities in their poems. 




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• Students write a dialogue between a rubbish bag and a cat, beginning 

with a few lines to set the scene. 

• Students choose a non-living object and think of ways it could be 

compared with humans. They should write their ideas in about three 

short lines, then construct these lines into a poem, using personification 

in each stanza. They don’t have to rhyme. 

Class Project 

Write a one-act play to be performed. Divide the class into small groups. 

Each group chooses a type of pollutant (e.g. plastic cargo strapping, bottles, 

cans, batteries etc.). The group researches how its object contributes to 

pollution and writes a conversation boasting about how it is the most 

powerful pollutant in the world. Collate the mini-plays into one bigger play. 

The whole class then decides on how each individual can help solve these 

problems and writes a final section. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Air Raid 

Air Raid is a short narrative poem in lyric style written to express an idea. It uses a 

technique called ‘personification’. Personification is a kind of comparison in which nonliving 

objects are described as having human traits. In this case, the plastic bags have 

taken on a life of their own. 

Air Raid 

The world is full of plastic bags 

They’re living everywhere 

At supermarket checkouts 

Or fluttering in the air 

Pale jellyfish against the light 

They float across the sky 

Or split or torn, like roadkill squashed 

On muddy pavements lie 

If all these earth-worn groundlings 

Should join their friends in flight 

They’ll form a mighty legion 

And conquer earth by night 

In parachute formation 

Descending in a rush 

They’ll clog the sun, and stifle spring 

And turn the sea to slush 

The world is full of plastic bags 

They’re lurking everywhere 

Until the time comes to arise 

And suffocate the air 



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Air Raid 


How does the poet give the impression that plastic bags have declared war on 

the world? 

Find words in the poem that match these meanings. 

(a) moving in the wind 

(b) arranged in lines 

(c) coming down 

(d) loitering 

Onomatopoeia is when the meaning and the spoken sound of the word are similar; 

e.g. flutter, rumble. Write three examples from the poem. 

Plastic bags are likened to people, but there are two 

other metaphors that compare them with creatures. 

(a) What are they? 

(b) Which of these comparisons do you prefer and why? 

Describe the message of this poem. 



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Write a letter to your local council asking for information about their policy on 

recycling. Remember to use formal language! Continue your letter on the back of 

this sheet. 


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Air Raid 

Write words to describe different kinds of rubbish. 

(a) Things that can be recycled. 

Example: glass shiny, sharp 

(b) Things that are biodegradable (they return to the soil) 

Example: leftover food smelly scraps 

(c) Things that are toxic (hazardous) and need to be disposed of carefully 

Example: batteries lead, heavy 

Use some of these words, and more, to craft an acrostic poem 

about pollution on our planet. 

(a) Write your ideas in the box. 



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(b) Write an acrostic poem about pollution. 


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Camel Ride 


Themes 

Style 


riding a camel alone in a desert 

heat, isolation, endurance, animal companionship 

19th century French ballade 

The characteristics are: narrative; topic not serious; rhyming and last one or two 

lines repeated in each stanza. 

Compare a ballade with the ballad, which started as a four-line folk poem, usually 

about love, war or death and is often sad. 

society and environment – harsh environments 

science – adaptation and survival 

Page 19 

1. Teacher check (could become the basis for a class poem) 

2. hot and baking sun; skin baked to enamel; smells of sweat 

3. (a) dismount 

(b) challenge 

(c) lurch 

(d) commands 

(e) amble 

4. Endless and bare; sand as the dominant theme; sandy world 


6. Answers will vary, but may include boredom, plodding movement, sleepiness or camel’s persistence. 

• There are different kinds of challenges. Give examples of: 

– other physical challenges 

– mental challenges (e.g. studying for a test, problemsolving) 

– social challenges (e.g. making new friends) 

• What kind of challenge do you find hardest? Why? 


• Students write a poem or short story about their 

relationship with a pet or other animal. 

• Students think of an animal or bird they admire and 

write a list of words that describe its qualities, 

appearance, movement, habits and environment. 

These can be used as the basis of his/her own poem. 

• Students write a short story that begins ‘I had to 

survive, and I knew there was only one option 

available to me …’ 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Camel Ride 

Camel Ride is written in the style of an old French ballade - not to be confused with the 

English ballad. The ballade was popular at the end of the 19th century and the topic was 

usually light-hearted, with the last line of each stanza repeated. In this modern ballade, 

the camel rider is alone and isolated but doesn’t seem too worried about it. 

Camel Ride 

I don’t know where I’m going 

I’ll only know when I’ve been 

The landscape stretches endless and bare 

With sand as the dominant theme 

I’d like to say I own the world 

But it’s shared with another mammal 

A lumpy bumpy mug-a-wumpy 

Frumpy galumpy camel 

It was a challenge—I must have been mad! 

They said I’d be there by dusk 

So I’m here with a compass, a flask and a beast 

That smells of sweat and musk 

We’re under a hot and blazing sun 

And my skin is baked to enamel 

On a lumpy bumpy mug-a-wumpy 

Grumpy humpy camel 

They said that the camel would know the way 

That he’d amble along till we’re there 

At this pace it’s going to take more than a day 

And we could be lost anywhere 

How I’ll dismount I haven’t a clue 

He needs his instructions in Tamil 

This dumpy frumpy mind-your-bumpy! 

Humpy galumpy camel 



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‘Keep travelling nor-nor-east,’ they said 

They’d be following right behind me 

But I can’t see anything else for dust 

They’re probably having tea 

And I’m all alone in a sandy world 

As I lurch along in the saddle 

On a lumpy bumpy mug-a-wumpy 

Grumpy galumpy camel 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Camel Ride 

Comprehension and word study 

List four different words to describe a camel. 

Next to each, write a rhyming word. 

Word 

Rhymes with … 

Write three phrases in the poem that emphasise the idea of heat. 

• 

• 

• 

Write words and phrases 

which describe the desert. 

Find words in the poem that match these 

meanings. 

(a) to get off 

(b) a dare 

(c) to move unevenly 

(d) instructions 

(e) to walk slowly 

Draw yourself riding on a camel in the desert. 



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What do you think is the effect of repeating the last two lines of each stanza? 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

In the poem Camel Ride, the poet describes how it feels to ride a camel. 

Write words to describe how it might feel to ride the animals below. 

(a) emu 

(b) donkey 

(c) dolphin 

(d) elephant 

Imagine you are in a race that you must win to save 

your town from being destroyed by flood or fire. 

(a) Choose your animal transport and create two lines 

for the end of each stanza of your poem. 

