Christmas is nearly here! Which means that the Spring Term is on the way.  And so are my Spring Term Poetry Days.  I have lots of topics to offer next term, so take five minutes out from the Nativity rehearsals or the carol practices and pick your favourite  one – and your favourite date too, before it goes!  Here are the choices (one per day, adapted to suit Nursery – Yr 6+) :

WILD WEATHER, HAUNTED CASTLE, COUNTRYSIDE CREATURES, SPACE, DRAGONS, SPRING COLOURS (March). 

Content? Please see Workshops. As you can see from the picture, they include acting-out, and that’s for all ages – yes, even mine. Enacting concepts helps children to connect, and imaginations to fly, I find.

Price? Please contact me to check, as they vary according to distance from home. If your school has received one of my November/December flyers, you can find next term’s rate there. I visit schools in London, most south, south west and Midland regions, Wales, Manchester, Liverpool and a few other spots. No set boundaries, so if outside these areas but interested, do get in touch!

Kate 
Email: katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com

Just to let you know, teachers, that my poetry topics after half term will be – no, not Brexit – Autumn Leaves while they last, Fireworks, and Winter Colours. I also offer a few perennially popular themes on a perennial basis. See Workshops page for details.

Kate

Quick message to schools about my poetry workshops: 

I have a few dates available around National Poetry Day still, if interested, although the day itself has been taken. Also, plenty of other dates between now and Christmas, though the calendar is fast filling so early booking recommended. 

Theme choices for the day: Autumn Leaves, Wild Woods, Fireworks, or Giants, or one of my year-round favourites – Space, Dragons, or Colours. 

Price for your area will be shown on your flyer, if you’ve received one. If not, please email me to check: katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com .

All my sessions involve acting-out, with even Yr 6s being subjected to a few minutes of up-on-feet impersonations/mime/gestures, to get right under the skin of the topic. My ukulele also features in KS1 sessions, and in rounding-off rhyme fun with KS2 when time permits. Needless to say, everyone gets to write, too!

Pictures below show a seaside input session with a Yr 2 class, in preparation for the poetry-writing stage, using illustrated, grade-differentiated poetry frames of mine as guides/starting points.

 

 

Kate
katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com

 

 

Hello teachers! Yes, I know it’s holiday time, but it’s also planning time, especially with National Poetry Day just round the corner. If you’re interested in booking a poetry workshop to celebrate the date – 3rd October – this is the time to get planning and booking, before dates go! There are all sorts of children’s poets to choose from, of course, each offering something different, so search, browse, and see what suits you best. Here’s what I offer:

My workshops are topic-based, and this autumn the choice is: 

Autumn Leaves, Wild Woods, Giants, Fireworks or Space (one per day).

Working with classes from Nursery to Yr 8, my sessions are lively and interactive, with stimulating, action-packed warm-ups before writing. I provide support and encouragement throughout, both whole-class and one-to-one, with a balance of guidance and scope for ‘taking off’. Rich language and imagery play a major part in my workshops, as well as rhythm and other poetic techniques, all through a fun, exciting and informal atmosphere.

See Workshops page for more details.

Kate
katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com

Hello schools! Summer’s here already, so let’s celebrate with bright, colourful poems on summery themes! Seaside, Jungle and Flight are my topics for the term, and I’ll be taking classes outside for inspiration wherever feasible.

JUNGLE – you never know what’s lurking behind the next tree, weaving through the undergrowth or about to swoop from above, making it a thrilling topic to evoke. Colour, sound, scent and heat pulse and ring through our jungle poems.

SEASIDE – with marine life, hidden treasures, storms, pirates and sea monsters, this topic dazzles with fun, beauty and excitement. 

FLIGHT – bird, beast or magic carpet – whatever our airborne subject, we’ll fly with it, spiralling through the blue, meandering through sunsets, somersaulting through storms, and perhaps shooting up into space, so let’s hope whatever it is gives a smooth ride!

Please see my Workshops page for more details. Prices will be on your flyer, coming soon, with rates as last term.

I’m also offering Exciting Writing literacy boost sessions for reluctant and struggling writers. Please see Literacy Support for details.

Kate
Email: katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com

London tube and train station names offer up wonderful scope for fairy-tale fantasies. I’ve been day-dreaming my way around the Underground and Overground lately, from one school to another, basking in the fascinating images conjured up by these history-rich names.

Perhaps Seven Kings will step forth from the Mansion House and make their way through the Orange Grove to meet Seven Sisters waiting by a Monument. But will they be stopped at the Custom House and sent to their deaths at Hanger’s Lane? That’d Turnham Green! Or will some kindly Blackfriars help them escape through an Archway and over a Highgate? Will they get stuck at Mudchute, or trapped at Snaresbrook? Or will an Angel guide them up a Silver Street to a White City to rest in a pretty Swiss Cottage? 

