Writing Poems for KS3 English

Accessible for teachers and students!

Take a fresh and positive approach to teaching KS3 English with this lively pack of tailor-made poems, notes and activities. Explore the key features of poetic writing including rhythm, imagery, structure and voice and challenge your students to apply these techniques to their own writing. Perfect for building those stepping stones to GCSE English.

The resource has great educational value

C Carter, Deputy HoD & Peer Reviewer

Original poetry by a published poet

  • 15 carefully constructed poems cover wide-ranging interests from childhood memories to Greek mythology
  • Engage with a variety of poem styles and forms – rhymed and unrhymed, serious and comic, riddles and sonnets
  • Ideal to use as a writing stimulus

Inspiring activities

  • Packed with structured questions and long-answer experimental tasks
  • Breaking the KS3 mould – tasks that perfectly balance creativity and criticism to encourage pupils to be writers as well as readers!
  • Great for individual writing, small-group and whole-class discussions
The content is outstanding... I also very much appreciate the guidance on each poem – this allows for flexible lesson planning but offers insight from someone who knows the poems inside out... the poet! E Evans, HoD & Independent Reviewer
  • Unique access to clear and detailed teacher’s notes
  • Step-by-step lesson guidance makes planning simple
  • Tried and tested by the author

What do teachers say about this resource? (6183)

The content is outstanding. Would definitely buy for next year... the author's mission statement at the start was clear-cut, honest, and helpful. I very much liked the SWIM method - pupils will find this easy to follow and use from Years 7-11. The Riddle Poems are very good for developing description in poetry... Rhyming is one of the trickier aspects of poetry for many pupils, so the wedding poetry with rhyming prompts is very helpful... I also very much appreciate the guidance on each poem - this allows for flexible lesson planning but offers insight from someone who knows the poems inside out... the poet!... I especially like the Place Poem that teaches the difference between prose and poetry. This is often the most difficult thing to teach to pupils... I would definitely use the mythology poems and prompts - this is something pupils love but don't often have an in-depth awareness of. A great engager!... a huge range of poems, forms and styles are addressed. Pupils often learn comparatively and this is a great immersive resource... it's wonderful to see resources making use of good-quality original poetry that can be used alongside the well-known classics.

E Evans, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Extremely detailed and thoroughly explained... It provides incredibly clear guidelines on how to use it and how a teacher/student can benefit from it... The pack will prepare students to access and create poetry of different forms and structures... provides insight into ways through which poetry can be presented to young people in a flexible manner... provides ample opportunities for students to develop a passion for poetry... The variation in the activities teaches students personal interpretation skills, subtly. This is invaluable and prepares students to tackle poems in later years... A well-thought-out and well-prepared pack.

S Begum, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

The premise behind this resource is fantastic. It is important that students understand that writer's make choices and, by practising this for themselves, using this resource, I am certain that students will begin to understand this when reading texts for themselves. I think it is great that the importance of writing poetry has been considered here... I particularly like the variety of themes covered within this unit. I am sure this will provide some engaging lessons, as the content is varied. I also think that the activities... are stretching and engaging... the resource has great educational value... teaching students to write poetry is extremely beneficial in helping them to understand particular choices made by poets. The variety of poetic styles within this unit will help to prepare them for analysis of poetry... makes great use of the new national curriculum, as well as providing a bridge to GCSE Literature where students will need to approach poems in detail.


C Carter, Deputy HoD & Peer Reviewer

I love the introduction and the voice coming through is of an experienced and passionate teacher who... believes wonder and imagination still have a place in the classroom... The tasks are varied... It leads students to explore poetry in ways they will never have come across before. It encourages them to experiment, find different sources of inspiration and 'play' with language... it's great to see such a range of examples from Greek mythology, through to newspaper clippings, showing that poetry is about perspective and can be 'found' anywhere

A Baiden, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

It showed a new way of approaching poetry... It had a clear OFSTED and child-centred focus... it gives good ideas and plenty of material to work with and build upon... clearly focused on the national curriculum.

R Goulds, HoD & Peer Reviewer