Children love it when the evenings are dark and Halloween is upon us. It’s a great opportunity for creative themed pictures, stories and poems in the classroom.
Here’s one of mine, from Wanted Alive (to buy a copy of this book please look at the books page on this site).
A Witch Must Have a Cat
A witch must have a cat
So I cast a spell
But I got a rat
I mixed a potion
Out flew a bat
I wasn’t very happy about that
A witch must have a cat
I went to the pet shop
They locked me out
They said, “You’re the sort of customer
We can do without.”
I wasn’t very happy about that
A witch must have a cat
So I’m knocking on doors Ratatat-tat
I’m looking for a suitable cat
If you’re the owner
I’ll pay well
But there’ll be trouble
If you won’t sell
I won’t be very happy about that
A witch must have a cat
Yes I’m knocking on doors Ratatat-tat
I’ll be knocking on yours Ratatat-tat
Ratatat-tat Ratatat-tat
A witch must have a cat
Other Links
Here are some other resources that KS1 and KS2 teachers may find useful:
Why is this cat crossing the road?
Because he can.
It’s so quiet he doesn’t even
need to use the Green Cross Code.
In ‘normal’ times there’d be caravan
after caravan pouring in.
There’d be huge 4x4s, coaches, motorbikes,
cars with windows down and music blaring.
But in Wales we’re still locked down, which is why
this road is free from jams and noise.
Usually business would be brisk, takings high,
with us residents staying home by choice
and spending our weekend doing indoor things;
outside (too manic!) is for the visitors to enjoy.
The calm that the end of the holiday brings
is what we’d be longing for. But oh boy,
there’s a price being paid for the peace
we’re appreciating this year.
Though I think it’s wise not to ease
the rules still being enforced here.
Hopefully, in the not too distant future, this cat
will once more be forced to watch his step
and we’ll again be feeling annoyed that
it’s far too busy and please can it stop.
On 20th July 2019 it will be the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin landing on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon on 20th July 1969. However, I have a tale to tell of the first woman on the moon ten years earlier.
The First Woman on the Moon
Little known fact:
the first woman on the moon
was Mabel Greensmith.
She went up there in a dream
in 1959
and when she woke up
she knew her dream was true.
Mabel was my Mum’s best friend
so, of course, she told my Mum
all about going to the moon
and my Mum told me.
And then we all forgot about it.
However, ten years later, in 1969,
when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon
(‘one giant leap for mankind’)
it was regarded as a big deal.
But he went up in a proper rocket
and had to wear a spacesuit
whereas Mabel did her moon walking
wearing only a pair of slippers
and a flannelette nightie,
and with her hair in rollers.
If Mabel had been in the papers
and on TV
it would have been great
but she wasn’t one for a lot of fuss
and continued to live quietly
as one of us.
Though it’s a shame she didn’t leave a slipper
or one of her rollers up there
for Neil Armstrong to discover.
That really would have put the earth cat
among the moon pigeons.
This poem appears in Moonstruck edited by Roger Stevens recently published by Otter-Barry Books.
It’s a tough job being a poet.
I’m surprised it’s not better paid.
Perhaps there should be guided tours of workshops
so non-poets can see how poems are made?
There’s no respite if you’re a poet.
You’re working all the time.
You have to get on it if there’s a call for a sonnet.
And people expect you to rhyme.
It’s more demanding than being a surgeon.
It’s harder than digging a road.
We deserve much longer holidays than teachers.
It can be stressful writing an ode.
We sometimes work until lunchtime
if we need to complete a quatrain.
Yes, it’s a tough job being a poet
but you’ll never hear us complain.
Remember a poet can be an enthusiastic inspiring addition to your classroom all year round, not just for World Poetry Day. If you’d like to know what I can do in your school, please contact me.
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year. Here’s a little poem from me, sparked by what I could see in the photo.
Gifts From Above
They’ll have been out in the early hours,
the wintery Christmas creatures.
They’ll have been stalking the forests.
Searching for parcels.
Sniffing for presents.
The presents you didn’t receive.
The ones that fell
off the back of the sleigh.
Yes, they’ll have been out
in the night’s blue and white,
the wintery Christmas creatures,
claiming what’s theirs;
the packages that landed with a thump
on the earth of their forests,
the parcels caught in the branches,
the boxes wrapped in bright paper
and signed ‘…with love.’
Gifts from above.
In May a group of poets got together and recorded some videos of our work. Thanks are due to Liz Brownlee for organising it and to Pete Brownlee for recording and editing the videos.
Bernard Young Poet 