This quick writing idea is just one of many that David, our poet in residence here at Goodeyedeers, has put into his new book ‘Cracking Creative Writing’ published by Brilliant Publications.
A Quick Writing Idea To Try With Your Class
The idea comes from a poem by John Hegley called ‘The Differences Between Dogs and Deckchairs’
This example was written by a group of girls in one of David’s workshops.
How to Tell a Banana From a Bicycle
You can’t keep a bicycle in a fruit bowl.
Bananas don’t have wheels and a saddle.
You don’t have to learn to ride a banana.
A bicycle isn’t a fruit.
A bicycle won’t turn black if you leave it in a fridge for a week.
Bicycle and banana begin with the same letter and go on with different ones.
No-one has ever won the Tour de France on a banana.
You can’t add a bicycle to a curry.
You can’t fall off a banana.
You cannot slip on a bicycle skin.
Annabel, Vanya and Libby
Now Time For You To Have A Go
Here’s how you can get your children to try this idea out and write some wonderfully imaginative poems.
- Get them to choose two items that they are going use to spot the differences between.
- Make sure the items are as unalike and different from one another as they can. So, maybe not a pen and a pencil, but a pen and a double-decker bus or a pencil and a tent might work well.
- Get the children to write quickly. Encourage them to not plan the order of their ideas; just write whatever differences come into their heads. The more obvious the differences, the more humorous the poem will be.
- Tell them they don’t have to keep all the ideas in their final collection, just the ones they feel work well.
- If, however they feel they all work well, then keep them all.
Have fun!
David and Mike from Goodeyedeers
