Using pictures to inspire poems

Close observation of an image will reveal the poetry within, say Pie Corbett and David Mitchell...

Awell-chosen visual image acts as a gateway into writing. The image stimulates an immediate reaction and the children will want to speak. Use this as a chance to gather a list of ideas, responses and thoughts. The image feeds the imagination with a clear focus; it is a seedbed for writing. The teacher can then direct the children to look at the details and describe them, recreating the image through words. Teach the children to ‘jump into the picture’ as if they were actually part of the scene – how would the creature move? What sounds would you hear? What might happen?

Ways of looking

In this example, 10-year-old Kathryn’s class looked at a photograph of a pond (Image 1).

The teacher showed the children how to ‘look’ at the photo in different ways. Together, they made a list of ideas on a flipchart, each drawing on a different technique (metaphor, personification, alliteration, simile):

> The pond is an eye staring up at the sky.
> The pond swallows the mountain in one icy gulp.
> The perfect pond purses its luminous lips.
> The pond is like a child’s woeful cry.

Kathryn then went on to write her own list of ideas:

SIX WAYS OF LOOKING AT A POND

1 A pond’s ripple shatters faces into misery and lines.
2 A pond reflects the memories of children playing by its edge.
3 Sheets and sheets of lace gently laid on top of each other, glistening in the sunlight.
4 A pond is a net of faces and fish being dragged behind a trawler.
5 A pond is a glittering pocket of beads trickling into a bag.
6 A pond is a swan’s paradise, where she gazes into the darkness.

Try selecting any image and, with the children, write a series of lines in the same way, each one taking a different view or angle. It can help to make a list of possibilities, e.g.

You could:
> write a simile
> write a metaphor
> use alliteration
> use personification
> make something in the picture speak
> ask the image a question
> pretend something unexpected is about to appear
> change one item
> transform part of the painting
> hold a conversation with the image…
Close observation

Children write well about animals and this image of a rather bedraggled tawny owl (Image 2), taken by teacher Nicola Stables, nearly always evokes a response from children as the owl looks so forlorn.

Present the photo to your class and lead into the writing by brainstorming words and ideas, focusing on different parts of the image.

Make a list of the key things that you would write about in order to describe the owl. Remember that we are not being playful, but trying to use words to say what the owl looks like, e.g. eyes, feathers, talons, legs, beak and wing. Take each one in turn and help the children to brainstorm as many words as they can think of – adjectives, verbs, images. This word bank needs to be as extensive as possible.

Show the children how to create a ‘spine’ poem. To do this, list the main aspects to be written about down the centre of the page:

Owl
Eyes
Beak
Feathers
Wing
Legs
Talons

Then, using a different colour, show how each idea can be taken and turned into a short descriptive sentence, drawing on the word bank but also thinking of new ideas. It helps if the first line introduces the focus. Here is a class poem by year 3s:

The tawny owl sits in the
rain, waiting.
Its mournful eyes stare blindly
like lost planets.
The thin beak curves like
a moon.
Ruffling its freckled feathers
as if it had been soaked
in the washing machine,
the owl dangles its
damaged wing.
Cold legs in furry tights
and talons that grip the
stone wall.
The owl waits for night’s
comfort.

Once the children get the basic idea of the ‘spine’ poem then they can work on a different image. Begin by looking carefully and brainstorming ideas and words. Then ask the children to identify which of these will be the focus of their writing and to jot them down the centre of the page, leaving space around each word. You only need around six to eight items.

Now ask children to take each word / idea and turn it into a descriptive sentence, creating a simple pattern on the page. The idea is to capture something of the essence of the image. Remember to use the basic writing approaches: powerful, well-chosen words; fresh and surprising combinations; alliteration/ onomatopoeia; similes – like/as; metaphor and personification.
Spiders have recently been in the press and the picture that Ian Fearns took (Image 3) will get a reaction! This might only lead to a few lines – the body, legs and web. Here is an example to share with the class

The spider pauses and poses
at the edge of the web.
Its white body is blotched like
a peculiar egg.
Telescopic legs jut out,
Playing the fine thread of
the web,
Like the guitar of death.

Ian also took this close up photo of a fly (Image 4). It is a Green Bottle Fly, which you can tell from its shiny green body. Once again, this sort of image has great appeal. Part of the secret of writing these miniature poems is to learn how to look at something and see what else it looks like – of what else are we reminded? This introduces imagery. This is a special form of seeing because you have to observe whatever you are looking at but also try and recognise what else is similar to it.

Begin by close observation drawing. This means the children have to spend time looking carefully at the details. Already they will be beginning to notice different aspects that could be put into their writing. Here is my attempt at the fly:

The fly’s eye
is a red lens,
a loud speaker,
with nothing to say.
An anonymous stare
glares back.
Its body armour
gleams oily green.
Hairs bristle
as the alien
waits – spindle legs
planted from a sci-fi film
and brittle wings
glossed as glass
flex for take off.
A futuristic chin
thistles needles.
The air stills
as it tickles
your hand.