Poetry Workshops for October & November

My poetry workshops for October and November are full of sparks, spooks, thumps, zooms and dazzles!

My theme choices are Autumn Leaves (and don't groan: leaves are fascinating, fun and full of potential for imagination-flying - see below!), Wild Woods, Giants, Fireworks and Christmas Colours. I love them all; so do the children!

Take those leaves for starters: they're not just old, brown, dilapidated, slippery nuisances, blocking up our gutters and sending us tumbling - although there's plenty for a poem in all that too! They're colour wonders, fragility miracles, sky-decorators, dancers, acrobats, adventurers! In our workshops we may take one and sail with it, over forests and cities, over seas, deserts, jungles. A girl in one of my sessions sent hers to New York and got it driving a taxi (in her poem at least). As for those colours, growing richer by the week, kids bask in their imagery potential! The other day, a five-year-old added, as a little afterthought to a poem about a falling leaf, that it was 'as orange as a tiger in the jungle'.

As for giants - they get everywhere (particularly through school roofs and staffroom walls, I should warn you), with their colossal, crashing feet - heads literally in the clouds. Not that our giant poetry is all about destructive giants, or male ones either. Angelic, sunset-gliding female giants mingled with lonely, gentle giant lads in our poetry sessions at Clarendon Junior School, Wiltshire last week, along with some clumsy, butter-fingered characters that reminded me of myself, and one or two grizzly beasts from pre-historic times too, I should add, whose voices shook the school hall windows.

Wild Woods is another theme that speaks for itself, especially with Halloween round the corner - or behind that tree trunk. My bag of soft toy animals comes into its own here, spurring ideas and language for movements, sounds and atmosphere.

Fireworks is another favourite of mine - and the kids! It has everything: noise, colour,action, drama, mystery, patterns and shapes, hot fire, hot dogs, hot chocolate, and a shiver down your back from a faint owl hoot, perhaps.

My Christmas Colours theme involves everything from fairy lights to traffic lights, and is suitable for children of any or no religion. What does a town look like after dark, for instance?

Further details of my workshops are available on my other website:

http://poemsforfun.wordpress.com/workshops/
Kate
Kate Williams
Children's Poet & Workshop Leader
Email: katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com
Represented by The Poetry Society, Authors Abroad, Authors Aloud UK and Literature Wales.

Summer poetry sessions for schools...

Teachers may be interested to know that I'm currently taking bookings for poetry workshop days for children from Nursery to age 13 (Year 8) in England and Wales.

My summer theme choices are: Sea, Jungle and Mini-Beasts. Each offers infinite potential for creative thinking and writing, and as I prepare my workshop plans for the term ahead I'm growing ever more excited about the wonderful promise these themes hold in terms of ideas, language, imagery, poetic adventure, illustration, musical accompaniment, acting out, and who knows how much more!

The theme of Sea, for instance, offers up a wealth of popular topics from ship wrecks and pirate treasure to tempests and sea serpents, not forgetting the beauty of a sunlit sea, the fun of seaside splashes and, of course, the beach - another source of wonders and fun! And then there's the power of the sea and the plethora of associated concepts: its vastness, mystery, mood-swings, glory, presence...

Further details of my workshops can be found on my other website, poemsforfun.wordpress.com, Workshops page.

"I loved that, and I hate poetry!" a ten-year-old boy told me after a workshop of mine he'd attended in a Wiltshire primary school. I love them too!

Kate

More poems up

I've put various new poems and rhymes on different pages here, and also on the pages of my other website, poemsorfun.wordpress.com, if you care to browse.

These include a newly published poem for children (and adults??) about a dragon - or at least, signs of - as well as a deliciously refreshing (at least, it is to me - that's why I wrote it) rhyme to celebrate the arrival of spring, also on my For kids page, and some frivolities on my Gardening and Humorous pages. Over on my other website, you'll find more of my poems: a mixed assortment for children, adult humorous, and adult thoughtful.

Any comments welcome!

Happy Easter break - if you're getting one,

Kate

April = spring?