For example, in Camel Ride, the lines are . . . 

My animal transport is 

My lines 

Camel Ride 

(b) Write a poem about how you and your animal companion saved the town. 

Use your lines above to end each stanza. 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Atomic Me 


Themes 

Style 


individuality, self, uniqueness 

energy, recklessness, freedom 

monologue 

The writer is speaking to himself or herself. It is optimistic in tone, celebrating 

life, and takes the form of an extended metaphor, comparing the self with atoms 

and universal energy. Atomic Me is an extended metaphor. (A metaphor is a 

direct comparison of one thing with another.) There are four stanzas in the poem. 

A six-line stanza is called a ‘sestet’. Each sestet below ends with two rhyming 

lines. These are called couplets. For variation and emphasis, the poet has ended 

with four lines. 

science – outer space, health – values (selfishness, compassion) 

Page 23 

1. energy, recklessness, impulse, risk 

2. I leap, I’m free; a cosmic blast across your path 

3. shooting sparks; force field 

4. supplied with electrical energy; 

Answers will vary but may include given responsibility; asked for payment; prosecuted; filled 

5. (a) impulsive (b) unique 

(c) cosmic (d) blueprint 

(e) genetic (f) surge 

6. Emphasises the impulsive, random nature of the feelings and actions in the poem 


• What is the attitude of the person in Atomic Me to herself 

or himself? What is the attitude to others? Find lines in the 

poem to justify your opinion. 

• The themes of this poem are energy, freedom and 

recklessness. What do you think is the dominant theme and 

why? 



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• Students write a short group sestet (six-line poem) starting 

each line with the letters in ‘atomic’. The group decides on 

the rhyming pattern. They could then make the poem into a 

collage and present it to the class. 

• As a group, students create actions to Atomic Me and 

perform it for the class or other classes. 


• Students choose a topic and think of some associated idea 

they can compare it with. For example, the sun – gives life. 

They could also try a season, an animal or an inanimate 

object. Students start by making a list of words that apply 

to both the topic and the idea they have associated with it. 

They then write a paragraph, making an extended metaphor. 

• Students write a short poem about the human race. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Atomic Me 

A metaphor is a direct comparison of one thing with another; for example, he is an angry 

bull. The poem below is an extended metaphor where the comparison continues in each 

stanza. 

Atomic Me 

I’m an atom charged with life 

Electrons flowing through 

An energetic force field 

Shooting sparks at you 

I jump, I leap, I’m free! 

Wild atomic me! 

My genetic blueprint 

Has come from outer space 

Molecules combining 

I am the human race 

I was meant to be 

Unique atomic me! 

Neutrons, protons, I’m the source 

Of each impulsive splurge 

A cosmic blast across your path 

A wild and untamed surge 

I’ll do anything you dare 

I’m here, there and everywhere 

Molecular, spectacular 

Wild atomic 

Supersonic 

Wild atomic me! 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Atomic Me 

Comprehension and word study 

(a) What are the main feelings expressed in this poem? 

(b) Find three words in the poem to support your opinion. 

Assonance is the name for vowels with the same sound in the same line; 

for example, Abbey adored apples. Write an example of assonance in this poem. 

Alliteration is the same consonant repeated in a line; for example, We could smell 

the salty sea. Write two examples of alliteration in this poem. 

(a) Homonyms are words with the same spelling but different meanings. For example, 

rock, rock. What meaning is given to the word ‘charged’ in the first line? 

(b) Write another meaning for ‘charged’. You may need a dictionary to help you. 

Find words in the poem that match these meanings. 

You may need a dictionary to help you. 

(a) without thinking 

(b) the only one 

(c) of the universe 

(d) a plan for action 

(e) hereditary traits 

(f) a sudden flow 



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What is the effect of the short lines in the last verse? 

This poem contains a 

number of scientific 

terms. For each one, 

write a phrase that could 

have been used instead, 

to create the same 

meaning in the poem. 

electrons 

cosmic 

molecules 

genetic 

neutrons 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Atomic Me 

There are nine planets in our solar system. What do you know about them? Choose 

one planet and brainstorm words and phrases about it. You may need to research 

the planet first. 

Imagine that you are the ruler of a planet. Choose one and write a poem beginning 

with this phrase: 

If I ruled . . . . . . 

(a) Write your ideas in the planets. 

(b) Write your poem. Choose from a shape poem, rhyming poem or acrostic poem. 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

These poems are about 

Themes 

Style 


moving home, changing school and making new friends 

belonging, change, loss, adapting to new circumstances 

narratives—one in monologue form 

Narrative poems tell or recite a story (My Friend). A monologue is speech 

addressed to oneself. It states or clarifies feelings and opinions (Moving). 

Both poems are about change, adjustment, endings and beginnings. 

society and environment – experiencing a new culture health – friendship 

Page 27 

1. friendly, bright, helpful, dependable, sociable, clever, confident 

2. This person is angry at her/his parents. Doesn’t want to leave home, friends and school. He/She is 

feeling unsettled and anxious. 

3. Positive attitudes to school 


5. Parents should have asked him/her how he/she felt, before selling the house, which is an important 

part of his/her security. 

6. a b c d – lines one and three rhyme, as do lines two and four. 



9. (a) drey (b) igloo (c) den/earth (d) lodge/teepee/wigwam 

(e) eyrie (f) shell (g) lodge (h) form 

• What does it feel like to move away from everything familiar? Brainstorm words 

to describe feelings. What adjustments would you need to make if you were 

moving to a new country? (language, diet, customs, shopping). What challenges 

face immigrant children settling into a new school? What behaviour is helpful 

to them? 


• Students design an ideal bedroom, deciding what it would contain. They should 

justify all the contents in terms of their activities and present their joint decisions 

to the class. 




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• Students write a page recalling or imagining their own experiences of moving. 

Ask them if they had to move home and leave friends behind, would their feelings 

be similar to those expressed in Moving? Or would they be glad to leave? 

• Ask students what it is about Emma that makes other people like her. Who do 

they admire? Students can then write a paragraph explaining why. They should 

give the person a fictitious name, to protect his or her privacy. 

• Use anthologies of poetry in the school library to find two other poems with 

similar themes. Students can write a paragraph comparing the way each poet 

has tackled the theme. Create a class poster using the paired titles of all the 

poems with similar themes that the class can find. Ask the school librarian to 

help by making these poetry books available for use by the class during a set 

period. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

My Friend is a short narrative that tells a story. Moving is a monologue—a speech made 

by one person that expresses an idea or feelings. Both poems are about change, 

adapting, partings, endings, new beginnings and the feelings that accompany all the 

changes that go with moving. 

