Schools! Hallowe'en spell rhymes for pupils!

Get kids writing, and loving it!

Teachers often tell me they get a bit stuck when it comes to poetry 'lessons'. How to get kids writing? They yearn for some magic spell to zap every pen into action. Perhaps, if you're a teacher, you may know the feeling.

So how about some Hallowe'en spells? (There are various ways of spelling Hallowe'en, so if you're wondering, this is definitely one of them - I checked!) I mean, of course, spells to write - nice, friendly, positive ones, preferably. (Spells can, of course, be funny while also being kind and well-intentioned. There is never an excuse to resort to cruelty or any other socially unacceptable implication for the sake of that funny effect.) Your class spells could be composed in rhyming couplet form.

Imaginations can run riot now, stretching active language and developing writing skills without students even noticing!  You'll find a few start-off ideas on one of yesterday's posts, and a couple of examples on my poetry page For kids.

The starter line can run on any theme you like, perhaps in line with a school project. For example, if you're studying light, the starter line could be:

Dazzle, glow, gleam and shine.

The second line could start with 'Let' and end in any word that rhymes with 'shine', for example:

Let my spelling test go fine! or, if you don't mind a greedy note:

Let those chocolates all be mine!
I usually elicit a list of words that rhyme, first, and write them down the far right-hand-side of the whiteboard, in my poetry sessions, and start off the whole-line rhyme process by asking the class to focus on one chosen word. Once they've got the hang of this, with the rhythm, which can be clapped out for testing, they can go ahead and try rhymes with the other listed words; then invent their own start line too.

Having enjoyed writing and reading out these spells, your charges will be itching to write more! So how about some Hallowe'en riddles next? Subjects to be identified could include spiders, beetles, frogs, toads, bats, moonlight, pumpkins, wizards, fairies, wands, fog, mist, candles, a magic tree...

Poems could start with:

What am I?

And follow with:

a line of adjectives (or describing words),
a line of verbs (or doing words),
a simile,
and a metaphor, i.e. another simile, with 'like' or 'as... as' removed.

This is, loosely speaking, a cinquain. I say loosely because cinquains tend to involve a second metaphor and start with a description of the subject, but let's not be ruled by rules!

The answer can be provided upside down, back to front, in tiny writing, in another language, or through mimed, voiced or acted-out demonstration.

Now your youngsters will be ready to extend one or two of their ideas into longer, richer, more fully thought- out poems, shooting off where and how they wish. The trouble now will be to stop them when the bell rings for home-time.

As for spelling, punctuation and handwriting - they can wait!