Poetry and Poppies Today: Drama and performance workshop
✓ Reception - Year 6
✓ Led by a professional actor-facilitator
✓ Whole-school performance in one day
✓ History, Remembrance, Poetry
✓ Free teacher resources
✓ Delivered in your school hall
Discover the people of World War One through poetry and drama, and create a whole-school performance inspired by their stories.
Bring your whole school together to celebrate Remembrance with this day-long workshop that uses theatrical techniques to explore the people and stories of the Great War. During the sessions the children create scenes that imaginatively weave together poetry, interviews with soldiers, and personal accounts from the different people involved.
From life on the home front to the Christmas truce and Battle of the Somme, each class-by-class session is led by a professional actor-facilitator and focuses on a different topic of the war.
At the end of the day, all classes who have taken part come together to perform to each other, with the final performance presenting a chronological exploration of the war. Every child is involved in presenting their work within a soundscape that sets the scenes, interspersed with key dates and facts that offer historical context.
Working collaboratively, your children will develop their historical knowledge, physical literacy and communication skills, and experience performing in a way they will never forget.
The day-long workshop is perfect for:
A one form entry school from Reception to Year 6
5 or 6 KS2 classes
Remembrance Day and learning about World War One
Created by:
Abigail Rosser
Find out more about our creatives.
Working with fewer classes?
Our popular stand-alone sessions offer an in-depth exploration of the Great War through poetry and drama, without the whole-school performance.
Find out more >
- We run six sessions throughout the day for groups of up to 30 children per session.
- We can either work with Reception to Year 6 (Reception and Year 1 take part together), or with five - six classes from KS2. To cover the material we need at least three classes from KS2, including at least one class from Year 5 or 6.
- The day culminates in a final performance involving all the groups.
- To work with more classes we can visit across multiple days.
- We will send you a suggested timetable when you enquire and can work with you to create a timetable that works for your school day.
- To use poetry and literature to build empathy and discover what life was like during the First World War.
- To discover and retain key dates and historical information.
- To take part in a shared performance about the stories of the Great War, told by a cast of up to 210 children in the school.
- To empathise and think critically about the experiences of people who lived and died during the First World War.
- To expand vocabulary and develop a stronger command of spoken English through a combination of poetry and prose.
When you book you will receive a link to a full pack of materials used to inspire the workshop. This includes a poetry anthology, propaganda posters and letters from World War One.
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