Primary Learning with the Wordsworth Trust at Dove Cottage and in your School A day at Dove Cottage can be an inspiring and transformative experience for many pupils, creating poets from reluctant writers and giving children the experience to enjoy and reflect on Wordsworth’s home and the surrounding countryside. We take a flexible, bespoke approach to on-site sessions. A sample itinerary might include: a visit to Dove Cottage; a workshop exploring Wordsworth’s poetry (or another Romantic Poet of your choice); led creative writing activities or art sessions; exploration of exhibitions in the Wordsworth Museum and a guided walk encompassing places of significance to Wordsworth and reading extracts of his poetry. With all on- site visit bookings, we offer twofree half day outreach sessions for Cumbria and North Lancashire schools to introduce and extend learning. We offer special Arts Award (Discover and Explore) packages and can include a tour of our collections and research centre looking at items from our huge collection of books, manuscripts and paintings. Below are the workshops that we offer Primary Schools on-site and as outreach. These can be delivered as single workshops or as part of an immersive day. ‘Extremely well planned, organised and resourced. The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about William Wordsworth and improving their writing skills.’ Kirsty Klijn, KS2 Teacher Beetham School ‘This has been one of the best workshop-based trips I’ve taken a class to. The staff have been so informative and helpful. The children have learned so much about the past and how clues help to tell us of events. Thank you.’ Year 4 teacher, All Saints Primary ‘Lots and lots of lovely songs, rhymes and poems which helped prepare us for our Easter Service.’ Reception and KS1 teacher, Threlkeld Primary www.wordsworth.org.uk Foundation Stage Workshops Tales for Tots (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1hr Meet the people and animals who lived in Dove Cottage in our seasonal storytelling and craft sessions for the under-5s. Our fun and creative sessions last for 1 hour, with 30 minutes of storytelling followed by 30 minutes of craft activities. Children will be inspired by stories based on life in Dove Cottage 200 years ago and Wordsworth poems to make their own bright and colourful creations. Choose between four stories: The Wordsworths and the Butterfly John Wordsworth’s Party William’s Windermere Adventure A Wordsworth Winter Story Rucksack of Rhymes (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1hr Explore a short poem by William Wordsworth through songs, rhymes and a story. Children will unpack a rucksack in each session containing toys, and other objects to handle and play with, which relate to a Wordsworth poem. We will sing songs relating to the theme and tell a story for 40 minutes then have 20 minutes of play time and craft activities. This exploratory fun session helps pupils to develop their knowledge of nature, poetry and life in Cumbria 200 years ago through play. Choose your Rucksack of Rhymes session from eleven different themes: Butterflies and Bugs All the Colours in the Rainbow Cumbrian Animals The Three Bears Plants and Flowers Mother Nature The Weather Autumn Georgian Home Life Winter New Life (Spring) www.wordsworth.org.uk KS1 Workshops Animals Alive (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1hr Bring poetry to life with your pupils as they explore Dove Cottage dressed as robins, learning about the animals that lived here with the Wordsworths. This workshop is ideal for building movement and language skills through imaginative play and performance with the under-7s. Who was William Dove Cottage Wash Day (Available Wordsworth? (Available at Dove at Dove Cottage and in your school) Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1hr Duration: 1hr Learn about domestic life in Dove Cottage 200 Introduce the life and times of years ago. Hear the stories of William, his sister William Wordsworth to young Dorothy, wife Mary and their servant Molly and find children: help them understand out what sort of domestic tasks they got up to how long ago he lived, why he around their home. Pupils take part in an interactive was famous, and what life was wash day session, handle relevant objects from like in Grasmere over 200 years the Georgian and Victorian eras, and participate in ago. Children can try on Georgian dressing up and acting out domestic tasks. Children clothes, handle historic objects, will have the opportunity to compare washing and and listen to poetry in the inspiring cooking in their own homes with life in the past. settings of Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum. This session is complemented by a tour of Dove Cottage. Famous Cumbrians (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 2hrs *Workshop developed in partnership with the Armitt Museum