Hooray, it's spring... well, April anyway. That's spring, isn't it? Used to be anyway. (I'm in the UK, by the way, so if you're the other side of the world this particular climate conundrum probably doesn't apply to you.)

Yes, the weeds are all up in my garden, the grass is starting to spring up again in all the wrong places, and the April showers are here... never left last year actually, so I'm hoping some new poem ideas will soon start springing up too, in my pen and eventually on these pages. Will let you know when.

Meanwhile, in case you're a teacher and may be interested, I might as well mention that I'm now preparing my summer term poetry workshop themes. These will include sparkling seasides, wild tempests, sea-bed secrets, and the odd - very odd, probably - sea monster. Jungles are also on my summer agenda, with petrifying prowls, growls and howls amid the twisty tangles below, and mad monkey mayhem in the towering treetops above - or whatever else my classes may wish to conjure up. The fascinating world of insects is also buzzing round my head, inside it, that is - hopefully not outside, though I have encountered the odd spider daring its way into our house recently, and no doubt some kids will be itching to freak me out with more of the things. True, spiders aren't actually insects, but my theme will cover 'mini-beasts' of all nasty, knobbly kinds, and beautiful ones too. Yes, delicate, transparent wings will be flitting before our eyes, and, hopefully, across some of our pages too, through silky blue skies and lush green foliage as we lead the way from one poetry style to another. So despite the ongoing murkiness of the weather, I'm already gearing up for summer, and if it doesn't show up, we'll magic it through our poetry, or rather, the children will. They never let me down!

Will keep you posted of latest poems and other updates meanwhile.

Happy Easter!

Kate

More humour

This is just to say I've added a few of my light, fun-poking rhymes to my Humorous page, with more to come soon.

I have an ever-rising stack of them at home - or rather, various stacks in various rooms, with scraps and scribbles forever fluttering around my bed, where most of my ideas begin - on my reading lamp table, under the pillow, the bed, the previous day's yet-to-put-away-clothes, some jottings later ending their days a few feet away, in the bin. 

The roots of these little rhymes, though, spring not from rest but from up-and-about times: from life in our topsy-turvy world of so-called mod-cons and 'state of the art' super-duper living standards, where absurdities are two-a-penny - or rather, with our soaring inflation, one-a-tenner. 

A few decades ago, for instance, I wouldn't have even been writing this blog: wouldn't have been hunched over this little, rectangular, headache-inducing screen, unable to drag myself away from its bizarre lure despite the time of night. No, I'd have been walking off my insomnia round my moonlit garden - better tended and prettier in those days - basking in the cool, fresh air, the twinkly welcome of the stars, the hushed murmurings of furtive and fascinating wildlife: living real life, not virtual. That's how absurd we've got. Okay, I've got - not you, perhaps! Some of us are still, just about, hi-tech-independent, thank goodness.

But even I've had enough of this white screen glare now, so adieu until my next post. Meanwhile, if hungry for humour, you'll find various scraps amongst previous postings here, as well as on other pages, especially the gardening one.

Kate

Poetry frame sheets for schools

Attention UK teachers! Poetry frames to buy!

I have 70 attractive, effective poetry-writing frames available to buy!  
Click Poetry Frames for list, topics and details.

Price (UK) 30p each; minimum charge: 60p.  With accompanying notes: 40p each.

Each sheet has been tried out in classrooms with rewarding results, as confirmed time after time by both pupils and teachers. In fact, teachers invariably ask permission to make copies for future lessons, and that's what spurred me to put them up for sale to all.

The frames cover a wide range of popular topics - list on enquiry - and coming soon to this site. Examples are: Planets, Aliens, Seaside, Pirate Treasure, Castles, Giants, Jungle and Dragons. 

Most of the sheets come in a choice of 2 or 3 grades of difficulty.  The majority are for younger children, in the 4-8 age range, with some for older children too. 

I have designed, produced and hand-illustrated each sheet, tailoring and adjusting them over the years for maximum success.

