For teachers, librarians and other educators working with children and young people
The following teaching resources have been produced by the Manchester Children’s Book Festival, often in collaboration with other individuals and agencies. They are designed to support teachers, librarians and other educators working with children and young people.
We believe that the best way to encourage pupils is to celebrate their work publicly. If your pupils are inspired by the resources below, or if you do anything amazing in your school with poetry, we’d love to hear from you.
You can share your pupils’ work via Twitter @MCBFestival or @McrPoetryLib or write a blog and showcase your work on our website! Blogs should be approx. 250 words and you can send us photographs, videos and web links, too. Email k.tew@mmu.ac.uk with your blog or any questions.
Resources are organised below under Poetry/Prose, with an indication of appropriate Key Stages.
The teaching resources below were developed as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Manchester Poetry Library and based on collections launched as part of our joint programme of events. Each is based on poems from a specific collection, but the ideas are transferable, focusing on ways to support the reading and sharing of poetry and suggesting ideas for writing and drawing activities to encourage children and young people to respond creatively.
We would like to thank Mandy Coe, who co-created the resource for her own book ‘Belonging Street’. This was the first resource we created and Mandy’s ideas have hugely influenced our approach to all of our other resources.
Being Me: A Teaching Resource (KS2/3)
Additional readings from Being Me by young people from the West Acting Workshop in Sussex and pupils from Lily Lane Primary School in Manchester have been edited into three short films by Pete Brownlee. (See below to view)
Belonging Street: A Teaching Resource (KS2/3)
Read more about Mandy’s experiences of co-curating the Manchester Poetry Library Children’s Collection
Play audio recordings of Valerie and Ken speaking to Becky Swain and Charlotte Hacking:
View animations showing Ken Wilson-Max’s illustration process. These work well played as the poem is read aloud.
The Wild Wanderers series by poet Dom Conlon and Anastasia Izlesou, published by Graffeg is a series of 12 picture books. ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’ is the third book.
“Though, as picture books the target audience is presumed to be younger, the themes and ideas and the science in these books are relevant to readers of any age.”
(Charlotte Hacking, speaking at the launch of ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’.)
Ideas for Reading & Sharing and Writing & Drawing in response to ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’ can be downloaded below:
Watch a Zoom recording of the ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’ launch event, including a reading of the book by poet, Dom Conlon:
For details of ‘Blow, Wind, Blow’ and the other books in the Wild Wanderers series see: graffeg.com/collections/wild-wanderers
Mother Tongue Other Tongue runs annually and launches on International Mother Languages Day on 21st February and running in schools until the end of May, when schools submit their representative entries. A summer celebration to showcase the poetry written by winning entrants, all of whom will receive a copy of a Mother Tongue Other Tongue anthology is held at Manchester Metropolitan University in July.
Mother Tongue Other Tongue introduced: a series of short videos for use in classrooms
These videos feature poets talking about their own bi- and multi-lingual backgrounds and the impact that this has on their writing process. Each also shares a poem in their Mother Tongue and talks about why they have chosen to share this poem. You could select one, or play all of them, they are all quite different, suitable for all ages and will appeal to different audiences from any language background.
These, and the recorded poetry workshops that are also available on request, have been produced for Mother Tongue Other Tongue but would also be of general interest in any English or MFL class.
Poet Valerie Bloom talks about her Jamaican Patois language and how she decides which language to use in her writing. Valerie shares one of her own poems in the second part of this film, ‘Granny Is’ and explains why she wanted to share it. The printed version of this poem can be found at childrens.poetryarchive.org/poem/granny-is (Suitable for KS2/3)
A recorded 45 minute workshop giving a general introduction to Mother Tongue Other Tongue, a history of Jamaican Patois and a performance of four of Valerie’s poems is available on request. See Writer-Led Poetry Workshops below for details.
Dr Usma Malik is a writer, teacher and lecturer who grew up speaking a mix of languages including Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish and she is also learning Farsi. In this general introduction to Mother Tongue Other Tongue, Usma speaks about the impact her multi-lingualism has had on her approach to writing and on her writing style. Usma invites young people to write their own poetry in their own language or in a language they are learning.
Dr Usma Malik, writer and lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University explains the Mother Tongue element of the competition. Usma shares a poem by Allama Iqbal, an Urdu poet and talks about why she likes this poem and wanted to share it. In the second part of the video, Usma sets a small classroom challenge by reading an extract from Michael Rosen’s ‘Bear Hunt’, asking the children to identify the story from her Urdu reading. (Suitable for KS2/3/4 and older.)
A recorded 60 minute poetry workshop, in which Usma models her writing and editing process and is suitable for (KS3.4,5)is also available on request. See Writer-Led Poetry Workshops below for details.
Poet Bohdan Piasecki talks about his experience of growing up between three languages, Polish, English and French in this introduction to the Mother Tongue Other Tongue competition. Bohdan discusses how he writes in his two main languages and how the poetry he writes sometimes dictates the language he uses. Bohdan also shares a poem ‘Pebble’ by another Polish poet, Zbigniew Herbert. He reads the poem in Polish and also English translation and explains why he finds that particular poem interesting and wanted to share it.
