Welcome to our poetry blog. Year 6/7 have been learning about poetry this term with the help of Jack and two wonderful books called Love That Dog and Hate That Cat.

Love That Dog is the story of Jack, his dog, his teacher, and words. The story develops through Jack’s journal responses to his teacher, Miss Stretchberry, over the course of a school year. At first, his responses are short and cranky: “I don’t want to” and “I tried. Can’t do it. Brain’s empty.” But as his teacher feeds him inspiration, Jack finds that he has a lot to say and he finds ways to say it. Jack becomes especially fond of a poem by Walter Dean Myers titled "Love That Boy," and it is this poem that gives Jack a way to tell the story of his beloved dog, Sky.

Jack's story continues in Hate That Cat.  It is a new school year, and Jack learns that his previous year's teacher has moved up a grade along with him. Miss Stretchberry introduces Jack and his classmates to poems that intrigue and entice, allowing Jack to talk about things that are on his mind: mean cats, sound, silence, worry and joy. You don't really think Miss Stretchberry is going to let Jack hate a cat, do you? Hmm.


We have followed Jack on his journey and have begun journeys of our own. We would like to share some of our poetry with you on this blog.

Here are our own thoughts about Love That Dog and Hate That Cat, and about reading and writing poetry this term. We hope you have enjoyed following our blog and reading our poetry.
JFK Year 6/7.

I like a poetry blog where you can show poems and about your class. We read two books 'Love That Dog' and 'Hate That Cat'. From that books I write lots of poems. Poem about my mom, about my father and the poem about Messi and lots of other poems. My favorite one is about my mom.
Stepan

The books were okay, to be honest I would prefer to read something else but it was okay. At the beginning I thought writing a poem was impossible but it got easier to write over time. I learnt about metaphors and similes and writing poems. My favorite poem is 'I'll Remember the Way You' by me and it's about my dog Casper (he's not dead) it's just a way to remember him. Writing poems was fun and I enjoyed it a lot.
Tiffany

I think the 'Love That Dog' and 'Hate That Cat' were very well written books, and it would be interesting to see what Miss Stretchberry wrote to Jack and see what happened after 'Hate That Cat' because I want to read more. I loved writing poems because I got to express my feelings about everything. It helped me construct my understanding on similes and metaphors. My favorite poem to write was the Valerie Worth animal poem because I could write about something I knew and probably the easiest to write.
Owen

I thought that 'Hate That Cat' and 'Love That Dog' were very good books and were very exciting, but sad at times. My favourite poem from those books was Jack's 'This is Just to Say' poem, the one about his mother it was very sad. Writing poems was very hard at first but it got much easier over time. I wrote a lot of poetry. I learnt a lot from writing poetry and I got much better. I learnt about alliteration and onomatopoeia and and stuff like that. Well I loved doing poetry and it was very fun.
Elsa

I think 'Love That Dog' and 'Hate That Cat' are two wonderful books and have a lot of emotion. Jack is the only person in the books talking but it has so much emotion but the style is funny. When I was writing poems I thought about the past and the future. I really enjoyed it. I learnt so much about poetry that I want to do more. My favorite poem was my Enzo poem when he jumps up on the table and eats my breakfast.
Luca

My favorite poem was the one about the person. It was fun writing it. I enjoyed reading the books 'Hate That Cat' and 'Love That Dog'.
Andreius

When I started poetry I thought I could never in a million years could write a decent poem because I had never really tried and I thought that me, Madison Holmes à Court is a horrible writer of words that mean stuff to me. Then over time of writing poems I learnt with Jack how to reach deep and to express my feelings on paper and that poems do not have to rhyme. Especially, I learnt that anyone can write an amazing poem if they don't think and just write it from the heart. My favourite poem is my one about my dad. It came straight out of my heart, every word of it. It is called 'You are Like'. And my Snow Leopard poem, that was one that made me realise even I can write a poem.
Madi

The book 'Love That Dog' it is really good. It was really boring in the first pages but then the book was my favorite one. I was learning a lot about poetry. 'Hate That Cat' I think that is the second version of 'Love That Dog', but I think it was good too. I think that writing poems is lovely, I've learned how to be more patient writing and thinking. My favorite poem is the one about my guitar.
Miguel

Poems about You

'This is Just to Say' Poems - Inspired by Mr William Carlos Williams

Poems about Me

Poems inspired by Alfred, Lord Tennyson