To buy: please place your orders directly with me, via email @ katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com . If you are a PayPal account-holder, you can pay through PayPal. Otherwise, please send cheque when I have confirmed receipt of your order.

Here is a picture of children using one of my seaside sheets.





Any questions? Do get in touch!

Email: katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com
Twitter @Katypoet
Website: poemsforfun.wordpress.com

Kate

Exciting times in schools!

Well, who ever said February was a dull month? Perhaps no one where you are, but here in the UK, every type of weather except sunshine has been the order of the day this side of Christmas. But inside the classroom, it's been a different story.

With dragons, space and wild woods as my topic choices this term, children have been conjuring up all sorts for me in schools across the country. We've had dragons charging into staff rooms, planets cartwheeling through black holes, and slimy slugs sliding through swamps - in poetic form, you understand! And acted out too, in some cases.

My old, battered guitar - and old, rusty strumming skills - have come in handy too for word-building songs along the way, including one where we watch out for the [something, something] dragon. You'd be amazed at the weird and wonderful assortment of dragons around: from spotty to invisible; from vicious to protective; from creepy to crazy to downright lazy to skiing to sky-diving to sports car-driving! You name it, a dragon can do it, according to the children in my classes. And as for the children, they can do poetry: they find it in themselves, lurking in odd corners of their souls, as the session rolls out.

In March I shall be including an extra topic - an ambitious one in this new climate of ours, perhaps: spring. If no spring comes, I shall be in for an uphill push to get youngsters enthused in memories of last year's... if we had one then. But children's imagination is a great asset in these situations: they'll create a spring scene as fresh as a March breeze with half a nudge.

It's always the right time for creativity!

Kate

Creative kids! Workshop wonders! What next?

Children are proving as imaginative and creative as ever in my workshops this term.

Dragons, Wild Woods and Space have been my themes so far, with Spring to join in later (in the classroom even if not beyond!), and our discussions have opened a myriad doors!

Every group adopts a slightly different focus from the last, however similar my input and directing each time. One child's idea will influence the next which will knock on to the next which will colour the next..., resulting in delicious assortments! The fiery, smouldering dragons in one room will be a world away from the lazy, time-wasting beasts in the next; floral forests down the corridor will flourish in blissful ignorance of the eerie, forbidden ones across the hall.

Today, at Creigiau Primary School near Cardiff, where Space was our theme, delights included monkey-cheeky aliens, diamond-studded planets, crackling comets, hurtling rockets, and shooting stars walzing elegantly through black holes. Yesterday's space poems, at Coychurch Primary, produced a different, yet no less thrilling, array of space life.

Next term - the so-called 'Summer Term' (funny joke for us in flood-hit UK) - my topics will be Jungle, Sea and Mini-Beasts (or creepy-crawlies, including the winged variety), so who knows what's in store come the end of April?  In our sea sessions I shall hope to find ancient, long-ago abandoned treasure, rusting away on the murky ocean floor, or at least at the bottom of a poem, and will brace myself to the possibility of sea monsters, in whatever shape and mood my young writers may devise. But in between, I'll do my best to squeeze in a snatch of sunbathing and splashing about in the lacy, sky-blue waves - well, in my head anyway, and I can be sure, before I even know which schools I shall be working with, that other poetic treats will be coming my way, once again. As for my Jungle workshops, there's no guessing what thrills we shall encounter together as we beat a path through the poisonous, humming, sizzling tangles of... the classroom!

Meanwhile, my Spring theme awaits the busiest month of the year for a workshopper like me - March. March is the month of World Book Day, when just about every school sees fit to have a writer in to stir up that extraordinary, if sometimes bashful, young creative potential that is forever buzzing and humming away in the minds of our next generation, from one school to the next, and one country to the next, round the world.

Today I caught sight of some tightly curled, safely weatherproofed leaf buds, swinging about on a storm-swept branch. Hope, they seemed to sing!

Kate 

Kate Williams
Website: poemsforfun.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Katypoet

Brighten up a meeting!

