Roger McGough and Valerie Bloom

Rhymes, rhythms and riotous laughter with Roger McGough and Valerie Bloom. Watch this event to hear lively and hilarious poems about animals from all around the world.

If you only do one thing

If your pushed for time but still want to do a poetry activity inspired by Roger and Valerie's event, why not play a rhythm and sound game?

Introducing rhythm and sound games LIT 2-10a, EXA 2-17a, EXA 2-18a, EXA 2-19a

Pick one of Roger's and/or Valerie's poems. What did your pupils notice about the rhythm and pacing of the poem(s)? Did the rhythm slow down or speed up at any point? Explain that all poems have a rhythm or pace which is created by the poets words, punctuation and use of rhyme. Start with a simple clapping game, with pupils copying your claps. Begin with simple rhythms (long, long, short, short, long) and work towards more complicated ones. Next, clap out words following the beat of the syllables. After a few different words, move on to speak and clap a sentence from your chosen poem and ask the pupils to echo it back. 

For shorter clips from this event visit the BBC Scotland Learning(this will open in a new window) website.

A full transcript of this event is available to download.