Poetry Train is a teachers pack of activities, poems and advice for teaching poetry in primary schools. David Harmer and Roger Stevens share proven approaches for use in the classroom, based on brilliant poems by top poets such as Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay.

One for English and Drama teachers and anyone who has ever been asked the question 'but why do we have to do Shakespeare?'.... In honour of Shakespeare&'s birthday (23 April), here one of the 8 winners of the Poetry Society&';s SLAMbassadors UK spoken word competition in 2011, Megan Beech, shares her take on why Shakespeare is relevant today. Read more at: http://slam.poetrysociety.org.uk.

At a glance: poetry of place, using verbs, using adjectives, personification, list poems // The Poetry Society brings you Poetryclass, a range of high quality resources for teachers working with poetry in the classroom. Recently redesigned and many including full poems and photocopiable handouts, these resources offer ways into poetry for all key stages and across the curriculum. More resources are available through our website at www.poetrysociety.org.uk

A monster poem-making activity to help teach the power of simile // At a glance: creating characters, syllables, humorous verse, creating new words, simile & metaphor // The Poetry Society brings you Poetryclass, a range of high quality resources for teachers working with poetry in the classroom. Recently redesigned and many including full poems and photocopiable handouts, these resources offer ways into poetry for all key stages and across the curriculum. More resources are available through our website at www.poetrysociety.org.uk

A Poetry class teaching resource from the Poetry Society giving an adapatable lesson plan, including full poem texts and photocopiable handouts, using Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson // This lesson plan covers techniques such as rhythm and rhyme in poetry and iambic pentameter as well as themes around the poetry of war and conflict // It was created by experienced poet in education Roshan Doug // At a glance: rhythm, iambic pentameter, war poetry, structure, syllables // More resources are online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education.

Teaching resource from the Poetry Society. Lesson includes photocopiable handouts, allows students the chance to write a poem as a telegram. Lesson plan covers techniques like redrafting poetry and creating short poems and is ideal for use with reluctant writers as well as use for teaching themes such as war poems and travel // It was created by experienced poet in education Mario Petrucci // At a glance: short poems, redrafting, riddles, the senses, reluctant writers // More resources are online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education.

At a glance: Edward Lear, celebrating difference, identity, humorous verse, group poems. // The Poetry Society brings you Poetryclass, a range of high quality resources for teachers working with poetry in the classroom. Recently redesigned and many including full poems and photocopiable handouts, these resources offer ways into poetry for all key stages and across the curriculum. // More resources are available through our website at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/education/poetryclasshome

A Poetryclass teaching resource from the Poetry Society which looks at transforming similes into metaphor, and metaphor into extended metaphor. Includes photocopiable handout.

A teaching resource from the Poetry Society giving practical science and creative teaching suggestions using Grace Nichols' poem &'Cosmic Disco&'; // This lesson plan was created to celebrate National Poetry Day 2012 // At a glance: science, Grace Nichols, dance, space, personification // More resources online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education

A Poetryclass teaching resource from the Poetry Society giving exercises to enable students to understand grammatical concepts and terminology using poetry. This lesson plan is one of four responding to the draft primary curriculum. At a glance:grammar, using adverbs, punctuation, history and group poems. More resources are available through our website at www.poetrysociety.org.uk

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award for 11-17 year olds, run by the Poetry Society, is one of the world’s largest free poetry competitions. Teacher Ashley Smith has created this new resource to mark the 2013 competition, which opened on 11 Mar 2013 and closes 31 Jul 2013. It covers the following key areas: personification, Sylvia Plath, comparing texts, prose poems, list poems. More free learning resources and competition info can be found at: www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education.

Poetryclass teaching resource from the Poetry Society // In this flexible lesson, students create a poem inspired by an image // This lesson plan covers techniques such as writing in another voice, empathy and difference and diversity // It can be used for teaching on occasions such as anti-bullying week or international day of tolerance and in history, art and PHSE lessons // It was created by experienced poet in education Cheryl Martin // At a glance: art, writing in another voice, history, celebrating difference, the senses // More resources are online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education

Explore Mr. Magoo's Magical Zoo with your class and use metaphor, simile and alliteration as you create animal poems to populate it. Part of our Poetry Train resource pack.

This resource focuses on how Yeats uses sound and rhythm in ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’, culminating in pupils planning and performing their own soundscape performance of the poem. Great for use in English lessons when exploring poetry, or looking at the impact of WWI.

Using James Carter's Poem &'Missing: DAISY&';, Roger Stevens looks at creating animal poetry with a class. Ideal for a Key Stage 1 introduction to poetry. Part of our Poetry Train resource pack.

This flexible lesson is inspired by the annual festive Trafalgar Square tree // Each year, the Poetry Society works with primary schools to create a new poem to wrap around the tree. This is an extract from the resource pack // The plan covers techniques such as reading aloud and writing poems, and themes such as sharing, celebration and personification // It can be used for teaching winter festivals, National Tree Week, Tree Dressing Day and Christmas // At a glance: Christmas, celebration, recitation, whole class activity // More resources are online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education

Created especially for the star-themed National Poetry Day 2012, Professor Nicholas Roe's lesson plan uses one of John Keats&' best-known poems, &';Bright Star' // Roe, a Keats biographer and expert, provides ways into teaching the poem. The resource includes a full illustrated text of the poem // At a glance: John Keats, sonnets, feelings and emotion, love poetry, experience // More resources online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education

A Poetryclass teaching resource from the Poetry Society giving an adapatable lesson plan using a nonsense poem by Edward Lear // This lesson plan covers themes such as word comprehension, nonsense poems, rhythm and rhyme in poetry as well as themes for geography and PSHE such as travel and displacement // It was created to mark 200 years of Edward Lear in 2012 by experienced poet in education Roger Stevens // At a glance: new words, Edward Lear, journeys, geography, rhythm // More resources online at www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education

An activity in two halves: Roger Stevens looks at how to avoid 'Clunky Last Line Syndrome&' when writing rhyming verse, and then uses Jan Dean&';s poem 'Jenny&' to look at more complex forms of rhyme with alliteration, assonance and consonance. Part of our Poetry Train resource pack.

At a glance: Carol Ann Duffy, monologues, creating characters, Drama, performance // The Poetry Society brings you Poetryclass, a range of high quality resources for teachers working with poetry in the classroom. Recently redesigned and many including full poems and photocopiable handouts, these resources offer ways into poetry for all key stages and across the curriculum. More resources are available through our website at www.poetrysociety.org.uk

A resource designed to support you and your students to use the National Theatre’s production of War Horse as a way into poetry of the First World War. The resource includes poems by Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke and A. E. Housman. Developed in partnership with National Theatre Learning.