Poet-trees

In this KS1 poetry resource, learners are introduced to the reasons that trees are important for the health of the planet through poetry. They will read a poem by a young person from the perspective of a tree, think about the poem, then write their own poems. This resource aids understanding of why plants are important, the role of trees in supporting biodiversity, personification, and understanding and identifying rhyme. 

This resource has been developed by the Poetry Society in line with the National Curriculum to facilitate creative poetry writing about key issues. 

~ 1 hour
KS1

Preparation

What you need
  • a download of the KS1 Poet-tree Activity Guide
  • a download of the KS1 Poet-tree Presentation
  • the leaf template (provided on activity guide)  
  • scissors and glue  
  • a trunk to stick the leaves on (can be cut-out paper or can be drawn on whiteboard)
Location  

Indoors 

Useful guidance
  • The Power of Books is short guidance on the power of books to help learners understand the natural world; why and how books can be used as part of climate and biodiversity education. 

Step by step

  1. Download the pdf Poet-tree activity guide.
  2. Introduce the class to the information about why plants matter.
  3. Learners draw a picture of a tree they see often or which is important to them.
  4. Read aloud and then choral read the poem ‘I am the Tree’.
  5. Discuss the poem as a class through talk partner questions (see page 3 of activity guide).  
  6. Model writing using personification.  
  7. Each learner to write a poem including personification (see pages 3-4 of activity guide).
  8. Publish poems onto the leaf template and stick the leaves around a trunk.
  9. Plenary – how else can we help people realise how important trees are?