1. The theme of this year’s National Poetry Day is change.
National Poetry Day is an annual celebration that inspires people throughout the UK to enjoy, discover and share poems.
The theme of this year’s National Poetry Day is change.
Schools and community groups across the UK will be sharing poetry and celebrating the power of poetry.

2. Change is something that is around us all of the time
Change is something that is around us all of the time. There are changes in nature such as the leaves turning orange and brown in Autumn and fluttering to the ground. There are also man-made changes- when parts of the city are altered, pulled down or built up.

3. Animals and humans go through some incredible changes- like the caterpillar becoming a butterfly…

4. …or children starting nursery or school for the first time.
Photo by Mike Fox on Unsplash

5. What other changes can you think of? What does ‘change’ mean to you?
Ask the pupils for examples of different types of changes. You could record these on a flip chart and even look for patterns or connections. Which ones occur in nature? Which are related to growth/age?
Changes can be exciting, but they can also be worrying or even frightening at times. One way that people have found to deal with changes is to talk about how it makes them feel or even write about them.
Chameleon: Photo by KP Bodenstein on Unsplash
Pug: Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash
Baby: Photo by Jake Peterson on Unsplash
Wedding: Photo by Levi Alvarez on Unsplash
Signs: Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

6. Let’s look at how two different poets have written about change…
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

7. Out of the Fire, a Spark by Michaela Morgan
What does this title make you think of? What do you think it means? What happens then… when the spark comes out of the fire? What will this poem be about?
Photo by Cullan Smith on Unsplash
by Michaela Morgan

8. Out of the fire, a spark. Out of the spark, a flame.
Out of the flame, a fire.
Change in a chain.
Read the poem through once.
Photo by Cullan Smith on Unsplash

9. Change in a chain indeed.
Out of the seed, a shoot.
Out of the shoot, a tree.
Out of the tree, a seed.
Change in a chain indeed.
Photo by Soner Eker on Unsplash

10. From out of the raindrops, a puddle. From out of the puddle, a cloud,
out of the cloud the rain.
Change again.
Photo by Maxime Lebrun on Unsplash

11. Out of the egg cracked a bird. Out of the bird, a flap – and a fall.
Out of the fall, flight.
Change, that’s right.
Photo by Soner Eker on Unsplash

12. Out of the change, growth. Out of the growth, change.
Growth, change; change, growth.
Change. Begin again.
What is the poem about? What is Michaela Morgan saying about change? Go back and look at the different images used in each stanza. Is change a positive or negative force in this poem? Why? What do these changes have in common?
Listen again to the poem (you could use the video of Michaela Morgan reading it). What is suggested about change? Is it a positive or negative view of change? What does it remind you of? The poet, Michaela Morgan, has said that she was inspired by nursery rhymes, chants and chain songs. What effect does this have?
Photo by Igor Son on Unsplash
Morgan shows change as a natural occurrence which leads to a range of other changes. These changes bring about growth.

13. In The Land of Giants by George Szirtes
Look at the title- In The Land of Giants. What might this refer to? What might ‘The Land of Giants’ be?
Photo by Victoria Alexander on Unsplash
by George Szirtes

14. Link to Liverpool’s Dream Giant Spectacular, which also starts on 4th October. What would it be like to find yourself in the land of giants?

15. Once everything was big and you were small, but year after year your shadow  crept up the wall  and you grew tall.
“Once everything was big and you were small”- what is the land of giants? What is it like to be a small child surrounded by adults?
Photo by Ozan Safak on Unsplash

16. Quite frightening really to think of that small shadow disappearing, to hear that small voice passing out of hearing
That’s the trouble with growing: you’d like to know where you are going, but there’s no knowing.
Can growing up be scary? Sometimes not knowing can be frightening and exciting all at once.
What is different about the way this poem shows change compared to the first poem?
Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
Which poem do you like? Why?

17. How can you get involved with National Poetry Day?
Read some poetry about change
Make an anthology of your favourite poems
Design illustrations for a poem about change
Rehearse and perform a piece of poetry
Write a poem about change
Watch some of the ‘change’ poem videos on the National Poetry Day website

18. #NationalPoetryDay
#liverpoolpoetry
@PoetryDayUK
@ReadingatLLP