And what of the Seven Sisters, meanwhile? Will they be patiently hanging on at the Monument? Or loitering in a Carpenter’s Park, lounging on a Shepherd’s Bush, or stuffing their faces with Wapping great cakes at Pudding Hill Lane? Perhaps they’ll all meet up at Oxford Circus and watch the Elephant & Castle show. Royal Albert might not have approved, but maybe Harold Wood.

Kate

Who’s the Unclucky One?

 

I’ve a clip on my leg, and one on my wing.
I’m a bird, but I don’t sing.

I’m barred from the yard, shut up in a cage.
I work all day for no wage.

For meals, I peck at a pile of muck.
No wonder my voice is a grumbly cluck!

But I’ve treats for your tea:
guess them – and guess me.

You’ll find them in shells, in sixes or twelves,
stacked up in boxes on grocery shelves.

Guessed? So what could I be?

                                                                                   (Answer: a battery hen)

Kate Williams

Published in Dear Tomato,
An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems,
ed. Carol-Ann Hoyte, 2015.

 

 

The Big Eco-Friendly Giant

 

The giant enjoys a rush-hour roast,
with roaring revs to chew,
or toxic-monoxick fumes on toast,
or air pollution stew.

He loves to graze on motorways,
though any road ‘ll do,
with slurp and burp and lane-long laze
and a global stroll or two.

But what of woodland, meadow, coast,
lake of gleaming blue?

Those? What do you suppose?
Those he leaves to you.

Kate Williams

Published in The Caterpillar Magazine, Spring 2015.

 

NEW! Literacy Fun for Under-Achievers

Starting next term, I’m offering Exciting Writing classes for hesitant and reluctant writers.

My action-packed, 60-minute sessions will address all aspects of literacy, especially writing, engaging children through drama, music, rhyme with percussion, word games and more.

This approach has been seen to draw out less confident speakers and writers in my poetry workshops, so I’m keen to put it to further use where needed.

I recommend up to four 1-hour sessions in a day, with children from any year groups from 1-6, in groups of up to 20.

See Literacy Support page for details, or contact me at katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com
For resources and word game ideas, see Resources and Teaching Ideas pages.

 

Kate

 

 

 

School budgets are tighter than ever now, and finding money for a visiting writer can be tricky – unless there’s funding to be had.

It’s surprising how many funding sources you can find for schools in the UK, once you start searching. It’s also worth noting what a range of funds a poetry workshop could potentially be eligible for.

For instance, my workshops have themes, some of which are relevant to some of the project funds on offer. My nature-themed topics, for instance, might be eligible for a green-living-linked grant that your school might be engaged with. There’s also a fund available for schools in my region – Wales, and you may know of other funds or grants that could apply, perhaps in support of literacy, healthy living, community links or underprivileged children, for instance.

If your school is in Wales, you can apply here for funding from Literature Wales, through their “Writers on Tour” scheme:

http://www.literaturewales.org/funding-for-events/application-process-deadlines/

Many schools have received funding from them for my visits.

If your school is outside Wales, there may be funding available for your region, county or town, too.

Topics – for potential funding elegibility:

Here are my poetry workshop topics for this term and next. Perhaps one or another might link in with a fund available to you – with some adapting, as necessary.

Spring Term: 
Spring Animals – could be done outside, in keeping with a nature-themed fund.
Creepy-Crawlies –  as above.
Space
Dragons
Castles

Summer Term:
Sea
Jungle/Rain forest

Year-round:
Wild Woods and their Creatures

Healthy living grants – all my workshops involve acting out, usually in a large, open space and, when feasible, outside. This aspect can be extended to fit any healthy living fund remit. Children are often quite puffed out by the end of one of my poetry sessions!

If you wish to discuss any funding possibilities you’re aware of, please get in touch. Poetic adventures are versatile!

Kate
Email: katewilliams.poetry@gmail.com

Hello, there’s a buzz of spring around already, isn’t there?  And a buzz of New Year poetry!

My workshop topics this term are:

Spring Animals, Castles, Dragons, Mini-beasts, and Space. 

I offer one topic per day, adapting it to suit the different age and ability levels from Nursery to Yr 8. They’re all open-ended, with limitless scope for ideas, imagery and creative writing approaches – not to mention acting out, setting  to music, and more!

World Book Day week (1st week of March) is now filled up in my diary, I’m afraid, except for the Monday, but literature deserves celebrating every day, of course, and new poems can be created and enjoyed any or every day of the year!

Spring brings new energy, new ideas, new creations and new achievements, and I’m looking forward to seeing what gems the children come up with this term!

Happy New Year!
Kate