Father's Day and Mother's Day

Father's Day

Getting students to write something special for Dad is always a winner. Here are a few ideas:

• Younger students could make a list of 10 things they want to say to their dad on Father's Day, or write 'My dad' stories based on Anthony Browne's book My Dad.
• Older students could write metaphor poems, using a structure like, 'Dad is ...' or 'You are ...'. Students could compare their dad to an animal, a food, a piece of clothing, a special place, weather, a season.

For example:

Dad is/You are a wise owl with a never-ending supply of advice.

Dad is/You are spring, warming my back and nudging spring flowers open to face the world.

There are publishing ideas at the back of The Writing Book. The Shelf Diorama (page 210) would make a lovely gift. Click on the attached link for more Father's Day writing ideas.

Mother's Day

• We love using My Mum by Anthony Browne as motivation for descriptions or poems about mothers.
• Students could make bags with questions inside to share at their Mother's Day celebration. Use the attached link to the conversation starters on Jody Southard's blog or have students write some of their own questions to share with their mum on Mother's Day.
• In 2017, 'Top teacher' website shared wonderful Mother's Day ideas that involved students making portraits with labelled captions. Click on the attached link and image for more information about this.