Poetry Exercise
Moving Stories: An Ode to...
In the 'global village', everyone comes from, or goes to, somewhere else.
This poetry session was delivered by poet Ken Cockburn for the Scottish Poetry Library in May 2006, as part of Moving Stories, a project exploring cultural diversity and migrations. It gave P6/7 pupils at Bruntsfield Primary School in Edinburgh the opportunity to discover and explore their families' stories of migration and travel through poetry.
Classes and Duration
The exercise should be suitable for P6-S2 classes. In primary schools, two sessions of 75 minutes each would work; in secondary schools, between two and four periods (depending on their length, and whether they are consecutive or separate).
Preparation
Ask each pupil to choose, in discussion with other family members, an object that relates to a place their family has lived, or visited - something that they can bring into school. Photos, books, clothes, jewellery, ornaments, souvenirs...
Poems
An ode is a poem written in praise or celebration of something. The Ancient Greeks wrote odes to the winners of the original Olympic Games, while in English John Keats wrote odes 'to Autumn' and 'on Melancholy'. In the 20th century the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote his Elemental Odes, which address all sorts of subjects including the Southern Cross, bicycles, the lemon and even his socks!
Read and discuss one of Neruda's odes, perhaps the 'Ode to my Socks'.
Read and discuss the following children's odes.
These odes were written by Ewan McLellan and Kate Findlay, both P6, at Bruntsfield Primary School in Edinburgh. Ewan brought in to school some photographs and an old booklet about ice hockey, and Kate, an African drum.
Ode to an Icy Street 
Icy pictures you are so cold, so small, so shiny
A picture of ice hockey played in Canada.
Like a gateway into another country
Through a small paper rectangle
The Canadian kids frozen in time
But life like.
When my granddad moved to Canada
He loved the ice and openness
He took many pictures of the frozen ice roads
To try and keep the memory.
You have travelled many miles to find yourself here
From Canada to Scotland
A long, long way.
How do you feel?
To be flown across the sea?
To be in two different countries at once?
To be part of a memory?
So cold, so snowy, so great, so small, so thin, so shiny……
Ewan McLellan, P6, Bruntsfield Primary School , Edinburgh, May 2006
Ode to my African Drum
O African drum
You are tall and wide
Well hand-carved
With a soft fur top
And nice black strings.
From an African Seller
To a Scottish Midwife.
You were bought by my mum
When she worked in Malawi.
You were played at church one Sunday
They danced to you with hands in the air.
What was it like travelling from
Hot and sunny to cold and wet?
What was it like to be made?
Was it fun, was it dull?
But no matter because
I love you all the same
You will be part of my family for always.
Kate Findlay , P6, Bruntsfield Primary School , Edinburgh, May 2006
Objects
Ask each pupil what they have brought in, and why. Ask each pupil to show their object to the other pupils, who can ask questions about it.
Words and Ideas
Before starting to write a poem, you need to have some ideas and some words.
Ask the pupils some questions about their object. They should write notes in response to these, so presentation (spelling, handwriting etc) isn't important at this stage. Not every question will be relevant to every object, but by the end of this exercise each pupil should have words and ideas from which to develop their poem.
Write down the name of your chosen object.
- Write down some adjectives that describe it. Think about its size, shape, feel touch, smell, colour, patterning, and so on.
- What is or was it used for?
- What places do you associate with it - where is it usually to be found? Where has it come from?
- What people do you associate with it - whose is it? Has it had any previous owners? Do you use it with someone else?
- Are there any stories you can tell about it?
- What is the best thing about it?
- How does it make you feel? What moods do you associate with it?
- If you could ask it one question, what would it be?
Ask the pupils to read through their notes, and to note down any other ideas they have now.
Composing
Ask the pupils to write 'An Ode to' their object, based on their notes, and written in the second person, that is, addressing it as 'you' throughout.
Some pupils can best be left to explore the subject as they wish, but others will benefit from having a defined structure to work within. Here is a suggested three-verse structure.
- 1st verse - describe the object, using your different senses.
- 2nd verse - tell something of its story - perhaps where it came from, or who it belongs to now, or an event you associate with it.
- 3rd verse - speak directly to it - ask it a question, or say how you feel about it.
Presentation
Ask pupils to read their poems to the rest of class.
Pupils could draw their objects - or swap them, and draw someone else's. They could take photographs of the objects, and make a display of these with their poems, which could be handwritten (which is more personal) or word-processed (which is more professional).
You could present the poems and images in the classroom, or on the school website, or at a school event such as an assembly.
Follow Up
Discuss with the pupils what they have learned from the project - about their own families, about their fellow pupils and their families, about poems, about writing, about presenting their work.
Further Reading
Elemental odes / Pablo Neruda; selected and translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. (London : Libris, 1991). ISBN: 18703526370 Available to borrow from the Scottish Poetry Library.
For further details about SPL's education programme, please contact education@spl.org.uk. 5 Crichton's Close, Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Tel: 0131 557 2876