The Wishing Wolf

I asked my A1 classes to choose an animal (wolf)

and tell me some things it CAN'T do (in the first person)

Some examples that they said:

I can’t fly

I can't put on shoes

I can't watch TV

I can't dance

I later asked my B2 class to use WISH and the appropriate structures that follow

it to think about what the wolf might wish due to the things it can't do.

Here are a few of the results:

THE WOLF

I can’t fly

I wish I had wings

I can’t put on shoes
I wish I had been born with feet

I can’t dance

I wish I had rhythm
I wish I could move my paws
I wish I wasn’t fat

Haiku

This idea by Pie Corbett (Twitter link)

Write your own Haiku using the prompts.

There is no need to stick to syllable counts associated with Haiku but it should try and capture a moment / season. In the pic below there is extra guidance on the right hand side if needed. Further below is what my kids class (aged 8,9) came up with. Done as a warmer. See the link above for some more examples.

Nonet

A Nonet is a 9-line poem where each line contains 1 syllable less than the line before. So the first line contains nine syllables, the second has eight, the third has seven, and so on.

I asked my class to complete the sentence Monday (or Tuesday) is ___ and complete with adjectives, feelings and language of comparison or anything they wanted. The B2 group used some recent vocabulary. Here are some examples of what we put together as a group on the whiteboard:

Monday (An A2/B1 level Nonet)

Monday is more boring than Friday
It is not as great as Friday
Monday is a normal day
Monday is the worst day

It is depressing
disappointing

annoying
It’s bad
Man

Monday (A B2 level Nonet)

Monday is the worst day of the week

Monday is as bad as Sunday

Monday is a confession

Monday is pitiful

Monday is tiring

It is pure hell

Monday night

It is 

odd

Tuesday (A C2 level Nonet)

The day the gates of hell open wide
Tuesday is no bed of roses
Seldom do weeks cease to be
Hearts will be filled with woe
There’s no salvation
That’s depressing
Or is it?
It is
Help!

Under the Weather

What happens when you're ill?
What do you think and how do you feel?
What do family or friends say?

The results from my class: #theirwordsmyverse
(Poem style inspired by Michael Rosen)

I'm ill, I'm ill
The T.V is on
I'm doing my homework in my bedroom.

I'm ill, I'm ill
my mother's shouting
the dog is barking
the phone is vibrating

I'm ill, I'm ill
my sister is singing
'You should be at school!'
'Do you have exams?' asks my Mother

I'm ill, I'm ill
I'm not at school
I miss my friends
I wish it was summer

I'm ill, I'm ill
I feel bad
I am in pain
I
am
BORED.

True or False?

I am good at singing (T/F)

but I am not good at dancing (T/F)

I am good at writing (T/F)

but I am not good at drawing (T/F)

I am good at playing basketball (T/F)

but I am not good at playing football (T/F)

I am good at playing computer games (T/F)

but I am not good at cooking (T/F)

The Power of the Tree

The word is tree

Make some sentences – perhaps using some grammar you've learnt recently – using the word tree.

Some efforts from my class placed into verse:

The Tree

A:     I have bought a tree
        I sat under the tree yesterday
        You should look at the tree
        because it has beautiful flowers
        The tree is going to grow
        You should draw the tree

B:     I have eaten the tree

Incomplete

How could the things on the list below be incomplete?

a window

a garden

a movie

a lamp

a guitar

a wedding

a mobile phone

a bee

a ship

a website

a bottle

Example

A window without glass

a garden without grass

(it doesn't have to rhyme but it could)

Look around you at some of the objects. How might they be incomplete?

Here were my classes ideas. I have removed the rhyming word for you to guess.

a farm without grass
a window without _____
a lamp without a light
a movie without a _____
a guitar without strings
a wedding without _____
a mobile without a screen
a valley without the colour _____
Monopoly without money
bees without _____
bottles without caps
mobile phones without _____
a ship without a rudder
a pencil case without a _____
a pen without ink

a website without a ____ 

Idea from Brian Moses short writing ideas.

