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How Amazing! magazine's poetry inspired children of Comely Park Primary school!

How Amazing! magazine's poetry inspired children of Comely Park Primary school!

May 10, 2017 Posted by: Julie Douglas

I was delighted to join the lovely pupils and staff of Comely Park Primary School in Falkirk for an amazing day of regal creativity, inspired by the latest issue all about  Kings and Queens!

Activity 1. Queen Gumdrop Marshmallow II

The first half of the morning was spent with Primary 6L and their teacher Miss Lucas. We started with this delicious little poem;

Queen Gumdrop Marshmallow II
Gumdrop Marshmallow II is Queen of all Sweetie Land.
She wears a sugar-spun tiara and twirls a candy cane in her hand.
She loves every kind of sweetie from bon-bon to jelly bean
and has the best confectionary collection the world has ever seen!

Then the boys and girls got to work creating a confectionary collection fit for a Queen. We had a whole class discussion about all the different sweet treats we could think of from strawberry laces to popping candy and then designed and decorated sweetie-shaped favour boxes to make beautiful packaging. 

The pupils then gave their creations names and wrote these on large luggage labels. Their ideas were really imaginative with great alliteration and play on words such as mouth watering Glamorous Gummy Bears, Peculiar Popping Candy and Coolest Crystalized, Crocodile Candy Sticks! A recent space topic was inspiration for many with such scrumptious sweets such as Rhubarb Rockets, Martian Mallows and Peppermint Planets. Yum-Yum! 

To finish the session the children created a whole class poem using the repetitive line- If I was King of the Stars..... Each of the four group tables in the class discussed what they would do if they were King of the Stars and came up with a line. We then put these together to create this lovely piece of poetry. 

If I was King of the Stars.....
by P6L
If I was king of the stars
I would create a new constellation.
If I was king of the stars
I would wish upon a meteor.
If I was king of the stars
I would rip up the universe and start again.
If I was king of the stars
I would gather an asteroid army and take over another galaxy!

As the pupils were having a Space Topic Showcase later that day, they each illustrated a copy of the poem and handed them (hot off the press) to parents attending the event. 

Activity 2. Neptune, Ruler of the Waves

Next I joined Primary 6D and Mrs Dunham for a creative session based around the poem Neptune, Ruler of the Waves featured in the Kings and Queens issue; 

Amazing! magazine poem - Neptune, the ruler of the waves!

We read and discussed the poem and then got to work creating a whole class collection of poetry and descriptive writing inspired by the wonderful creatures of Neptune's Kingdom! The boys and girls each chose a image from a large Mindfulness Colouring Book full of wonderful illustrations of sea creatures ranging from jelly fish to dolphins.

While the children added small details of colour to the images we discussed the sights and sounds of Neptune's Kingdom and created a work bank. The vocabulary and ideas offered by the children really flowed. Having beautiful images in front of them which really captured the movement of the creatures helped inspire some lovely language. 

Each pupil then used the word bank vocabulary, their sea creature image and their own imagination to each create a piece of poetry or descriptive writing. The beautiful completed pieces were collated in an plain A3 Sketchbook. An amazing collection of imaginative creative writing from lovely alliterative descriptions;

Donald the Dolphin
Donald the Dolphin, 
diving and ducking 
in the deep down, blue ocean below.
to stunning acrostic poetry;
Orca Whale
Orcas are beautiful animals.
Riding through the dark night.
Calm waves glide over them.
Amazing creature they are.
While eating their dinner they are hunted.
Horrible things happen.
All the time they are not safe.
Lovely animals.
Endangered.

An amazing whole class collection produced in just over an hour! Even Neptune would be impressed!

Activity 3 - If the Rainforest Wore a Crown

After lunch it was off to the Rainforest! Mrs Hepburn and the boys and girls of P7C had been learning all about the rainforest in their latest project so we decided to stay on that theme and develop a Regal Rainforest poem called -   If the Rainforest Wore a Crown.

First, the class discussed words and ideas associated with a traditional crown such as jewels, gold, silver, sparkling and expensive. Then they talked about the plants, animals, weather, insects and sounds of the rainforest and imagined what a crown worn by the rainforest would look like.

Finally, they put their heads and  ideas together and produced this beautiful poem;

If the Rainforest Wore a Crown
If the rainforest wore a crown
it would glow with fireflies.
If the rainforest wore a crown
it would rustle with butterflies.
If the rainforest wore a crown 
in would sparkle with ladybugs.
If the rainforest wore a crown
it would rattle with slithering snakes.
If the rainforest wore a crown
the pleasant scent of flowers would never fade away.
If the rainforest wore a crown
it would be guarded by a Harpy Eagle.

We then got to work designing a selection of Rainforest Crowns inspired by the poem. Using various craft materials the boys and girls created wonderful crowns adorned with pipe-cleaner snakes, dangling paper monkies, colourful creeping vines and an abundance of butterflies, flowers and insects.

If the Rainforest wore one of these crowns it would be very fashionable indeed!

Activity 4 - Recipe for Rich Royal Cookies

For the final, amazing Kings and Queens themed activity of the day, I joined ye olde pupils of P7H and their teacher Sir Colvin for some magical mayhem, Merlyn would have been proud of.

I had the structure of an acrostic recipe poem for Rich Royal Cookies and asked the children to come up with ideas for ingredients with a distinctively medieval flavour. 

Rich Royal Cookies

Rub together___________________________
Into the bowl__________________________
Chop up_____________________ and add a
Handful of____________________________
Remember to pour in____________________
Over the mixture sprinkle________________
You should now add a pinch______________
and a dash of___________________________
Lightly melt____________________________
Crumble_______________________________
Onto the dough scatter___________________
Or____________________________________
Keep well away from_____________________
Into the oven until_______________________
Ease onto ______________________________
Serve__________________________________

We created a list of magical words associated with medieval royal life.The pupils included everything from dragons and dungeons to jousting and jesters. Then as a whole class they had great fun deciding what 'ingredients' to use. Some were so gruesome they didn't make the final edit but there were some brilliant discussions and ideas. After much hilarity this is P7H's brilliant poem;

Recipe for Rich Royal Cookies
Rub together guards and gold.
Into the bowl add an old Scot's crown.
Chop up myths and magic and add a
handful of red dragon tails.
Remember to pour in finest wine.
Over the mixture sprinkle crushed emeralds and rubies.
You should now add a pinch of unicorn horn
and a slice of silver sceptre.
Lightly melt the knight's armour.
Crumble in castle walls.
Onto your dough scatter jesters' jokes
or an heir to the throne.
Keep well away from the guillotine!
Into the oven until happily ever after.
Ease onto royal, red robes.
Serve at a Coronation Banquet.

The creative class then each drew their Rich Royal Cookies complete with dragon tails, unicorn horns, emeralds and rubies. Delicious!

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