This poetry writing pack gives you everything you need to teach a sequence of lessons on narrative poetry in KS2. It’s built around a WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) example – an original poem that retells the traditional tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
You can use this model text to explore poetic structure, language and devices before guiding your pupils in planning and writing poems of their own.
A narrative poem is a form of poetry that tells a story. It includes characters, a setting and a simple plot. Many narrative poems follow a rhyming pattern and use techniques such as similes, metaphors, alliteration and repetition. Famous examples include The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and Beowulf.
Poetic features
In this resource, the WAGOLL poem uses eight-line stanzas, with lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 rhyming. It contains lots of poetic features and shows pupils exactly how to reimagine a traditional tale in verse. Use it as a whole-class text to analyse structure and spark ideas for independent writing.
What’s included in the narrative poetry WAGOLL pack?
- Model WAGOLL poem – Goldilocks and the Three Bears
A complete narrative poem with a clear structure, rich language, and a consistent rhyming pattern. Ideal for shared reading and modelling. - Narrative poem writing sheet
Includes success criteria and examples of poetic devices such as rhyme, simile, metaphor, alliteration and repetition. - Planning sheet
Helps pupils break their chosen story into stanzas and plan what to include in each part of the poem. - Traditional tale idea cards
Printable cards featuring familiar stories for pupils to adapt. - Themed writing paper
Use this to help pupils present their final drafts neatly and proudly. - Teacher notes
Includes guidance on how to use the resource across a sequence of lessons, plus suggestions for further activities.
National curriculum links (KS2 English – composition)
This resource supports curriculum aims for Years 3-6 by helping pupils:
- Plan writing by discussing, recording and developing ideas
- Draft and write by composing sentences orally and structuring their ideas clearly
- Evaluate and edit their writing and give feedback to others
With this resource pack, you can confidently teach narrative poetry and give pupils the tools and inspiration to write their own poems based on stories they know well.