Rain Moistens the Soil

It's raining again

It's raining cats and dogs
It's raining again
and I can't go out and play
I am bored

It's raining again
the clouds are grey
sometimes black
water is falling and it's damp
houses are

steaming

It's raining again
the streets are empty and it's cold
Inside, my dad is

cooking

It's raining again
It drives my mum crazy
because she can't put out the

washing

This is good
because I don't have to help.

@theirwordsmyverse

Drawing by Junior 4 2019/2020

Breakfast

The word is breakfast

Make some sentences – perhaps using some grammar you've learnt recently – using the word breakfast.

Some efforts from my class placed into verse:

Breakfast

I always have to eat breakfast

(even if I'm late for school)

Today I have had breakfast

What about you?

We should eat breakfast every day

or we will die

Yesterday my mum was going to prepare the breakfast

but the phone rang

So I had ice cream

@theirwordsmyverse

Unconditional Love

First make a list of five to ten objects or places and then complete the sentence below with your own ideas. Look at the examples from my classes to see how it's done.

1, If I were ___ you'd be ___

If I were a book you'd be the words
If I were a dance you'd be my moves
If I were a beach you'd be the sea
If I were a mountain you'd be my gravity

If I were a song you'd be the lyrics
If I were the trees you'd be the forest
If I were a chicken you'd be the potatoes
If I were a cliff you'd be my
w
a
t
e
r
f
a
l
l

Drawing by Guillermo

Love

What I love about ___ 

Generate a list of objects, people and actions you love then complete the sentence above with your own ideas. Here are some examples from my class to help. 

Lower Level Love

What I love about my grandma
is her cooking

What I love about my computer
is it’s really fast

What I love about summer
is not going to school

What I love about cats
is they are so cute and furry

Advanced Love

What I love about my mobile phone
is its staggeringly-biblical capability

What I love about Tik Tok
is peoples absolutely amazing creativity

What I love about thin-crust pizza
is its emotional support

What I love about fries is they go well with everything
and are extremely versatile

Drawing by Lucía G

What do things Dream of?

Look at this list. What do you think these things dream of?

1, a notebook
2, a streetlight
3, a frog
4, the sea
5, a computer
6, your pet / sibling
7, a wall
8, a lamp
9, a pencil case

Think of another object. What does it dream of?

Here are the efforts from my classes put into verse:

Idea From Brian Moses

Wednesday

Can you make a sentence using the letters of a day of the week? or any word?

Teachings

Excuses Excuses

Reasons why they didn't do the homework. A list.

I forgot

I was ill

I was absent

I had to study

My dog ate it

I had a headache

I didn't have time

I did the wrong page

I didn't understand it

I couldn't be bothered

I did the wrong exercise

I can't find my workbook

I left my workbook at home

I didn't come to the last class

I hurt my leg and was in hospital

I know it already so it's a waste of time

I left my bag in my grandparents house

I left my books in my grandparents house

Was there homework?

@theirwordsmyverse

Drawing by Claudia

Grandparents

How do you feel at their house?

What can you smell / hear / see?

What things do they say?

What do you think?

The results from my class: #theirwordsmyverse
(Poem style inspired by Michael Rosen)

At my grandparents house

I feel happy, loved, bored
I can smell soap, socks, food and air freshener

At my grandparents house
I have to eat lentils

At my grandparents house
My grandad doesn't drink water
he drinks Fanta

At my grandparents house
There are old photos, old films
an old TV and a rocking chair

At my grandparents house
They ask me how things work.
They ask me for my dads mobile number (again)
and they call me by my sisters name

At my grandparents house
I talk about school, do my homework
I think about my future
I think about pizza

The Wind

Inspiration: The Wind
Challenge: Starting with one word, write an extra word each line until you have 7 words. No rules. See what you come up with.

Some examples from my class:

It
was strong
very very strong
I lost something important
The wind DESTROYED our house
The wind was very very dangerous
You can't hit the wind. It's invisible


wind
it's annoying
very annoying
It is very annoying
It is cold and annoying
It is cold and very annoying
It is very cold and very annoying
wind

Instructions for a Heatwave