For the Teacher:
What is the poetry plane? It’s a Nieuport 17 replica biplane from WW1 and will take off from England with its special cargo of poems to be fluttered from the sky in July 2024 over North France where The First World War was fought.
The poems, written by schoolchildren (that’s your class!) and inspired by themes connected to the First World War, will be delivered in such a way to French counterparts who in turn will write their own poems to be flown back in the spirit of friendship. The works, written on seeded bio-degradable paper allow the poems to grow into poppies, symbolizing peace in commemoration of WW1.
This Lesson plan will provide some videos and photos about WW1, a short video on writing a WW1 poem, and the leave it to you as to how organise up to 4 sessions for every class of 20 not on the simulator. Reading the examples below out loud may help and I suggest the children are asked in return to read their efforts out loud before they are taken away in the plane to France.
The Powerpoint presentation Poems, Poppies and Planes is set up as a slide show and lasts 7 minutes. It should be shown first. You may wish to have Barber’s Adagio for Strings playing in the background.
We recommend that you show the children Simon Mole’s video on writing a WW1 Poem next and base the lesson on it.The trailer from Peter Jackson’s ‘They shall not grow old’ also gives good atmospherics as 100 year old film that has been digitised, coloured and voiced over from lip-readers.
We will bring A7 size sheets of bio-degradable paper with poppy seeds attached. You should ask the children to put their name and school on the back. We will offer a small prize for the poem that you judge is the best from the school.
A report from the success of the above event:
Stewart, Ed and Ant have just spent the day with my Year 5 class at St. Joseph the Worker Primary School in Brentwood.
Stewart and his team of aviation experts were great with the children and helped them to get the best out of their day. All of the children loved experiencing the flight simulator and really enjoyed flying in a WW1 plane. All of the teachers also had a go and found it to be very fun!
Stewart was fantastic with the children and was happy to talk to them about their potential futures in the aviation field. He was also happy to answer any questions about his career as a pilot. The content in the powerpoint presentations was a great foundation for learning, and we will be adding the days experience into our History, Computing and Science Curriculum maps, and asking Stuart and his team to come back next year. The children also loved writing their emotive poems and competing in the art competition. A truly wonderful day for all involved.
Thank you,
Rhys Town
Class 5 Teacher
St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School