Teaching Resources In BrIef William Wordsworth is a

© storytimemagazine.com 2017

This famous poem by William Wordsworth is a celebration of spring’s daffodils. In BrIef

LIteracy Lesson Ideas Daffodils by William Wordsworth was first written in 1804. It was inspired by a walk he went on in the Lake District with his sister and some notes his sister made about the daffodils they saw. This is a great poem to read together and perform.

In Storytime Issue 31, we’ve published two of the four verses from Wordsworth’s Daffodils to make it easier to learn off by heart. You can read the full poem here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/poems/daffodils.shtml

Find the meanings of tricky words and have a go at our writing and comprehension exercises on our Word Wise Sheet.

Wordsworth actually wrote two versions of his poem. The version in Storytime is his final one. Read them both on our Compare the Poem Sheet, then talk about how they differ. Why do you think he made the changes he did? Which one do you like best?

His sister Dorothy wrote this about their walk in her journal:

“We saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful, they grew among the mossy stones … some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and

the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the Lake, they looked so gay ...”

Her words gave Wordsworth the idea to write Daffodils. Which three words of Dorothy’s did he use in his poem? Did he get any other ideas from Dorothy’s journal?

Ask everyone in your class to use our My Spring Journal Sheet to write about a walk and what they saw. (Or, if you can, take your class on a ‘Wordsworth Walk’ to the local park or gardens.) Mix up the finished journal sheets and hand them out randomly. Now ask everyone to write a poem inspired by the journal entry they got. Use our Write Your Own Poem sheet for this – or use this sheet to write your own spring flower poems.

1

Poems and Rhymes: daffodils StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources


When William Wordsworth went for a walk around Ullswater in the Lake District, he saw hundreds of daffodils, which inspired his poem. Can you find the Lake District on a map? Can you spot Ullswater? Wordsworth lived in nearby Grasmere. Can you find that too?

Find out the names of five lakes in the Lake District. Which one is the biggest? Which one is the smallest? Can you discover some interesting facts about the Lake District? Fill in our Lake District Facts Sheet.

Make a Lake District board. Stick on pictures of the Lake District in all four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. How do the plants and colours change?

geography Lesson Ideas2

Have a go at an acrostic poem using our Spring Acrostic Sheet. Download our Poetry Writing Resource Pack: http://www.storytimeforschools.com/teaching-resources/

Wordsworth’s poem uses a simile, metaphors, personification and lots of alliteration. See if you can spot them all in the poem.

See if you can work out the rhyme scheme together (ABABCC). Add your own third verse, using the same scheme.

Daffodils are one of the first signs of spring. What else reminds you of spring? Test your knowledge with our Spring Words Sheet, then complete the flowery words in our Fill in the Letters Sheet.

Discuss the theme of the poem. Wordsworth was a romantic poet, which means that he liked to express his thoughts in an emotional way. Daffodils is about more than just seeing an impressive display of flowers, it’s about appreciating nature and how it makes you feel happy. It’s an eco poem from the 19th century!

Find out more about Wordsworth and his life in this informative KS1 pack from the Wordsworth Society: https://wordsworth.org.uk/geisha/assets/files/William%20Wordsworth%20primary.pdf

hIstory Lesson Ideas3


Go for a walk and see how many daffodils you can count in the school grounds, in people’s gardens and in the park. Make a tally chart or a bar chart. Can you spot ten thousand, just like Wordsworth?

maths Lesson Ideas4

Find out about daffodils and other flowers that grow from bulbs.

Learn about the different parts of a daffodil, then see if you can label them. You could even dissect a daffodil.

scIence Lesson Ideas5

Create a big yellow collage featuring spring-themed things, such as daffodils, crocuses, primroses, chicks, and the sunshine.

Draw your own spring scene in our Daffodils Picture Frame and colour in the flowers on our Daffodils Colouring Sheet.

art Lesson Ideas6

Imagine you’re a flower being blown about by the breeze. What movements will you make? Look at the poem to help you. Can you make up a daffodil dance?

drama Lesson Ideas7


Discover the meanings of some of the longer or trickier words and phrases in Storytime Issue 31’s poem, Daffodils.

movIng verBsIn the poem, Wordsworth uses a simile to describe himself as wandering like a lonely cloud.

O’er – over

Vales– valleys

A host of – a lot of

Continuous – never-ending

Milky way – the galaxy that contains

planet Earth and our Solar System

Margin – edge

Sprightly – energetic, lively

1. What verb does he use in the second line to describe his movement?

2. Can you think of another verb to use in that line instead?

3. What do the first two lines mean? How is the poet moving?

super sImILes! Think of another simile to describe movement. For example, I ran like the wind.


Teaching Resources

Word Watch


1

2

personIfIcatIon

Think of something from nature that impresses you, such as a plant, an animal, the weather or a beautiful location, like a beach or a mountain. Write a description and try to use at least one personification, simile or metaphor.

Personification is when you make an object sound human. When Wordsworth says he “wandered lonely as a cloud”, he is giving the cloud human emotions. Clouds don’t get lonely! Wordsworth also uses personification to describe the daffodils. Can you find two examples and write them here?

WrIte It!

choose an object in your classroom and have a go at personifying it here.


Teaching Resources



Teaching Resources

Compare this version, written in 1804, to the final version in Storytime Issue 31. Which one is your favourite?

compare the poem

I wandered lonely as a Cloud

That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd

A host of dancing Daffodils;

Along the Lake, beneath the trees,

Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:-

A poet could not but be gay

In such a laughing company:

I gazed – and gazed -– but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the Daffodils

by William Wordsworth


s

p

r

I

n

g

name cLass

Daffodils: Spring Acrostic Poem StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

do you know any more? Write them here.

Daffodils


name cLass

easter chickssanta claus

sandcastleslamb

snowmen

bonfires conkerstulips

cRocus

sunflowers


Teaching Resources

Circle all the words that make you think of spring.sprIng Words


name cLass

hIntYou see them

in the sky!


Teaching Resources

fILL In the Letters

Fill in the missing letters on these flowery words.

B dBL ss mBLo mpet LLe fda fod Ltu Ipcr cus

Word scramBLeCan you unscramble these letters to make a word from Wordsworth’s poem?

ludoc


name cLass

Lake dIstrIct fact sheet

1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

dId you knoW?

Other famous writers who lived in the Lake District were Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome, who wrote Swallows and

Amazons.


Teaching Resources

Be an armchair explorer and fill in five interesting facts about the Lake District. Write them here!


name cLass

Poems and Rhymes: daffodils Picture frame StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources


name cLass

Poems and Rhymes: daffodils Colouring Sheet StorytimeTM

Teaching Resources

Documents

Teaching Resources In BrIef William Wordsworth is a