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Beloved author Michael Rosen brings us a special assembly
As the culmination of our wonderful Junior School poetry week, we had one final treat to savour. We were delighted to welcome renowned British children’s author and poet, Michael Rosen to address and entertain us in a very special assembly.
We had a chance to recount stories together, perform lines from poems and learned some fun tongue twisters as part of a hilarious and expressive performance. We are still hearing these repeated in the classrooms and corridors throughout the school as the children retell and relive the day.
When asked what advice he would give to budding, aspiring poets, this is what he had to say ‘First and foremost you must, must, must read loads. You really must. Go to see plays, and films and watch TV dramas. I would say that a good deal of the time you must stop being like ordinary readers. You must start looking at HOW people write. Look at how stories start, how stories are narrated, how stories get exciting, and how some stories fail. Look at how stories let you into the minds of people. How do stories show you 'point of view' – through the narration, the dialogue or both? Look at how stories send you on ‘false trails’ thinking that x was going to happen when really in the end it was y. How did they get you to think that? Also, think about what a story seemed to be saying to you in terms of a message or several messages.
His other advice was to keep a notebook. ‘You must scribble down ideas and things you hear that you think are interesting. If you can draw, draw the ideas. Think of plot lines, play the game of what-if.’
Michael Rosen is a master wordsmith, exciting orator and fantastic entertainer. His tips for writing and contagious imagination are proving to be strong influences for our own young writers and speakers. We so look forward to continuing to see the influence and ideas of this great author come to fruition in the children’s future work.
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