On the 20th July I ran an Able Writers day at Heatherlands Primary in Poole with Year 2 children (plus a few Year 1s and 3s).
The school has lots of lovely outdoor areas and we took up residence in a wooden “gazebo”, filling it with rugs, cushions and bean bags. The whole school was outside for most of the day so there was a high level of distraction but the children worked really well, producing stories and poems.
In the afternoon I sent them into the school’s beautiful garden and challenged them to return with a detailed description of one thing. Then we created a poem to which every child contributed.
Of course it’s very much a first draft but there are some lovely lines – “pale red poppy petals” is one of my favourites.
Get children out of the classroom and writing in the open air!
The School Garden by Heatherlands Primary School
In our school,
There is a pair of lime-white, lilac-dotted, earth-filled wellington boots,
A lush, vanilla-scented white rose that feels wet and cold,
A juicy purple blackberry,
A vibrant purple flower,
A plant with furry grass at the tip,
A pea-green leaf,
A banana-yellow oval leaf,
A wonderful, beautiful, purple and white flower,
A hot pink flower,
An amazing light orange flower,
A rough tooth-like rock,
A blood-red soft flower,
Giant jungle leaves covering the soil,
A smooth wooden bamboo stick,
A browny-green seed pod.
Pale red poppy petals,
A fluffy, green-stemmed, garlic-smelling lollipop,
Shiny CDs to scare the birds away!