So the new, 2014 calendar is up, but is there anything on it? You've opened your new diary too, no doubt, written your name on the flysheet perhaps, entered a few appointments and, if you write up your day too, a few details of the aftermath of Christmas and the on-off promise of spring. But what of fun?

You may be booking speakers for your society or club meetings. Are they all going to be serious and educational? All? Well, if you have any second thoughts on that, and live within a couple of hours or so's drive from Cardiff, you might like to consider a slight variation. How about a dryly humorous poetry show with freshly-written rhymes - and songs with classical guitar! - by... er... me? I now offer three themes:

The Mad Side of Modern
The Grim Side of Gardening
The Odd Side of Old


Details of all can be found on my other website: poemsforfun.wordpress.com (click respective pages). You'll find some new poems on all three pages too (written since Christmas).

I'm taking bookings now for this year onwards, and am happy to discuss any options or variations you may like to suggest. As for further venues, I'm happy to go just about any distance if you're happy to cover the costs!

But today is a sunny Saturday and I have an appointment of my own - with the spring sunshine... or has it gone again?

More rhymes - mostly silly...

To brighten this drab month, I've concocted a few new rhymes, available to peruse on my other site, poemsforfun.wordpress.com.

See Mad Side of Mod, Grim Side of Gardening and Odd Side of Old. There's fun and frivolity for gardeners, historians and the the other sort of middle ages too (e.g. 'What Did I Come Upstairs For?' on Mad Side).

Poems for children also available, as per usual, including an array on latest blog.

Finally, if you like reading poetry, whether serious stuff or lip-curling rhymes, why not get writing yourself? All you need is (a) to be awake, (b) writing materials - physical or electronic, and (c) a bit of patience while your brain juggles its way through the possibilities. Cost-free entertainment, to be enjoyed anywhere, anytime, anyhow!

More on this site soon.

Kate

A hum below the glum...

January may feel like the bottom of the world - dark, cold, wet, murky and sleepy - but listen carefully, and you'll detect a faint hum of activity! Be it dream or scheme, hobby or enterprise, study or creativity, it's probably just about at simmer-point now. After all, nature's spring begins a long time before we spot its first signs, and what are we, if not part of that nature? Yes, we're coming out of hibernation too, refreshed! Christmas is done and dusted and we're free and fit to move forward, with any luck!

I'm suddenly busy with rhymes, for instance - they're springing up all around me and sometimes it's all I can do just to catch them! It's the same with tunes: they seem to sprout up at me out of the garden squelch, the horizon's mist, the kitchen's pile of Christmas leftovers, or perhaps they're just emanating from post-Christmas relief.

As for actual work - the nitty-gritty of workshop planning, performance-revising, flyer-sending and all the rest of it - well, what could be a more conducive setting for it all than a Christmas-cheered, fire-warmed, lamp-lit room, cosily curtained by that steady grey drizzle down the window?

There'll be tougher times ahead, I know: dawn drives through deluges to unknown schools in unknown towns, followed by dashes through the downpours from car to entrance, probably to find it's the wrong entrance, or wrong school, or that I've left my guitar in the car, or at home. There'll be the creepy night drives too, to gardening clubs, over 50s gatherings, or whoever may have kindly invited me to brighten up their cold, dark evening. Yes, when I get there, it'll be my job do that, however chilly and soggy and drive-stressed I am by then - a fact that I'll be pinching myself awake about through SatNav's 'Re-calculating!'s and 'Do a U-turn!'s... And then there'll be the even darker, colder drives home, and then the stark, day-break rising for the next distant school...

But that's fine: it'll be one big adventure, as usual, and I'll love it once it's happening, especially after this snug winter's hibernation! Yes, January is okay: we need a murky window to huddle behind, a gloomy day to slump in, an enveloping fog to float about in - a little pause of the clock to bring us back up to the mark, freshly sharpened for spring.

Happy New Year, and all the best with your dreams and schemes, whatever they may be!

KateWebsite: poemsforfun.wordpress.com