25th January is a day (and night) for enjoying haggis, neeps and tatties – Burns Night!
Having looked through a handful of Burn’s poems, you soon realise the Ploughman Poet spent time outdoors. This shows in the observations he makes about nature in his poems. From Sweet Afton, where is writes about the river, birds, the hills and the winds. Nature plays a huge part in this poem.
To how he describes the stormy weather in O, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast. Certianly, being in Scotland in winter I can appreciate the storms! The same is true for Up in the Early Morning. He sets the scene of a winters morning and the chill really rather well!
Then of course, we have his description of the wee Mouse in To A Mouse, written after he allegedly turned over their house with a plough.
Take a moment to read these and you will understand that his affinity with the outdoors truly helped him in writing each poem. Yet, in school, writing lessons are so often indoors, with a jotter and pencil and no real exposure to the inspiration Burns enjoyed.
So, why not buck that trend and take the children outdoors to help inspire some amazing writing? Or if you are undertaking lockdown learning set it as a task.
Can they make their own observations? Can they create poems from these?
Allow the children time to observe and see what magic they can come up with!
Burns Poems – click here to download
Love Outdoor Learning offer a range of support for curriculum based outdoor learning within the school, both in primary and secondary. Our membership resource offers training and lesson ideas throughout the curriculum and we regularly share blogs with new activity ideas and thoughts on outdoor learning. We can also offer on-site training and support.
Our aim is to help support as many educators as possible. We offer free support calls to help schools understand how we can support them in their learning journey. If you wish to book one just jump over to our diary.
