World Poetry Day is organised by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) annually on the 21st of March, to celebrate poems and poetry.

A poem is a piece of writing that expresses feelings and ideas using imaginative language.

People have been writing poems for thousands of years. A person who writes poetry is called a poet.

Poets choose words very carefully when they are writing. The words are organised into lines and verses.

This video shows a simple method for writing a poem in under 10 minutes!

Teaching Ideas and Resources

• Our Poetry Pack includes a fantastic collection of questions to use when talking about poetry, plus lots of other poetry resources.

• This jumbled sentence activity is a great way to get children thinking about the structure of a poem.
• Choose a painting or photograph and challenge your children to write a poem describing it.
• Give children a selection of different types of poems and ask them to sort the poems by their own criteria. Encourage children to explain their thinking and reaction to the poems.
• Use this simple format to help children write a poem, concentrating on the choice of adjectives.
• Find more ideas and resources in our Poetry Guide.