We are regular readers of poetry here and I have been thinking of ways in which we can take a more formal approach and really start to dig down into the work. I decided we would, at least once a month, study a poet and learn a little about them as individuals as well as look at their work and, in turn, compare and contrast with the work of other poets.
First up, we looked at Robert Burns, prompted by Burns Night and an already scheduled zoom session with friends.
Materials and Resources
For this particular zoom session, we looked at Robert Burns’ life and how he had come to have a celebration each year. I used various websites to research him as well as using some bits from twinkl. The bits I used here are:
- Robert Burns Flapbook
- Burns Night Comprehension
- Burns factsheet for adults
I also was fortunate to be sent a copy of Burns for every day of the Year. I used this for the Selkirk Grace as well as some background information on Burns and his writing. For ‘To a Haggis’ I didn’t make attempts to read this; instead I used this reading from YouTube.
Finally, we made our own ‘tartan’ by weaving paper so a selection of coloured paper is helpful.
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How I ran the Session
I introduced the session by seeking to see what the children already knew about Robert Burns and then discussing and sharing this information. We then talked about The Burns Night Supper and how this would look. We watched a YouTube of the Haggis being piped in as well as the video of the reading of To a Haggis. After it has finished we talked about what we thought the poem might mean.
Em then read aloud the Selkirk Grace and we then had a go at weaving some tartan before sharing the finished pieces. I ended the session with a quiz of things we had covered about Robert Burns as well as general Scotland questions.
Follow up with my own children
I’ve followed this up with my own children to complete some notes for their project books about Robert Burns and I plan to look at the Selkirk Grace and To a Haggis in more detail with them again; comparing the language with how we might rewrite into an easier version and I’ll try and encourage them to write their own poem about their favourite food.
I’m planning to use this worksheet and to get the two older children to work together to try and work through; considering if changing the word to a modern English word changes the feel and impact of the poem. I also plan to use this; I will read the original version and the children can read the modern version aloud.
Next month we are going to be looking at the work of a more contemporary poet, James Carter and I’m really looking forward to planning this one!
Excellent – many years ago I was staying in a ‘fancy hotel’ in the Lake District on Burns night and the haggis was piped in. Great work on the learning about poets and poetry