The Emergency Poem: A Fun Way to Teach Narrative Poetry in KS2 🐉✍️
Great for teachers looking to save time!
Some time ago I wrote about some of my favourite performance poems for KS1 and KS2. My top five changes every time I pick up a poetry anthology—there’s always a new gem waiting to be discovered! But one thing stays the same: children love the drama, rhythm, and excitement of poems that tell a story.
Narrative poems are especially wonderful for performance. If you’re looking for high-quality examples, you can’t go wrong with Charles Causley, Alfred Noyes, Roald Dahl or even Tennyson.
But what if your children want to write their own narrative poems? How do you help them avoid clunky word choices, wobbly rhythms, and forced rhymes?
Here’s one of my favourite ways to get children writing narrative poems—the Emergency Poem!
👉 In my Poetry Days in primary schools across the UK I work hard to get the children excited about writing and performing their own poems. I visit over 100 schools every year and I’d love to work with your children and teachers.
📅 You can book me for:
In-person Poetry Days across the UK
Online Poetry Workshops (affordable and flexible)
➡ Secure your date here: Poets in Schools – Ian Bland
The Emergency Poem 🚨
I kick things off by sharing a few verses of my own example:
There’s a dragon in the garden!
There’s a dragon in my garden
He’s broke into our shed
Come quick, you have to help us
Or soon we’ll all be dead!
He’s set fire to the fencing
He’s torn down the garden gate
Oh won’t you come and rescue me
Before I meet my fate!
He’s spotted me, he’s coming now
He’s at the kitchen door
How long before he eats me up
I’m really not that sure!
👉 For more humour in poetry, see Best Funny Poems for KS2 Children.
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Writing Their Own ✍️
Children now have a go at creating their own fast-paced “emergency” narrative poem. I explain that:
It should take the reader on a journey around the house or school.
Each verse should move to a new location (garden, kitchen, bathroom, classroom, etc.).
The poem should be light-hearted, dramatic, and full of action.
They invent their own monsters—zombies, vampires, goblins, sharks—and give their poem a unique title. Past examples include:
There’s a Zombie in My Kitchen!
There’s a Vampire in the Cellar!
There’s a Shark in the Bathroom!
Writing in pairs works brilliantly—children can swap ideas, take turns writing verses, and keep the energy moving.
👉 Need a scaffold to get started? Try my Narrative poem frame
Hundreds of FREE poetry ideas, activities and resources-ready to download!
Performance Time! 🎭
This is where the fun really begins. I remind children that the whole point of the Emergency Poem is panic and drama—the performance should feel desperate, frantic, and funny!
Rehearse with actions, big voices and exaggerated expressions.
Move around the space as if being chased.
Add silly props (toasters, umbrellas, frying pans, torches).
👉 For more performance tips, see Performance Poetry in Primary Schools.
Extra Fun Activities for KS2 🎉
Monster POV (Point of View) – Flip the narrative and write a verse from the monster’s perspective.
Whole-Class Mega Poem – Each pair writes a different “room verse,” then stitch them into a giant class poem.
Emergency Soundtrack – Add sound effects: roars, creaks, footsteps, screams, percussion.
Comic Strip Anthology – Children illustrate their verses as a comic strip, collected into a Monster Museum.
Rhyme Race Warm-Up – Quick-fire rhyme game before writing.
Newspaper Report Extension – Turn the poem into a silly headline article.
Emergency Rap – Perform the poem as a rap with claps or beatboxing.
Top Trumps Monsters – Design monster cards with “Scare Factor,” “Messiness,” “Snack of Choice.”
👉 For more creative twists like these, see Creative Classroom Challenges for KS2.
Bringing It All Together 🌟
Over the years, these Emergency Poems have produced some of the funniest, most memorable performances I’ve seen. Many schools turn them into illustrated anthologies, perform them in assemblies, or record them for parents to enjoy at home.
So, if you’re stuck for a poetry idea with your class, why not give an Emergency Poem a try? It’s quick, accessible, and—above all—huge fun.
And who knows… maybe you’ll find a dragon in your garden too!
👉 Looking for more ideas? Try my 10 Fun Poetry Activities for KS2 or Quick & Easy Poetry Starters.
👉 In my Poetry Days in primary schools across the UK I work hard to get the children excited about writing and performing their own poems. I visit over 100 schools every year and I’d love to work with your children and teachers.
📅 You can book me for:
In-person Poetry Days across the UK
Online Poetry Workshops (affordable and flexible)
