Learning Through Play to Create a Filmed Poem in the Classroom with Adobe Express

Children love to play. Harnessing their enthusiasm for play and channeling it through literacy activities and other curriculum subjects is a perfect way to inspire learning through play and increase engagement in the classroom, at the same time as encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle.

But why develop literacy skills through play?

Whilst many people think of ‘play’ as something children do when they’re not learning, mounting research shows that play isn’t just a critical component of child development, but also early education. In fact, play is so important to child development that it has been recognised as a Basic Human Right of every child by the United Nations. And yet, despite its importance, it is markedly absent from today’s education system.

Play is recognised as a Basic Human Right of every child by the UN. Learning through play can help kids develop important literacy skills.

What is Playful Poetry?

Taken from my book, Literacy Beyond the Classroom, Playful Poetry delves deeper into the importance of play in child development and why schools should keep it prevalent in the curriculum throughout a child’s educational experiences. We explore two styles of poetry and use children’s individually-written poems to produce a collaborative, filmed final poem.

It uses the theme of play to focus on different styles of poetry and performance including poems from Robert Louis Stevenson and Michael Rosen. Designed to inspire and excite your pupils to learn through play, this project will develop both children’s free verse and rhyming poetry writing skills.

All resources and full planning are free and available on Adobe EdEx:

Access complete Playful Poetry resources on EdEx

Watch two completed student examples of Playful Poetry:

Interview with Bryn Llewellyn

Interviewed for Playful Poetry is Bryn Llewellyn, an experienced teacher, senior leader and founder of Tagtiv8, a pioneering approach to Physically Active Learning (PAL) and research that not only provides an enjoyable alternative to classroom-based learning, but promotes physical activity – crucial when we all face the increasing problem of sedentary lifestyles.

Regarding the need to address issues of physical and mental health, whilst also improving performance in the classroom, Bryn describes how, “As teachers and leaders, we need to look at ways we can increase and embed creative opportunities for learning. More schools are looking towards PAL as a potential solution to health and education issues. PAL approaches help develop unique and innovative ways to combine English and maths and other curricular areas with physical activity. PAL helps teachers to unlock the potential of the PE hall and outdoor environment for learning core subjects. That said, PAL can also take place in the classroom, not by running around but by using purposeful movement that encourages communication and collaboration.”

Physically Active Learning promotes exercise and is an enjoyable alternative to classroom-based learning.

Here’s that resource link again: Access complete Playful Poetry resources on EdEx

If you enjoyed Playful Poetry, check out Literacy Beyond the Classroom, which improves English progress at Key Stage 2 by 3.75 times the UK national average. This innovative approach links global challenges to the five key National Curriculum areas in English: reports, instructions, persuasive language, fiction and poetry, and presentation skills, presenting ready-to-use lesson plans, exercises and activities to help teachers bring this concept to life in the primary classroom.

All projects can be completed using Adobe Express. By teaching English in this practical, purposeful and meaningful way, we can inspire the YouTube generation to learn the literacy skills they need to influence the world around them and have a positive impact as global citizens.

Dominic is the Education Evangelist EMEA for Adobe Education. Before joining Adobe, Dominic found his passion for combining literacy with digital skills as a primary teacher both in the UK and internationally. From there, he was part of the first cohort on Emerge Education and used that as a springboard to start an education social enterprise. In 2018, he won the EDUCATE award from the Institute Of Education for a 4 month research project into improving KS2 writing using digital skills at 3.75 times the national average rate of progress.