Our aim is to equip and inspire you to teach poetry with confidence and enjoyment. Here you’ll find a wealth of tools, strategies and ideas for using our archive recordings to enhance your teaching

There’s have a strong emphasis on hearing and speaking poetry, because this is what the Poetry Archive is all about. But it’s also because we know that’s at the heart of everything to do with poetry.

The resources include Learning Resources to support different aspects of teaching, Classroom Materials structured lessons for individual poems and Classroom Collections curated collections to provide new and exciting ways to explore poetry.

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Classroom Material
Allan Ahlberg: Please Mrs Butler

Age groups: 7-9, 9-11

'Please Mrs Butler' is the title poem of one of the most popular collections of poems for children in the ...

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Classroom Material
Brian Moses: Walking with my Iguana

Age groups: 7-9, 9-11

'Walking with my Iguana' is a highly energetic performance poem which cries out to be responded to ...

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Classroom Material
Valerie Bloom: Granny Is

Age group: 5-7

One of the things Valerie Bloom excels at is renewing our view of the world by describing it freshly ...

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Classroom Material
Wes Magee: The Boneyard Rap

Age group: 5-7

These ideas are informed by an inclusive style of teaching and are multi-sensory in their offering. This ...

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Classroom Material
Wes Magee: The Chimney Boy’s Story

Age group: 14-16

This lesson uses the poem by Wes Magee as an introduction to further web research on child labour in the ...

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Classroom Material
Judith Nicholls: Bluebottle

Age groups: 7-9, 9-11

'Bluebottle' is a good example of a poem which does a lot with very few words. It is also a good example ...

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Classroom Material
John Mole: Variation on an Old Rhyme

Age groups: 7-9, 9-11

These ideas are informed by an inclusive style of teaching and are multi-sensory in their offering. This ...

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Classroom Material
Judith Nicholls: The Romans in Britain

Age group: 9-11

This lesson uses the poem by Judith Nicholls to look at different interpretations of what it was like ...

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Classroom Material
Valerie Bloom: The River

Age group: 11-14

These ideas are informed by an inclusive style of teaching and are multi-sensory in their offering. ...

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Classroom Material
James Berry: Childhood Tracks

Age group: 14-16

These ideas are informed by an inclusive style of teaching and are multi-sensory in their offering. The ...

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Classroom Material
James Berry: In a Brixtan Markit

Age group: 14-16

This lesson will help you to explore with pupils the power of dialect in a poem. This recording provides ...

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Learning Resource
The poetry-friendly school

A poetry-rich school environment is the best way for children to develop their knowledge and appreciation.

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