My Friend 

She started after term began 

But she soon fitted in 

When others tried to mimic her 

She kept a friendly grin 

She didn’t wear the latest gear 

To her it didn’t matter 

She didn’t join in the gossip 

But was always pleased to natter 

She started coming first in class 

And no-one seemed to mind 

The boys were even pleasant 

Though she left them far behind 

Now she’s the one who others choose 

When they are picking teams 

And everyone asks Emma 

For new fund-raising schemes 

Her smile is always ready 

I’ve never seen her cry 

She tells me that she does, sometimes, 

But doesn’t tell me why 

It didn’t take me long to learn 

On her I could depend 

And I can say I’m really proud 

That Emma is my friend 

Moving 

I don’t want to move 

I like our house. It’s cool 

All my friends live near 

I even like my school 

You went ahead and did it! 

You sold my history 

You didn’t ask me how I felt 

Just said how it would be 

I’ve grown up in this bedroom 

It’s where I want to stay 

I don’t want to make new friends 

In some place miles away 

Don’t say how great it’s going to be 

In a new house somewhere 

I won’t go. No! I will not go! 

You’ll have to leave me here 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


Comparing Poems 

Write three words of your own that describe Emma’s personal 

qualities. 

Write a sentence explaining the feelings of the person in Moving. 

What is the attitude of these two students towards school? 

Which poem do you like better, and why? 

The person in the second poem 

is angry with his/her parents. In 

this speech bubble, write what 

specific things is he/she is 

trying to say to them. 

Both poems have the same rhyming 

pattern in each stanza. What is it? 



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In the poem My Friend, what do you think the speaker 

did to help the new girl settle in to school? 

Draw a sketch of your own bedroom and 

write a sentence describing how you feel 

when you are in your bedroom. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

All animals and creatures have some kind of home or habitat where they feel safe. 

Write the names for the homes of these animals or people. 

(a) possum 

(b) Inuit 

(c) fox 

(d) American Plains Indian 

(e) eagle 

(f) oyster 

(g) beaver 

(h) hare 

A shape poem is written in the outline of the object you are writing about. 

Choose an animal and find out more about it and where it lives. 

(a) Write your findings below. 

My animal is 

. Its home is 

(b) Use your information to write phrases for a poem. Plan your poem in the box. 

(c) Write a poem about your animal. You may decide to use the animal’s 

shape or its habitat as the outline for your writing to create a shape poem. 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


Themes 

Style 


a treacherous creek full of eels 

danger, the unknown, mystery 

a ballad in narrative style 

Ballads have been used for centuries to tell stories of heroes and folktales. They 

often use rhyming pairs of words (couplets). There are usually four lines in verse 

and sometimes have a repeated line, as in Eel Creek. 

science/society and environment – water environments 

English – myths, tribal legends 

health – water safety 

Page 31 

1. Dark, deep; sandfly sleep; glass-green; slipped suddenly; swimming slowly 

2. flowing, cascading, rushing, dark/deep 

3. tumble, slithered, swimming 

4. (a) calling 

(b) tried/undertook 

(c) lingering/loitering 

5. (a) shallow 

(b) smooth 

(c) dull 

(d) appeared/reappeared 

6. cascading, rushing, glistens 

7. Answers will vary but may include ceaselessly, incessantly, continually etc. 


• What is the effect of repeating the last line of each stanza? 

(Possible answers: to emphasise the danger in the water; to create 

a dreamlike effect in keeping with the mystery of the ring wedged 

in the rock.) 

• Work out the variations in the rhyme pattern of the lines in each 

stanza. Why has the poet done this? 

(Possible answers: to prevent the poem from becoming too 

predictable; to increase a sense of unexpected danger.) 



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• Students work as a group to turn a familiar fairytale into a rhyming 

ballad; e.g. Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding 

Hood, The Three Little Pigs. Present it to the class. 

• Research an Aboriginal Australian legend for students to act out. 


• Students create their own story involving treasure, 

creatures and a hero or heroine. 

The ballads of Banjo Paterson 

The Lady of Shallott by Alfred Lord Tennyson 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

This is a short ballad, written in narrative style. Narratives tell a story. Ballads are meant 

to be spoken aloud. They often have some repeated rhyme or rhythm. 

Eel Creek 

Don’t go down to Eel Creek 

Where the water’s dark and deep 

Where the lurking sandflies sleep 

And the river winds around 

Winds around 

Winds around 

Flowing to a waterfall 

Cascading over stony ground 

Till the rushing torrent drops 

And the eels tumble down 

Tumble down 

Tumble down 

In glass-green water you can see 

A silver ring with gemstones three 

Wedged into a sunken rock 

And the eels guard it there 

Swimming slowly 

Round and round 

Walk on past that treasure bright 

Do not reach out for what you’ve found 

Though it glistens, beckoning, 

Calling you without a sound 

Where the river winds around 

Winds around 

The last one who attempted it 

Disappeared and wasn’t found 

Slipped suddenly and slowly drowned 

As the eels slithered round 

Slowly drowned 

Slowly drowned 

So don’t go down to Eel Creek 

Where the water’s dark and deep 

Where the eels their secrets keep 

And the river endlessly 

Winds around 

Winds around 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Comprehension 

Alliteration is the same consonant repeated in a line; for example, We could smell 

the salty sea. Find examples in the poem and write them below. 

Adjectives describe nouns; e.g. irritable eel. What four adjectives are used to 

describe water in the poem? 

Verbs are action words; e.g. contemplating. What three verbs 

describe the movement of the eels in the poem? 

Synonyms are words with the same or 

a similar meaning. Write synonyms for 

these words in the poem. 

(a) beckoning 

(b) attempted 

(c) lurking 

Antonyms are words with opposite 

meanings. Write antonyms for these. 

(a) deep 

(b) stony 

(c) bright 

(d) disappeared 

Onomatopoeia is where the sound 

of a word also expresses its 

meaning; e.g. rippling, screech. 

Write an example from the poem. 

Find two other ways to write the 

word ‘endlessly’ (stanza 6). 



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Write a short story telling how the ‘silver ring with gemstones three’ 

came to be in the water and how the eels came to be its guardians. 

Plan your story below and write it on a separate sheet of paper. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Find words to describe things in the environment, either harmless 

or dangerous, that are winding. 

(a) road 

(b) snake 

(c) rope 

(d) hosepipe 

(e) power lines 

Write a poem in the shape below. Choose your own topic, or write about 

a journey. Try to use some rhyme. 



