Performance Poems

Performance poems are poems which are written for the purpose of performing to an audience or, at the very least, which acknowledge an audience or are intended to be read aloud. However, the audience could simply be a child listening to a story poem read aloud at bedtime. In other words, a poem which is so much better when expressed aloud for the purposes of someone hearing or seeing it performed rather than simply reading it, or which relies upon some level of interaction with an audience.

Harvest – A Performance Poem for a Thanksgiving Celebration

8 May 2012

This is a performance poem for older primary children.  The individual letters of the word HARVEST are held up by seven children.  At the beginning of each verse the children rearrange themselves so that they are in a suitable order for the bold words that follow. The appropriate letters are held aloft for each word, but […]

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A Harvest/ Thanksgiving Song

8 May 2012

    This easily remembered Harvest/ Thanksgiving song is sung to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know it”.  It has 6 verses, going through the range of foods that we can give thanks for, and ending with thanks for family and friends.

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A Nursery Rhyme Harvest

8 May 2012

  I know that many schools have the children perform harvest / thanksgiving poems and songs at their harvest celebration, so this one is a little bit of both. The nursery rhymes provide the narration for the main poem, and I have simply amended them to be appropriate to harvest-time.

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Tesco:YOUR Comments Have Been Noted! Poem 3

6 May 2012

This is the third and current poem in our campaign….please send it to philip.clarke@uk.tesco.com  to persuade Tesco to sell ONLY FAIRTRADE BANANAS, so that we can be assured that the plantation owners are receiving a fair price.

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The Royal Reply

2 April 2012

      This funny letter poem has rhyme, rhythm, and lots of word play in the appropriate language to make it suitable as a performance poem, imagined to be written as a reply from the queen to my Royal Pardon poem.  It is also an excellent example of alliteration and consonance poetry.

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All About You

27 February 2012

    I wrote this rhythmic, rhyming poem to encourage you to write about yourself.  Poetry is often a very personal thing, because it  says so much about the writer’s thoughts, feelings and outlook on life, yet we rarely realise ourselves how interesting we each are as individuals.  I love those moments when two people […]

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A Royal Apology

27 February 2012

  This is a funny letter poem, written with rhyme and rhythm, and including lots of word play (of the toilet humour variety!) and occasional moments of alliteration.  It is the third poem in a trilogy which needs to be read in order to understand the content.

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What Makes a Winner?

13 February 2012

      This encouragement poem encourages the reader to always do their best to reach their own potential, as a winning attitude is far greater than a prize winning performance.  

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Stephen’s Boat: A Story of God’s Love

8 February 2012

  A big “Thank you !” to Rev. Alistair Sharp and his Dad for this beautiful story which, between them they have told and continually developed for years, and which I have thoroughly enjoyed retelling as a story poem of God’s love.

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Rotherham Ambassador Award

30 January 2012

This rhyming, rhythmic letter poem is full of genuine and personal emotion as I wrote it on the day that I received an award at the Rotherham Learning Ambassadors Celebration in June 2010.  It also includes metaphors, hyperbole, and a simile.

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