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FREE POEM TEMPLATE · KS1 AND KS2

Poem planning template for KS1 and KS2

Plan a poem in five boxes, from choosing a subject to the last line. Fill in the template online with prompts for your child’s year group and print it, then check the poetry features children learn in KS1 and KS2.

Reviewed by Joshua Younger, Senior Educator, on .

Plan it online, then print it

Your plan is not saved. Nothing you type here is stored or sent anywhere. It stays on this page only until you close or refresh it, so print your plan when you have finished.

Written for poem writing. The prompts change with the year group.

  1. 1 Subject

    Choose one subject and one feeling about it.

  2. 2 Look, listen, feel

    Collect ideas with your senses: what do you see, hear, smell, touch and taste?

  3. 3 Word bank

    Collect powerful words: similes (as … as, like …), alliteration and sound words (crash, whisper).

  4. 4 Form and pattern

    Pick a form: a list poem, an acrostic, a shape poem, a kenning or a haiku (5, 7, 5 syllables).

  5. 5 First and last lines

    Draft a strong first line, and an ending that surprises or repeats the start.

Prints one A4 page with the poem plan and the prompts for Years 3–4. To keep a copy, choose “Save as PDF” in your browser’s print window.

Features of a poem

Purpose: To share a feeling, a picture or an idea in a few carefully chosen words, often to be read aloud or performed.

What children are usually taught to include at each stage. These lists are Litsee’s guidance, based on common UK primary practice; the curriculum quotations below are the statutory part.

KS1 (Years 1–2)

Ages 5–7

  • Short lines, set out on the page differently from a story
  • Rhyming words at the ends of some lines
  • Repeated lines or patterns
  • Words that describe what you see, hear and feel
  • Sound words such as splash and bang
  • Read aloud and performed with expression

Years 3–4

Ages 7–9

  • A chosen form, such as a shape poem, kenning, haiku or free verse
  • Similes to compare (as quiet as snow, like a ribbon)
  • Alliteration (silver sea slides)
  • Onomatopoeia (crash, fizz, whisper)
  • Verses to group ideas
  • Verbs and adjectives chosen with care
  • Performance with intonation, volume and action

Years 5–6

Ages 9–11

  • Metaphors and personification
  • Imagery that appeals to the senses
  • A mood or atmosphere created through word choice
  • Deliberate line breaks and verse structure
  • Rhythm, rhyme or free verse chosen for effect
  • Forms such as the cinquain, the narrative poem and the tanka
  • Repetition used for emphasis
  • Careful editing, and performance with intonation, volume and movement

In the National Curriculum

  • “learning to appreciate rhymes and poems, and to recite some by heart”

    Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory)

  • “writing poetry”

    Year 2, Writing – composition (statutory)

  • “recognising some different forms of poetry [for example, free verse, narrative poetry]”

    Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory)

  • “preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action”

    Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory)

Worked example: The Sea

A worked example written for this page, at the level of Years 3–4: first the plan, then the piece written from it.

  1. 1. Subject

    The sea on a windy day. Feeling: excited, but a bit small.

  2. 2. Look, listen, feel

    See: grey-green waves, white foam, gulls. Hear: crash, hiss, pebbles rattling. Smell: salt and seaweed. Feel: spray on my face, the wind pushing me.

  3. 3. Word bank

    Simile: waves like galloping horses. Alliteration: salty spray, slippery seaweed, shining stones. Sound words: crash, hiss, rattle.

  4. 4. Form and pattern

    Free verse, three short verses. Each verse starts “The sea…”.

  5. 5. First and last lines

    First line: “The sea is awake today.” Last line: “and I feel as small as a pebble.”

The finished piece: The Sea

The sea is awake today, galloping in like grey-green horses, crash, hiss, rattle.

The sea is throwing salty spray at my cheeks, slapping slippery seaweed on the shining stones.

The sea is bigger than the sky this morning, and I feel as small as a pebble.

How to use this plan at home or in class

Planning a poem can sound odd, because poems feel as if they should arrive all at once. In practice, the plan is where most of a poem is made. Collecting observations and words first gives a child far more to choose from, and choosing is what poets do. The boxes above move from a subject, to what the senses notice, to the words, to the shape, and only then to the actual lines.

In KS1, poetry is mostly heard and spoken. The curriculum asks Year 1 children to appreciate rhymes and poems and to recite some by heart, and Year 2 children to write poetry. Start by saying a poem together, then write a list poem or a simple pattern poem about something your child can see or hold. Repeated lines (“I can hear…”, “I can see…”) give young poets a structure, and sound words such as splash and crunch make the poem fun to perform.

In Years 3 and 4, children meet different forms, and the curriculum names free verse and narrative poetry as examples. Shape poems, kennings, acrostics and haiku are popular because each has a clear rule to follow. This is also the time for similes, alliteration and onomatopoeia. Encourage children to perform their poems, using their voice, volume and actions to bring out the meaning.

In Years 5 and 6, the focus moves to imagery and choice. Metaphor and personification let a child say what something is like without saying “like”. Line breaks become a tool: where a line ends changes where the reader pauses. Older children can draft two versions of a verse and decide which works better, which is the editing habit the curriculum asks for.

Rhyme is optional. Forcing a rhyme often makes children choose a word for its sound rather than its meaning, and the poem stops making sense. Free verse is a real form, used by many poets, and a perfectly good choice. If a child wants to rhyme, collect rhyming pairs in the word bank box first. Keep the notes in every box short; at the planning stage, one striking word is worth more than a whole sentence.

At home, take the plan outside: sit somewhere for five minutes and fill the senses box together. In class, give everyone the same subject, such as rain, the playground or a bonfire, and compare how different the finished poems are. Read every poem aloud before calling it finished.

About this page

Reviewed by Joshua Younger · How it was made · Sources

Sources

The quotations in “In the National Curriculum” are copied word for word from these documents, with the year and section each applies to. The features lists, prompts, advice and worked example are Litsee’s guidance.

How this page was made

Reviewed by Joshua Younger, Senior Educator, on .

The plans, features lists and worked examples were drafted with AI help and checked against the National Curriculum by Litsee. Spotted something to improve? Email info@litsee.com.

The planner runs in your browser. Nothing you type is saved, stored or sent anywhere, and it disappears when you close or refresh the page.

Questions parents and teachers ask

How do you plan a poem in KS2?

Choose a subject and a feeling, collect what you notice with the senses, build a word bank of similes, alliteration and sound words, choose a form, then draft the first and last lines. Write the poem from those notes and read it aloud as you edit.

Does a poem have to rhyme?

No. Many poems do not rhyme, and the National Curriculum mentions free verse as one of the forms children learn. Rhyme is a choice, and a poem that makes sense matters more than one that rhymes.

What poetry forms do children learn at primary school?

Commonly taught forms include list poems, acrostics, shape poems, kennings, haiku, cinquains, limericks, free verse and narrative poems. Schools choose their own; the curriculum names free verse and narrative poetry as examples for Years 3 and 4.

How can I help my child write a poem at home?

Pick something in front of you, such as the rain, a pet or the view from a window, and fill in the senses box together. Then choose the best words and let your child arrange them into short lines. Read it aloud together at the end.

From plan to story: let your child steer an interactive story.

In Litsee, your child creates the hero, picks the world and chooses what happens next in an illustrated story that is read aloud.

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