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Write a short ballad that tells a story. Remember; ballads are meant to be spoken 

aloud and they can have some repeated rhyme, such as ‘winds around, winds 

around’. 

(a) Write ideas for your poem in the box. 

(b) Write your poem on a separate sheet of paper. 

Read your poem to a friend, your group or the class. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

These poems are about sports – rollerblading and skateboarding 

Themes 

freedom, skill, superiority 

Style 

action poems written in the lyric style. 

Lyric poetry is usually short. It expresses the poet’s feelings about 

a particular topic, feeling or situation. In ancient Greece, such short poems 

were written to be sung to the music of a lyre – a stringed instrument made of 

tortoiseshell. ‘Lyrics’ also means the words of popular songs. 

Curriculum Links health – sport 

Page 35 

1. rollerblades rolling; swaying side to side; free falling; skilful skateboard skite 

2. Speed in my feet; Bending, flexing 

3. swooping, zooming, shooting, Zapping, Spinning 

4. Answers will vary, but may include sense of speed, feeling part of the equipment etc. 

5. Answers will vary, but may include freedom, pride, skill, enthusiasm etc. 



• One of the poems contains a metaphor. Which one? 

How appropriate do you think it is? (An albatross in 

soaring flight – Skateboard Skite) 

• Rollerblading refers to other people. What kind of 

judgement does it make? (earthlings – last verse) 


• From these poems, students make a list of words that 

describe the sensation of moving at speed. Ask them 

to brainstorm a list of words or phrases that describe 

strength, flexibility and cleverness. They should then 

decide on one sport, using the lists to help them write 

a page that describes the sport to someone who has 

never played or seen it. 




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• Students design their own sports equipment. They 

can illustrate and label it, then write a paragraph 

explaining how it is used. 

• Students write a short poem that begins ‘When 

Grandma tried my skateboard (or rollerblades) . . .’ 

• Students write a short story in which they use 

rollerblades to help solve a mystery or a crime. 

Use anthologies of verse in the school library to locate 

poems about sports. 

There are a number of poems written by pilots in the first 

and second world wars which give the sensations of flying 

(e.g; An Irish Airman Foresees His Death). 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Rollerblading and Skateboard Skite are two action poems that are written in a lyric style. 

Lyric poetry is usually short. It expresses the poet’s feelings about a particular topic, 

feeling or situation. In ancient Greece, such short poems were written to be sung to the 

music of a lyre—a stringed instrument made of tortoiseshell. 

Rollerblading 

Rollerblades rolling 

Speed in my feet 

Dodging pedestrians 

All down the street 

Swooping around corners 

Swaying side to side 

Feet in slow motion 

Past each other glide 

Shooting over pavements 

Zooming through the light 

Skirting around lampposts 

Rollerblades in flight 

Rollerblades rolling 

Wings on my feet 

Dodging the earthlings 

All down the street! 

Skateboard Skite 

A silhouette against the sky 

Watch him on his skateboard fly 

An albatross in soaring flight 

Mind free-falling, skateboard skite! 

Spinning off the stairway edge 

Down the steps, across a ledge 

Full turns, a somersault or two 

Just to show what he can do 

Down the ramp and off the top 

Poised above while others flop 

Seamlessly his movement flows 

Bending, flexing, on he goes 

Leaning into every turn 

Hasn’t got a lot to learn 

Zapping through the summer light 

Proud and skilful skateboard skite! 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Comprehension 

Alliteration is the same consonant repeated in a line; for example, They never need 

to know your name. Write an example of alliteration in each poem. 

Assonance is the name for vowels with the same sound in the same line; 

e.g. cheap seat. Write an example of assonance in each poem. 

Onomatopoeia is the name for words that sound like their meanings; e.g. zing, flitting. 

Find three examples in ‘Rollerblading’. 

What do these poems have in common? 

What is the main feeling being expressed in 

each of these poems? 

(a) Rollerblading 

(b) Skateboard Skite 

Which poem do you prefer and why? 



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To ‘skite’ is to boast or brag 

about something. 

(a) If you were going to tell 

a friend about something 

you are good at and 

which makes you proud, 

what would it be? 

(b) Draw a picture of yourself 

doing your answer to (a). 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Write phrases to describe the similarities in the following activities. 

(a) Windsurfing and surfing 

(b) Gymnastics and trampoline 

(c) Walking and running 

(d) Swimming and archery 

(b) 

Write a poem that tells a story about your first attempt to ride a bicycle. 

(a) First, use the ladder to brainstorm rhyming words about riding a bike. 

(b) In each box, write two lines that rhyme. 

(c) Write your rhyming poem. 

(a) 

(c) 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


Themes 

Style 


the pelican and its behaviour 

Humans admiration for the versatility and beauty of the bird 

Ode with six stanzas, using the same rhyming pattern in each (abcb). 

Ode is the Greek word for song. An ode is a celebration, expressing 

admiration for something. 

society and environment – conservation 

science – marine birds 

Page 39 

1. sails serenely; fish flapping; stately soaring; white wings, wind 

2. a jumbo jet and a cat (simile) 

3. the pelican’s beak, a surf rod 

4. (a) majestic 

(b) mock 

(c) impeccable 

(d) prepared 

(e) stately 

5. Amused, pitying because they can’t fly. 


1. Which of the metaphors used in the poem is most 

effective? Why? 

2. Find other phrases which describe the pelican’s beak 

and its storage capacity. 

3. What is the pelican’s relationship with humans in this 

poem? 


• Students research four seabirds and present their 

findings to the class in a speech. 

• Students research mythical birds such as the dodo, 

griffin (gryphon) and phoenix. They can present their 

findings orally and visually. 



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• Students write a description of an imaginary fantastic 

creature with a picture. 

• Students use dialogue to continue the conversation 

with the pelican begun in the fifth stanza. 

• Students describe the pelican and its habits 

to someone from another planet. 

Ode to the West Wind by Percy Shelley 

Ode to Autumn by John Keats 

The Eagle by Alfred Tennyson 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

This poem is an ode. The word ‘ode’ is Greek for song. An ode is a celebration of 

something and expresses admiration. Here, the poet admires the pelican’s qualities. 

