Kenning Poem – KS2 Writing Planners and Model Texts

Poetry gives pupils the opportunity to explore and develop their use of language. Using this resource pack, pupils in Key Stage 2 will explore a kenning poem, reading examples showing WAGOLL (what a good one looks like), and exploring their structure, before writing their own, using the themes from the model texts or inspiration from your current class topic, and a range of poetic techniques.

This is a great activity to do on National Poetry Day in October. This resource pack provides materials to read, write and celebrate poetry.

What’s inside this KS2 Poems resource pack?

• Model text 1 – Which Animal Am I?

A model text to explore how to structure a kenning poem.

• Model text 2 – The Romans

A second model text that you can use to explore how to structure kennings, linked to the Romans.

• Kennings success criteria writing sheet

A PDF containing success criteria that pupils can use to support their writing. It includes examples of suffixes used when writing kennings.

• Kenning ideas sheet

A PDF for pupils to record ideas, words and phrases for their own kennings.

• Kenning writing plan

A worksheet to support pupils to plan and structure their writing.

• Themed writing paper

A PDF sheet that pupils could use to present their work.

What is a kenning poem?

A kenning is a figure of speech used in poetry that was often used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poems. It describes something familiar, without mentioning its name. A kenning is usually written as a list, with each line containing two words that are usually joined by a hyphen (eg, bone-cruncher, noise-maker) and follow the pattern noun + verb or noun + noun.

National Curriculum English programme of study links:

Year 3/4

• Pupils should recognise some different forms of poetry.
• Pupils should plan their writing by discussing similar writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar.




Year 5/6

Pupils should:

• Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader.
• Draft and write by selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning.

• Know how to use hyphens to avoid ambiguity.

This resource is part of the WAGOLL: text types writing packs collection.
View more from this collection

• Model text 1 - Which Animal Am I?
• Model text 2 - The Romans
• Kennings success criteria writing sheet
• Kenning ideas sheet
• Kenning writing plan
• Themed writing paper