Ambleside. Find out about a range of famous people who have lived and worked in Cumbria over the past 250 years. Children have the opportunity to: explore poems and diary entries by William and Dorothy Wordsworth through an interactive story and Dorothy’s journal; make a sketchbook and create animal characters based on Beatrix Potter’s drawings from the Armitt collection, and develop a piece of art work taking inspiration from the collages of Kurt Schwitters. www.wordsworth.org.uk KS2 Workshops Living Letters (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1-2hrs Develop pupils’ letter-writing skills by looking at life in the Lake District in the early 19th century. This workshop is ideal for encouraging even the most reluctant writers to pick up a quill and put ink to paper. Children will be encouraged to think about how communication has changed, explore letters from our collections and use quill and ink to write their own. The year 5/6 Teacher from Crosscrake Primary School said: ‘What a brilliant session! Superb organisation-build up the stimulus at the start. Huge range of ability but you catered for everyone. Taking the letters away and sending them back is a wonderful finishing touch - they will remember it for ages.’ William Wordsworth and his Poems Battle in the cause of (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Liberty? (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1-2hrs (Suitable for upper key Learn about the life of William Wordsworth and stage 2 only.) his inspiration for writing poetry, then study two of Wordsworth’s most popular poems. Explore Duration: 2hrs themes such as animals, landscape and ordinary people, through poems and objects from the Complement a study of World Wordsworth Trust’s collection. Depending on the War I, conflict or war poetry by poems chosen, children will have the opportunity looking at the way wars since to: look at extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth’s Wordsworth’s time have shaped journal, explore facsimile manuscripts, handle the work of famous writers. Using objects, use illustrations and paintings to develop satirical cartoons and poems to an understanding of Wordsworth’s poetry. bring the history of conflicts to life, we end with a lively debate Suggested poems include: Daffodils, We led by your students as they are Seven, Resolution and Independence, Ice strengthen their public speaking skating, Boat Stealing, To the Cuckoo. and communication skills. www.wordsworth.org.uk KS2 Workshops Narrative Poetry (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 30min How can a poem tell a story? Help pupils develop an understanding of rhyme, plot and characterisation by exploring Wordsworth’s narrative poetry. Ideal for supporting the teaching of narrative poetry in the classroom, this workshop focuses on the poem ‘Lucy Gray’ or ‘Goody Blake and Harry Gill’. Cumbrian Characters (Only available at Dove Cottage) Duration: 1hr Learn about clothes and etiquette during Wordsworth’s time and then explore Dove Cottage in costume – don’t forget to mind your Regency manners! Firelight Poets (Only available at Dove Cottage) Duration: 1-1.5hr Take advantage of the unique opportunity to write poetry inspired by Dove Cottage, exploring the atmospheric, fire-lit rooms and gardens. Pupils learn about different types of poems and how they were written before creating their own work to take back to the classroom. Dear Diary (Available at Dove Cottage and in your school) Duration: 1 hr William Wordsworth wasn’t the only writer to live in Dove Cottage – Dorothy also wrote her Grasmere Journals there, and this workshop focuses on the art of writing diaries. It is ideal for helping pupils to improve their independent writing skills as they develop techniques to engage their audience and record their own experiences. www.wordsworth.org.uk KS2 Workshops Walk: Let Nature Be Your Teacher (Only available at Dove Cottage) Duration: 1hr Get to know and understand the landscape around Dove Cottage which so inspired the Wordsworths. Including lots of activities to help gain a different perspective on the natural world, this walk is suitable for all fitness levels and can take place along an alternative route suitable for wheelchair users. Contemporary Poetry Readings and Workshops with Real Live Writers Duration: 4hrs (Can be 4 x 1hr sessions) Book one of our fantastic award-winning poets to visit your school or join you at Dove Cottage for the day to develop your students’ creativity and passion for poetry. The day can be arranged around your needs but is usually made up of a mixture of inspiring poetry readings (for small groups or the whole school) and workshops to get your pupils writing creatively. Our poets, including Kim Moore, Clare Shaw and Katie Hale have years of experience working with children with a range of abilities and can create bespoke sessions that meet your needs.