The Pelican 

A galleon of pelicans 

Sails serenely by 

Nothing in the waves escapes 

Each bright, unblinking eye 

Some joke about the pelican 

And mock it when they speak 

But it has a great advantage— 

A capacious flexi-beak 

It grooms itself just like a cat 

While waiting on the sand 

To watch the flexing surf rods bring 

Fish flapping to the land 

The pelican knows well he can 

Just snatch a little bait 

But his manners are impeccable 

He’s quite prepared to wait 

I spoke once to a pelican 

Who told me, waddling by 

His fun is watching humans 

‘Such a pity they can’t fly’ 

Great white wings opened to the wind 

A jumbo jet in flight 

The stately, soaring pelican 

Is a majestic sight 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Comprehension 

Alliteration is the same consonant repeated in a line; 

for example, Penny is a people pleaser. Write four 

examples of alliteration in this poem. 

Both metaphors and similes make comparisons, 

but the simile uses ‘like’ or ‘as’ (e.g. She was as 

graceful as a swan); whereas the metaphor 

does not (e.g. He inspected the writing with an 

eagle eye). 

(a) What two things are compared with 

the pelican? 

(b) Write the line in the poem that 

contains a simile. 

Two things in this poem are described 

as ‘flexible’. What are they? 

What does the pelican in the poem 

think about human beings? 

Use the library and Internet to find 

images of pelicans. Choose one 

image to sketch. 



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Find words in the poem that match 

these meanings. You may need a 

dictionary to help you. 

(a) grand 

(b) laugh at 

(c) perfect 

(d) ready 

(e) dignified 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Find words to describe different styles 

of the following things that birds have 

in common. 

Beaks 

For example, 

Sound: squawk, 

cheep, tweet, shrill, cry. 

Flight 

Use some of these words 

and add more to create a 

poem about birds or a 

particular type of bird. 

(a) Write words and phrases 

about birds. Include 

adjectives that you will be 

able to use in your poem. 

Movement 

on the 

ground 

Colours 



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Wings 

(b) Write a poem about 

birds. Will your poem be 

a shape poem, acrostic 

poem, rhyming poem or 

another style of poem? 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


Themes 

Style 


having a bad day 

rejection, feeling things are out of control, out of step with other people 

rhyming couplets, with a chorus; doggerel 

Doggerel uses rhyme to express an ordinary feeling or sentiment. 

These are the types of verse used in greeting cards. 

health – values, moods, emotions 

Page 43 

1. (a) makes you sick 

(b) can’t remember 

(c) lost your hat 

(d) lunch box is depressing 

(e) stinking hot 

2. Answers will vary. Teacher check 

3. lunchbox, bike/flat tyre, pie, hat, cricket bat 

4. witchetty grub (disgusting lunch); cockatoo (muddled brain) 

5. Answers will vary but may include ‘to give the effect of going over and over 

something in your mind without solving anything’. 

• There are three references in the poem to friends. What 

conclusions can you make about this person’s relationship with 

his or her classmates? 

• What could the person in the poem do to improve his or her day? 


• Students brainstorm ideas on what makes days good or bad. 

They should discuss, and reach a consensus. They can then write 

a paragraph summarising the group’s opinions. 

• Students brainstorm a list of animals that are used to describe 

human qualities and feelings. Make three lists: 

(a) animals used to describe people in positive ways; e.g. lion, 

dove, tiger. 

(b) animals used as put-downs; e.g. snake, rat, chicken, weasel. 

(c) animal phrases used as metaphors or similes; e.g. to hog 

the limelight, to wolf down your food, slippery as a snake, 

blind as a bat, strong as an ox. 



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• Students choose a creature to represent their best friend. 

They then write their own poem or short story that begins 

‘My best friend is a/an …’. Focus on the friend’s positive 

qualities. 

‘Jabberwocky’ from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll 

The poems of Edward Lear 


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This poem is written in doggerel – a type of comic rhyming verse. The poem reflects 

feelings and has a ‘nonsense’ stanza. This is a verse that is repeated, like the chorus of 

a song, to emphasise the feelings being experienced. 

A Witchetty Grub in my Sandwich 

Some days at school are not so good 

You can’t remember things you should 

Your friends don’t help—they laugh at you 

Your lunch box is depressing too 

There’s a witchetty grub in my sandwich 

And a cockatoo in my head 

And my brain won’t do 

What I want it to do 

And I wish I’d stayed in bed 

Your bike has a flat tyre when 

You need to ride it home again 

And you’re not in the team they pick 

You eat a pie that makes you sick 








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It’s stinking hot, you’ve lost your hat 

And someone’s nicked your cricket bat 

Your friends are mean—you let off steam 

The day seems like a long, bad dream 







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Comprehension 

Find phrases in the poem that match these meanings. 

You may need a dictionary to help you. 

(a) nausea 

(b) forgetful 

(c) misplaced 

(d) not appetising 

(e) excessive heat 

What feelings is the person in this poem experiencing: 

(a) about school? 

(b) about friends? 

(c) about himself/herself? 

There are a number of objects 

that contribute to this person’s 

bad day. List them, in the order 

they appear in the poem. 

Metaphors are used to make comparisons, 

without using ‘like’ or ‘as’. What two 

metaphors are used in this poem and what 

are they describing? 



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Give a reason why you think the poet has repeated the second verse three times. 

Draw the best lunch you could find in your lunch box and the worst. Label the items. 

best 

worst 


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The person in this poem is not having a good day. What kinds 

of problems have you had? Alongside each problem write 

two words to describe how you were feeling at that time. 

• 

• 

• 

Problem 

Feelings 

Write a poem about ‘Feeling Good’ in the form of a recipe. Try to use some rhyme. 

Feeling Good 

Ingredients 

Method 

Write a poem that contains rhyming couplets and follows 

the rhyming style of A Witchetty Grub in my Sandwich. 



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a 

a 

b 

b 

a 

b 

c 

c 

b


Themes 

Style 


using a computer 

curiosity, exploration, enjoyment of technology 

narrative, including rhyming couplets and quatrains 

Technology – computer studies 

Society and Environment – society 

Page 47 

1. vibes – vibrations 

ads – advertisements 

info – information 

2. (a) sight (b) their 

(c) threw (d) weight 


4. It is the style used for email. 

5. (a) tree felling 

(b) riding waves on a board 

6. ‘magic pages’ 

7. Teacher check – language is constantly evolving and standards changing. 

New technologies influence this. 

Why does language change over time? Brainstorm 

computer words (e.g. modem, dotcom, email, Internet, 

SMS.) Use dictionaries to see how many have now been 

formally accepted into the English language. What are the 

international rules of ‘netiquette’ (e.g. capitals = shouting). 

In what ways did people communicate before email and 

mobile phones? (morse code, semaphore, short-hand, 

telegrams, telephone, pigeon post). What new methods 

do we have? (fax, text messaging, mobiles). 



