Using Songs For Poetry Inspiration

Ebi-kun and I decided to dissect some song lyrics, one of his favourite songs is Beautiful Day by The Levellers (who he got to see live back in the summer).

The song isn't really about lovely sunshine and skipping through meadows with the wind in your hair... or whatever. It's actually very political so it turned out to be a very interesting lesson.

We started by going through the lyrics a few times and then picking out a few key sections. We talked about what each bit meant, was it literal or did it have a hidden meaning? Why did they use the 5th of November as the date in the song? Was it significant or did it just sound good?

It was interesting to listen to Ebi-kuns ideas and point of view about it all. 

I had to finish up to get dinner started but Ebi-kun felt inspired to write a poem, not connected to the song at all, just how he felt at the time...

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Bonfire night is a big deal back home, we have big bonfires with effigies of Guy Fawkes on top, fireworks and yummy food. Of course, I want Ebi-kun to learn about the different British traditions too. We couldn't go the whole hog and have a bonfire and fireworks but we had fun anyway.

We started off with the Fifth of November poem cut into strips and I challenged him to piece it together (Top Tip: If you do this sort of activity trim the excess from the strips because some kids try and jigsaw piece them together rather than read!) 

Then we made cake, yes more cake! This time an orange and red sponge cake baked in a pudding basin. Whilst he was busy with that I made a hotpot and we had jacket potatoes to go with it - yum! 

Once it was baked we decorated it, we used Topo for branches and built our bonfire, we ran out of time to make a Guy so we sacrificed a poor Lego chap instead! He doesn't look very impressed!

After dinner Ebi-kun stuck the strips into his journal and decorated with fireworks...

Where I lived until I was 8 years old was on the top of the hill on one side of the valley, we had a great view and bonfire night meant sitting in our bedroom window eating toffee apples and pomegranates, watching all the fireworks going off in the valley. Mom is not a big fan of fireworks so we only went to properly organized events and not until I was older. When my husband visited England for the first time, we took him to the local school event, he couldn't get his head around watching fireworks whilst freezing your buns off! Fireworks are very much a summer time thing here.

And here is the poem, I bet most people (myself included) only remember the first couple of lines!

Remember, remember! 

The fifth of November, 

The Gunpowder treason and plot; 

I know of no reason 

Why the Gunpowder treason 

Should ever be forgot! 

Guy Fawkes and his companions 

Did the scheme contrive, 

To blow the King and Parliament 

All up alive. 

Threescore barrels, laid below, 

To prove old England's overthrow. 

But, by God's providence, him they catch, 

With a dark lantern, lighting a match! 

A stick and a stake 

For King James's sake! 

If you won't give me one, 

I'll take two, 

The better for me, 

And the worse for you. 

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope, 

A penn'orth of cheese to choke him, 

A pint of beer to wash it down, 

And a jolly good fire to burn him. 

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring! 

Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King! 

Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Into the dark...

The latest Big Kids Magazine is out, as you know we are fans and have contributed in the past, such as the memory game and the Treasure boats. This time the theme is Into The Dark.

It took quite a while to decide what to make or do, as we were brainstorming Ebi-kun talked about caves and going into a dark hole, so we decided to make one. We used a shoes box and painted the inside black. 

As that was drying, he got out the plasticine and started making scary monsters, we used glue to stick them to the ceiling and walls. Then made an 'Ebi-kun' out of card, so it looked like he was entering the scary cave....

As we worked on the monsters we made up a poem, we had, 3 verses down by the time we finished and then we worked on it a bit more, using the senses as a way of exploration....

The magazine encourages adults and children to work side by side, it is something that both Ebi-kun and I love doing, so if you haven't checked out the magazine yet, go and do so!

Poetry made fun through the seasons...

I have an article over on The Rhythm Of The Home's latest winter edition. There are lots of other great articles in there too and some lovely sounding recipes. Go an d put the kettle on then pop over and have  read through.

Autumn Poetry Basket

I think poetry is an important part of language and it is something Ebi-kun won't get taught in English at school, that means it is down to me to do it. What I like to do, it to find a poem and make it into some kind of fun activity, have a prepared page for writing his own poem, a few objects to inspire him and a picture of some kind. I keep them all in a basket.

He started off with the poem strips, I read the poem first so he had an idea of what it was about and I split the poem into the 2 verses to make it a bit easier. He put the verse together then I re-read the verse and he checked that he had got it right, he had to make a couple of corrections. This is the poem we used this time.

We talked about the poem and what it meant and I got him to give me some other examples, after he had done he said he didn't feel like writing his own poem but then on a whim he sat down a couple of days later and wrote this...

Do you study poetry with your kids? Have you got a favourite poem, book or other resource, please share in the comments.

Celebrity Post and poetry

The celebrity? That would be me, well I am according to Se7en + 1!

And the Poet? That would also be me, although I doubt I will win any awards for my work.

Wondering what on earth I am talking about? Then go and check out THIS post