poetryclass - poetry workshop

The Button Jar

I love using this exercise - it's brilliant for beginners and more advanced writers alike. I've used it with children in year Five upwards, adults in a contemporary art gallery writing workshop and with teachers on an INSET day.

The Exercise

You'll need a button jar with loads of different buttons in. Pass the jar round and ask everyone to take one (this can sometimes take forever - people are often fascinated by the wonderful colours and the feel they have).

When everyone has a button, the guided fantasy begins. Ask everyone to describe in a few sentences the type of garment the button was originally found on - get them to be very specific, don't accept 'a jacket' (prompt: type of jacket? colour? grubby/clean texture -wool/silk etc.).

Next ask where they can visualise the garment last being-charity shop, cupboard, over the back of a chair, in a suitcase, etc.

Next ask them to think about who would have worn the garment last - quickly write down a full name and age and then the detailed characterisation can begin.

Who was this person? What did they do on a Friday Night, what is the secret they've never before revealed? What do they dream about? When do they get irritable? What books are on their bedside cabinet? This element of the exercise is very flexible and depends on how much time you've got with the group and how old they are.

You want everyone to have a character profile to work with at some point. How you use the profile will depend on what you want them to achieve.

One of the ways I've used it is to get groups to write a (very loose) monologue from the point of view of their character or pair up and begin to talk to their partners about the kind of shared history the two of them might have. This might result in some dialogue being produced, where a sentence might later be taken to begin a poem.

Younger children like the idea of having created their own characters. I sometimes get them to put them in a context e.g. in a pub garden, on a bus, waiting in a queue for fish and chips etc. I then might take them through a senses exercise: What can Sam Toelong see as he looks through the window of the fish and chip shop? It often produces some lovely images.

In my experience teachers are often happy to give re-drafting time to an exercise they think is worthwhile. I've also used this as an icebreaker, within about 10 minutes everyone has a character pen portrait and for those people who've done very little creative writing in the recent past, it's a satisfying thing.

KS2 Pupils should be taught:

Y4 T1 T1
- To investigate how settings and characters are built up from small details
and how the reader responds to them.

Y4 T2 T1
- To understand how writers create imaginary worlds, particularly where this
is original or unfamiliar, such as a science fiction setting and to show how
the writer has evoked it through detail.

Y4 T3 T15
- To produce polished poetry through revision, e.g. deleting words, adding words,
changing words, reorganising words and lines, experimenting with figurative language.

Y5 T1 T16
- To convey feelings, reflections or moods in a poem through the careful selection
of words and phrases.

Y6 T2 T3
- To recognise how poets manipulate words
- for their quality of sound, e.g. rhythm, rhyme, assonance
- for their connotations
- for multiple layers of meaning, e.g. through figurative language, ambiguity

KS3 / Y7 Literacy Teaching Objectives

TL - Writing 1
- plan, draft, edit, revise, proofread and present a text with readers
and purpose in mind.

TL - Writing 6
- portray character, directly and indirectly, through description,
dialogue and action.

TL - Writing 8
- experiment with the visual and sound effects of language, including the use of
imagery, alliteration, rhythm and rhyme.

KS3 / Y8 Literacy Teaching Objectives

Plan, draft and present

TL - Writing 1
- experiment with different approaches to planning, drafting, proofreading
and presenting writing, taking account of the time available.

Write to imagine, explore, entertain

TL - Writing 6
- experiment with figurative language in conveying a sense of character and setting.

key stage 2/3/4	· poetry lesson
Roz Goddard

Roz Goddard