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• Using SMS style abbreviations, students write a short 

letter to a pet, explaining why they forgot to buy pet 

food. 

• Students write a letter to an alien, explaining how the 

Internet works. 

• Students use computers to find poems on the Internet. 

Use your poem anthologies in the school library to locate 

poems about ‘new technology’ from earlier times; e.g, 

windmills, power pylons, bridges, tunnels, radio, television. 


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This is a short narrative poem that describes a process. Each stanza is written in rhyming 

couplets. The stanzas are quatrains of four lines each. 



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Abbreviations are words shortened 

from their original form. Find two in this 

poem and write them in full. 

Why do you think this poem is written 

without punctuation or initial capital 

letters? 

Homophones are words with the same 

sound but a different spelling and 

meaning. Find homophones for the 

following words from the poem. 

(a) site 

(b) there 

(c) through 

(d) wait 

Use a dictionary to help you write 

three different meanings for the word 

‘server’. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

Write another meaning for: 

(a) logging 

(b) surfing 

In the third verse the poet has used 

two words to describe a web site. 

What are they? 

Communicating through email and SMS (mobile phones) is becoming increasingly 

more popular. Have a class discussion about emailing and using SMS and think 

about the effects these new forms of communications will have on letter writing and 

the importance of using correct English. Write about your discussion below. 

• letter writing (the old-fashioned way) 



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• the standard of written English 


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Imagine that you are a computer. You are programmed 

to produce a list of words associated in some way 

with each word entered. 

(a) Choose one of the words below 

and write a poem that the 

computer ‘spills out’. Decide if 

your poem will rhyme or not. 

Christmas summer rain 

Many people communicate with their work colleague and friends 

by typing SMS (short message service) on their mobile phones. 

(a) Use this list of common SMS abbreviations to write a message. 

r - are l8 - late 

ur - you are 4 - for, four 

yr - your 2 - to, too, two 

thx - thanks b4 - before 

w8 - wait w/ - with 

pls - please gr8 - great 

Mobile 

:-) - smile ;-) - wink 

(b) On a separate sheet of paper, write 

a poem using SMS language. Try 

to make your poem rhyme. 

(b) Now choose your own word and write 

a poem in a similar style. 



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9:28 

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Themes 

Style 


a mosquito invading a bedroom 

natural enemies, danger 

ballad. 

Ballad is the word used to describe ancient, simple, folk poems. Most countries 

have their own contemporary folk poets who write ballads about life, activities 

and events. Ballads use rhyming pairs of lines (couplets) like the one here. Each 

stanza is usually four lines (a quatrain). Ancient ballads were often sad, telling 

about love, war or death. This modern one is also about war and death! 

science – animals 

society and environment – weather (as it influences wildlife) 

Page 51 

1. squash; buzz/buzzing; clatter; spatter; splat 

2. The rhyme pattern changes from couplets to abcb, with the final three lines 

making one last line run together. 

3. (a) poised 

(b) tumbling 

(c) toss 

(d) alert 

4. window’s wide; sound the sirens; beat the bed; flit and fall; tingling toe 


Humans have natural enemies. Brainstorm these under the following headings: 

Insects Animals Viruses Toxins 

Which of these can you protect yourself against? What illnesses are carried by 

mosquitoes? When camping, what precautions can you take against disease? 

(Proper sanitation, boil water, insect repellent, first aid kit.) 


• The ballad is an important part of Australia’s literary history. Read some of 

Banjo Paterson’s poems. Have students form groups to research 

contemporary ballads, bush poets and the lyrics of Australian ballads in 

song. 

• Students select one of Paterson’s ballads, write it as a short script and 

perform it for the class. 



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• Individually or in pairs, students write rhyming ballads. They can use 

quatrains to tell the story of a local or national event. 

• Use your local library to locate local poets or songwriters. Students write a 

letter asking one of them to read some of his/her work to the class. 

• Students write a short story that begins: ‘As the shadows flitted across 

my room in the moonlight, I felt a sense of …’. 

The greatest ballad of the English language is said to be The Rime of the Ancient 

Mariner by Samuel Coleridge. 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

This is a ballad. Ballad is the word used to describe simple, ancient, folk poems. Most 

countries have their own contemporary folk poets who write ballads about life, activities 

and events. Ballads use rhyming pairs of lines (couplets) like the one here. Each stanza 

is usually made up of four lines (a quatrain). Ancient ballads were often sad, telling 

about love, war or death. This modern one is also about war and death! 

The Mosquito 

It’s hot at night, the window’s wide 

I’ve tossed my cover and sheet aside. 

And then a buzz inside my ear 

Announces that a mozzie’s here 

Full alert! There’s one close by 

Sting poised on my nose or eye 

Sound the sirens, beat the bed 

I’m sure it’s aiming at my head 

The moving shadows flit and fall 

I’ll squash it up against the wall 

If it were bigger, I’d go splat! 

And then I’d feed it to the cat 

It stings, but you don’t even know 

Till next day there’s a tingling toe 

A lumpy face, a swelling hand 

All itchy red and dry as sand 

Got it! Splatter! Clatter clatter 

Book and drink go tumbling down 

At last in gentle sleep 

I’m drifting 

THEN 

I hear that 

BUZZING SOUND! 



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Onomatopoeia is when the meaning and the spoken sound of the word 

are similar; e.g. flutter, growl. Write two examples from the poem. 

The poet has changed from the ballad style in the last stanza, but there are still 

only four lines. What is different about this rhyming pattern compared with the 

first four quatrains? 

Synonyms are words with the same or a similar 

meaning. Find synonyms for these words. 

(a) ready 

(b) falling 

(c) throw 

(d) danger 

Alliteration is when a consonant is repeated in the same 

line; e.g. twisted tree trunks. Write four examples from 

the poem. 

Imagine you are the poet. Write a speech to the mosquito where you explain 

your point of view. Try to persuade the mosquito to agree on a compromise. 



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Name a creature or animal. 

(a) List words to describe its appearance. 

(b) List words to describe its movements. 

(c) List words to describe the sounds it makes. 

Use these words, and more, to create a poem about your animal, written in rhyming 

couplets (aabb). Give your poem a title. You could write about your own pet. 

(a) Write your ideas for the poem here. 

(b) Write and illustrate your animal/pet poem below. 



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Themes 

Style 


the beach and marine environment 

beach enjoyment, summer, sea sports 

Eulogy. 

