The note
How schools teach it now
Schools teach poems through imagery and sound: the five senses, similes and metaphors, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia, plus forms such as haiku, kennings and free verse. Children are told a poem doesn't have to rhyme; every word should earn its place.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Choose one thing in the room, such as the kettle. Your child writes four lines, each starting with a different sense: 'I see...', 'I hear...', 'I feel...', 'I smell...'. Then cross out the 'I see' starters and swap one ordinary word for a stronger one. That's a poem.
Worked example
Write the first lines of a poem called 'Winter Morning'.
- Collect images with the senses: frost on the car, breath like smoke, crunching grass.
- Use a technique or two: a simile, alliteration ('crisp, crackling'), personification.
- Don't force a rhyme; choose the most precise word and set out short lines.
Answer: Frost has painted the car windows white. / My breath puffs out like dragon smoke. / The grass crunches, crisp and crackling, under my boots.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Forcing rhymes, so lines stop making sense ('the cat sat on a hat').
- Writing a story chopped into lines instead of building images.
- Using lots of techniques at once rather than a few that work.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “I can really picture that line. Which word are you proudest of?”
- Rather than
- “Poems have to rhyme.”