A recorded 60 minute poetry workshop, suitable for KS3/4/5, in which Bohdan models his writing process and which includes feedback and examples of writing produced in his workshop by teachers and students is available on request. It is general introduction to Mother Tongue Other Tongue, suitable for KS2/3/4 and older. A recorded workshop, led by Bohdan Piasecki is also available on request. See Writer-Led Poetry Workshops below for details.
Recordings of 3 workshops, delivered online via Zoom in Manchester schools during 2021, are available on request. See details below for each and email k.tew@mmu.ac.uk to request the links.
Each poet approaches their workshop individually, so each is different in style and content. They all bring pupils into contact with poet who is enthusiastic and inspirational and invite pupils to respond by creating their own poetry, using a language that they are learning, or expressing themselves in a language they already know, so suitable for language classes or simply as poetry workshops.
26 minutes recorded footage, 45 minutes workshop duration
Starting with an introduction to Jamaican Patois, Valerie talks about the history of the Jamaican language, explaining how it developed, before going through an interesting and entertaining glossary of a number of Patois terms. This is followed by a typically engaging Valerie Bloom performance of 4 poems that give a flavour of, and insight into, Jamaican culture and language.
Each of the poems is chosen for a different aspect of performance or language use and Valerie closes by inviting pupils to respond to her final poem, ‘Pinda Cake’. Pupils are asked to think about a person who is selling things, someone who has a kind of job that would involve singing, or chanting, or street cries and invites them to write a refrain for their seller, using the refrain from ‘Pinder Cake’ and a verse. This is the point where pupils might explore writing in a language that they are learning.
This workshop will work particularly well with KS2 and KS3 pupils, though it is also accessible and suitable for younger pupils (particularly the performance elements). Older students interested in the Jamaican language and its history may also find it of interest.
The notes accompanying this workshop make a number of suggestions about ways in which this workshop might lead to pupils exploring their creativity in a language that they are learning; an Other Tongue or to share aspects of their culture by sharing or writing poem in their Mother Tongue. The notes also contain links to other resources that might be of use in your classroom.
Please email k.tew@mmu.ac.uk to request access.
Duration one-hour, 25 mins recorded length
Dr Usma Malik explains the Mother Tongue Other Tongue brief before leading a workshop that begins with a non-fiction text. Usma scaffolds pupils through the process of initial ideas, creating a poem and through to editing, modelling her own creative process throughout.
This very practical and hands-on workshop, recorded online as a live workshop with students from Cedar Mount Academy, will result in pupils creating their own poetry, in either their Mother Tongue, writing in a language they already know or an Other Tongue, either writing in a language they are learning, or writing a poem in English and translating it into a language they are learning.
This workshop is intended for KS3/4 pupils, though the techniques demonstrated may also be used with older students and advanced Y6 pupils. A copy of all of the documents and handouts featured in this workshop will also be provided.
Please email k.tew@mmu.ac.uk to request access.
Duration one-hour, 28 mins recorded length
Poet Bohdan Piasecki writes in Polish and English. In this workshop, Bohdan leads pupils through the process of zooming into the creative process, thinking about language and languages and poetry. Pupils are invited ‘Zoom In’ to the specifics of their own personal interpretation of everyday things to create their own unique poetry in any language they choose. Bohdan shares his own experience of switching languages between Polish and English, modelling his own writing process and giving practical ideas for editing work that will be applicable not only to Mother Tongue Other Tongue, but more generally to any writing. This workshop was recorded at Levenshulme High School and staff and pupils kindly allowed us to include their responses to the workshop at the end, showing how staff and pupils wrote poetry in Urdu, Arabic and German classes.
This workshop is intended for KS3/4 pupils, though the techniques demonstrated may also be used with older students and advanced Y6 pupils.
Please email k.tew@mmu.ac.uk to request access.
The Celebration Event for the 2021 Mother Tongue Other Tongue competition showcases the winning entries and features contributions from former Poet Laureate Professor Carol Ann Duffy (DBE), Bohdan Piasecki, Usma Malik and judges and teachers involved in the project, as well as featuring young poets reading their work.
If you would like to be involved in this event, which will be held live at Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University this year, sign up to receive our newsletter, which will give details of this year’s launch and further access to teaching resources.
As well as the poetry resources listed above, we have also produced two prose resources.
Each of the resources contains links to film clips and other websites and they are designed to give examples of ways that students can read, comprehend, research, challenge and respond creatively to the ideas explored in prose texts, sometimes by writing poetry!
Telling the story of 13-year old Sami, who is forced to flee his home in Damascus to travel to a new life in Manchester, this book offers an opportunity to engage pupils (Y6 and older) with important themes. This resource contains ideas for ways of using the book to read, empathise, research, analyse and respond creatively. With additional links to other websites and classroom resources, this is a one-stop-shop for anyone wanting to use this book in their classrooms.
In April 2021, an online event featuring author A.M.Dassu introduced teachers and librarians to the book and to our resource. The recording of this event is available below and would be useful to any teachers wishing to use the resource or the book in their schools:
Author A.M.Dassu discusses her writing and the book in response to questions posed by pupils from Manchester schools, who sent in questions. This film would be a good introduction to a class who are reading the book, or who have read it.
Refugee Week takes place every year in June. If your school decides to use our resources please get in touch and let us know. We are happy to publish blogs on the MCBF website to showcase work done in schools. Email k.tew@mmu.ac.uk for further details.