Sun, Sea and Sand is in the manner of a eulogy which admires or praises a 

person, object or place. Four-line verses written alternately in rhyming couplets 

interspersed with a different rhyme patterns, emphasise the rhythm of the words. 

environment. science, healthy/safety 

Page 55 

1. basked, sundial, huge, upright 

2. (a) The sand is warm beneath you like a cushion or a nest (b) Teacher check 

(c) Teacher check 

3. Splash, sunburst, spray, paddle 

4. Sunscreen, sunhat, dinghy, surfboard, sandwiches, sandshoes, sandal – teacher check adjectives 

5. Teacher check (an atmosphere of fun, pleasure, sensory, tactile experience.) 

6. (a) Verse 2 – aaba, verse 4 – abcb, verse 6 – abcb. 

(b) Poet wanted variety for different textures and sense of business and activity 

• The poem suggests a variety of activities that can be done in this 

particular environment. What other kinds of environments offer 

diverse experiences? 

• Is there another aspect of the shoreline that the poem has not 

covered (e.g. rock-pools)? Brainstorm compound words 

beginning with ‘rock’ (rock-bottom, rock-breaking, rock-hard). 


• Students select one of the environments below and brainstorm 

words to describe it. Write an advertisement praising this 

environment and inviting tourists to experience it, 

riverland Outback desert Barrier Reef 

sheep station student choice 

• Students select one of the three verses in the poem beginning 

with either sun, sea or sand. They use this as a model to compose 

a four-line verse of their own, using their own compound words 

(e.g. up, down, rain). Each group will need a dictionary. 



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• Students write letters to their parents, inviting them to a 

picnic at a particular place. The letter explains why they 

have selected this place. 

• Students write instructions for building a sandcastle for 

someone who has never been to the beach. 

The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll 

The Beach by William Hart-Smith 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

This poem is in the manner of a eulogy, which admires or praises a person, object or 

place. Verses 1, 3 and 5 have rhyming pairs of lines (couplets). Verses 2, 4 and 6 have an 

abcb rhyme pattern. Sun, sea and sand have been used as prefixes in compound words. 

Sun, Sea and Sand 

When you go to the beach you can have a good time 

Whether it’s wet or whether it’s fine 

There’s lots you can do, but it’s much better fun 

If you go to the beach on a day when there’s sun 

Sunscreen, sunhat, sunglow, sun shower 

Everything glowing like a yellow sunflower 

Suntan, sunburn, sunburst, sunset 

Sundial time and a warm sun shower 

Take a dinghy or a surfboard into the tide 

If you stay upright you might get a ride 

You can swim, paddle, splash in the waves by the shore 

Sea water is what beaches are for 

Seashells, seashore, seabird, seaspray 

Swimming in the waves with the biting sea bugs 

Seaweed, seahorse, sea mist, seasick 

Seagulls flying and fat sea-slugs 

You’ve swum and paddled and basked in the sun 

And eaten the sandwiches, every one 

The sand is warm beneath you like a cushion or a nest 

‘Cause it’s really SAND that beaches do best 

Sandwich, sandal, sandhill, sand-fight 

Sand in your sandshoes and a big sand parcel 

Sandpaper, sand hopper, sandstorm, sandfly 

Sand in your hair and a huge sandcastle! 



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Find similar meanings (synonyms) and opposite meanings 

(antonyms) for these words. 

Synonyms 

Antonyms 

(a) laze 

(c) tiny 

(b) clock 

(d) horizontal 

The fifth verse in the poem has a line that describes what it feels like to lie on the 

sand. It uses a simile. A simile is a comparison of two things, using ‘like’ or ‘as’. 

(a) Write the line from the poem that contains a simile. 

(b) Now rewrite this line using your own simile that compares sand with something 

else. 

(c) Complete the sentences to create similes. 

The sun is like a 

The sand tickles my toes like a 

The water is as blue as 

Onomatopoeia is the term used for words that sound 

like their meanings. For example, plop and swish. 

Find two examples of onomatopoeia in the poem. 

Name the equipment and clothing mentioned 

in the poem and add a suitable adjective. 



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What do you think the poet is trying to achieve in this poem? 

(a) Look closely at verses 2, 4 and 6. The rhyming pattern 

is different in these from verses 1, 3 and 5, which 

are written in rhyming couplets with the pattern aabb. 

Write the rhyming patterns of the other three stanzas. 

(b) Why do you think the poet has varied the rhyming 

patterns? 

Verse 2 

Verse 4 

Verse 6 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

A compound word is formed when two separate smaller words are joined (e.g. sunhat, 

sunshade). Prefix is the term given to the part that comes first and suffix is the term 

for the second part of the compound word. In the examples given, ‘sun’ is a prefix, 

and ‘hat’ and ‘shade’ are used as suffixes. There are many compound words in 

English. Some begin with – rain, hand, hair. You can use a dictionary to find others. 

(a) Select one prefix, and write it in the centre shape below. Try to find suffixes that 

go with it to make compound words and write one in each of the outer circles. 

(b) Use the compound words you have created to write a verse with an abcb 

rhyme (as in verses 4 and 6 in Sun, Sea and Sand.) 

Choose one of your compound words 

and write an acrostic poem. Write your 

word vertically so that each letter 

provides the starting letter for the line 

of the poem. 

For example, 



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a 

b 

c 

b 

S ummer play on the endless sand 

U naware of the sizzling rays 

N o sunblock or hat for me 

B eautiful weather, sparkling sea 

U nder a sunshade, my mum calls 

R un away to the dunes with sisters 

N ever a thought for pain and blisters 


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Themes 

Style 


driving in a vintage car with grandma 

olden-days, automobiles, curiosity, companionship 

short narrative poem. 

Grandma’s Vintage Car talks about someone’s particular experience. What makes 

this poem interesting is the focus on the old-fashioned motorcar horn which is 

described using alliteration and assonance to make a catchy phrase. 

Society and Environment, technology 

Page 59 

1. high seats, big gearshift, running boards, the klaxon-style horn, different type of chassis springing, 

mainly open air 

2. fold-back sunroof 

3. Uses too much fuel, doesn’t go fast enough for current motorway speeds, liable to break down, 

Grandma nervous in speeding traffic 



• In the mid-twentieth century, 50 km per hour was the 

usual speed limit. This was raised to 80 km/h and then 

raised again. Why? What speed limits apply on 

motorways/freeways now? In suburban areas? What 

do you think they should be and why? 

• Arrange for someone to bring a vintage car to school 

and talk about it to the class. Have students prepare 

questions. 


• Students in groups undertake research in the library 

and prepare a report on transport throughout history. 

