I recently had the pleasure of conducting a workshop on Wordplay and its important role in growing writers. Here are some of the messages I was able to share with participants. Trust they add to your thinking around the teaching of writing... Wordplay is such an omnipotent thing. It is unavoidable. Conversation, songs, TV shows advertisements, literature , greeting cards, brochures magazines and newspapers all employ word play abundantly. Everywhere we go, it leaps out at us. In many schools however the study of words, has over time, been shrunken down to mean little more than reading and vocabulary knowledge. And yet, I still recall my teachers encouraging me to play with malapropisms, oxymorons, listen for tautology and wonder at the mystery of invented words in Lewis Carroll's poem 'Jabberwocky.' I recall the fun we had creating rhyming couplets and discovering palindromic words. At home, my father regularly engaged me in wordplay and riddles. There were also ...

Words are a poet's oxygen. They present as an  essential  presence in a poet's existence. Because poets are logophiles(lovers of words), it is therefore unsurprising that we are ever ready to receive them when they come calling. They are the most welcome   visitors. Words with smooth and gentle tones float by, some are mysterious and puzzling,  others drop in, or crash land, jagged, pithy, confronting -all are received with suitable respect. I  frequently find myself reflecting in my writing upon the constant joy derived from this sweet connection with written and spoken language. I hope this poem provides some small insight as to my personal relationship with wondrous words... What do words mean to you? The Words That Come At Night Sometimes The words of unwritten poems Slide into bed next to me They nestle on my pillow And whisper in my ear Write me down Write me down -Remember me In tomorrow’s early light Soft echoes at ...

This poem is seasonally out of place. However, in its defence, it began during the recently completed football season in Australia. A time when football was very much in my thinking zone. I watched my football team win the coveted AFL Premiership after a drought of 37 long, and often painful years.  Today the AFL Draft for 2017 will be conducted. A day when young footballers Australia wide wait to see if they will have their dreams realized and get to play in the national competition. So, the football connection is restored somewhat... The words of the poem have taken time to reshape and fit into place. There have been numerous revisions.  It is a poem that owes its origins to a time and a place strongly linked to my childhood. I grew up in close proximity to the local football ground. Across the road, through the school-ground and I was there. It was a setting central to my childhood.  Do you have strong memories that connect places and events in your life? Maybe...

I am an unashamed collector of books and it is with great excitement I share my very latest poetic acquisition, The Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane.  MacFarlane is a proud logophile (me too) and this beautifully written and illustrated book( courtesy of Jackie Morris) is a book I highly recommend to everyone out there who loves the beauty and power of language. It serves to highlight the infinite treasure existing in the natural world. treasure we can curious learners to tap into with a sense of relish and delight. It immediately conjures up multiple possibilities for teaching poetry, growing vocabulary and celebrating the wonders of the natural world we all inhabit.  This is a book I will eagerly share with poets of all ages. This is a book to make a word lover's heart sing! This is a big book in every respect. It was not an inexpensive purchase, but it presented as an investment I was more than happy to make given it's rare and  beautiful contents. As soon a...

The following collection of poems, chants and rhymes is presented for active service in classrooms. They have been successfully presented and performed by teachers and students over a period of time. I trust that you, the reader, will find new and exciting ways to link them into your literacy program.  Let's Begin... I remember clearly the chants and rhymes that were part of my school days. "Tip, top, taxi One two three Tip ,top, taxi You're not he !  I still like to tune into the poetry of today's playground people. Children are constantly inventing rhymes and chants and the words they use reflect a poetic thread. Rhyme and rhythm play an active part in many of the games children play. They are part of the performance. The poems included in this post have been chosen because they have shown themselves to be suitable to performance. The presentation may be in a variety of groupings: ·   whole class ·   small group · ...

The Poet's Suitcase Revealed! Collect poetry that reflects the cultural group you are studying –poetry by and about. Collect pictures of areas your class is studying. Have students write a poem that matches a picture. Do a shared writing session with your students where you a poem together about the heritage or customs of the people or region you are studying. Ask students to organize a collection of poems relating to their own culture. You could organize them around such categories as celebrations, families, food, holidays. Collect photo essays, newspaper and magazine articles, informational books, and historical fiction for students to use as source material for poetry Have students dramatize poems by sharing lines or stanzas. Suggest that they vary solo voices with group voices to enhance meaning. Make weather poems using weather reports as the basis for ideas. Explore landforms through...