• Students write a short play about a bus journey. They 

use a line of chairs as bus seats for their performance. 




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• Students select two construction or maintenance 

vehicles (e.g. grader, roadsweeper etc.) and write a 

conversation between them about their working 

conditions. 

• Students design, describe, illustrate and label their 

own ‘ideal’ vehicle. 

Use the Internet to find poems about vehicles. Use your 

local council library to find poems about the following: 

– racing cars 

– earthworks machines 

– tanks 

– planes 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Grandma’s Vintage Car is a short narrative poem that talks about someone’s particular 

experience. What makes this poem interesting is the focus on the old-fashioned motorcar 

horn which is described using alliteration and assonance to make a catchy phrase. 

Grandma’s Vintage Car 

My Grandma has a vintage car 

She takes me for a ride 

We have to sit on two high seats 

There isn’t an inside 

There’s a fold-up roof that leaks 

And lots of springs and creaks 

And a squeaky, squawky, squashy honky horn 

I know that Grandma loves her car 

I like it quite a bit 

She polishes it up until 

You see your face in it 

It has ‘running boards’ outside 

You can stand on for a ride 

And a squeaky, squawky, squashy honky horn 

Grandma wears a floppy hat 

The wind blows through my hair 

She lets me shift the big gearstick 

And people stop and stare 



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But we never travel far 

In Grandma’s vintage car 

With its squeaky, squawky, squashy honky horn 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


This poem describes some things about the 

vintage car that are different from modern cars. 

List five. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

What is similar about this vintage car and a modern sports car? 

Give two reasons why you think the vintage car doesn’t travel very far. 

Alliteration is the term used for a group of words beginning with the same letter. 

Alliteration has been used twice to describe the vintage car horn, (squeaky, squawky, 

squashy and honky horn). Use alliteration and write your own phrase to describe the 

following sounds. 

(a) police siren 

(b) excited children 

(c) crying baby 

(d) school bell or PA system 

Use the library and Internet to find images of vintage cars. Choose one image and 

sketch it. Write information about the car in your own words. 



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Listed below are different vehicles. Beneath each one write appropriate describing 

words to help you create a sentence containing the following parts of speech: 

(i) verbs expressing its actions and movements 

(ii) adjectives describing its appearance 

(iii) nouns describing some of its parts 

For example: A train (i) labours, glide, rocking, swaying 

(ii) sleek, smooth, streamlined, silver, solid, imposing 

(iii) engine, carriages, wheels, links, tracks 

Sleek, silver engine, solid, imposing, glides along smoothly with a gentle sway. 

A big transport rig (i) 

(ii) 

(iii) 

A bulldozer 

A hot air balloon 

A bicycle 

(i) 

(ii) 

(iii) 

(i) 

(ii) 

(iii) 



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(i) 

(ii) 

(iii) 

Choose one of the vehicles and 

create an acrostic poem that gives 

the reader a mind picture about 

the strength, power and speed of 

your vehicle. Write the name of the 

vehicle vertically and begin each 

line of your poem with the letters 

in sequence. For example: 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7


Themes 

Style 


using too much butter and getting into trouble 

family life, carelessness, greed 

jingle with narrative and nonsense elements. 

Nonsense poems are about trivial matters and use words to make the 

situation more absurd. A jingle is a rhythmical verse style frequently used in 

advertising. 

Health – values (rules) 

Page 63 

1. (a) floor, shore, more, saw, thaw etc. 

(b) star, far, car etc. 

(c) owls, fowls, bowels, howls 

2. bread, peas, pickles 

3. It is a two-parent family. The house has a garden or lawn (hose), a bathroom, kitchen and television. 

It can become very messy. 


5. Bubbly, mischievous, carelessness, angry interactions 


• What kinds of situations in family kitchens lead to arguments? 

Families often have their own made-up words for things. Give 

examples. 

• How is butter made? What substitute spreads for butter are there? 

Discuss the health merits of each. 


• Students write a short play based on the following scenario: 

You have invited two friends over and you decide to make a snack 

from the fridge. You all inspect the contents of the fridge and 

then make your meal. Mum arrives home and tells you . . . (you 

finish it dramatically). 

• Students brainstorm uses for butter and then make a list of these. 



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• Write a conversation between the person in the poem and 

either the mother or father, in which a punishment is applied 

for making a mess. 

• Write an explanation of how butter is made, beginning 

with the cow. 

The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol 

The nonsense poems of Edward lear 


ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

Butter Butter Everywhere is a jingle. Jingles are rhymes that are often used in television 

and radio advertisements. They have a repeated phrase or chorus to catch the listener’s 

attention. This poem is also part nonsense poem. Nonsense poems are usually about 

trivial matters or absurd situations. 

Butter Butter 

Everywhere 

When she sees me in the kitchen 

My mum begins to mutter 

She won’t let me make a sandwich 

‘Cause she says I smear the butter 

Butter butter everywhere 

Butter on my knees 

Butter in the kitchen drawer 

And on the frozen peas 

Butter in the plughole 

Butter up my nose 

Butter in the pickle jar 

And on the garden hose 


In between my toes 

Butter on the bathroom towels 

Butter on my clothes 

Butter on the television 

Butter over Dad 


and Mum is GETTING MAD 



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This poem makes use of repetition and rhyme. The words below can be found at 

the ends of the lines that do not rhyme. Find your own rhyming words for them. 

(a) drawer 

(b) jar 

(c) towels 

As well as butter, what else does the poem suggest 

might have gone into the sandwich? 

From reading the poem, what can you tell about this 

family and their house? 

Is there anything that you do in the kitchen that annoys 

someone in your family? Fill in the missing words in the poem 

to describe your situation. (Remember it is an abcb rhyme!) 

When 

My 

S/He won’t let me 

‘Cause s/he says I 

sees me in the 

begins to 

Poems often create an atmosphere to help communicate their theme, or main idea 

or feeling. Describe the atmosphere of this poem in your own words. 



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Draw an amusing picture of chaos in a room. 


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Name your two favourite foods. List words to describe the taste, smell and texture. 

(a) Food 

(b) Food 

Write the three-course menu for your favourite meal. 

Starter 

Main 

Dessert 

Write your own poem in free verse, describing a food you either love 

or hate. Give the reader an idea of what it looks like, how it smells 

and how it tastes. Give your poem a title and add an illustration. 

Food 

(a) Brainstorm words about your 

chosen food in the shapes. 

(b) Write your poem using these words. 



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ISBN 978-1-86311-834-7

RIC-0205 Discovering Poetry

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