Ups an Doons by Elizabeth Cordiner

Elizabeth Cordiner has created a package of Scots material which is linked into Curriculum for Excellence areas Health and Well being and Scots Language, along with Teachers’ Notes.

Elizabeth is a retired Primary Head teacher and since 2008 has been involved with Scots language practice in Primary Schools across Scotland doing Scots poetry workshops and talks (with Jill Bennett, scots4coolkids). She is a Scottish Booktrust listed author. 

Our thanks go to Elizabeth for providing this material. Further information is here and you may also wish to look at Elizabeth's other material: The Ewen Stories, The Mingins and The Meggie Stories.

In Ups an Doons the poems are written in the voices of children communicating their thoughts and feelings about themselves and their lives. Ups an Doons Guidance for Teachers identifies key phrases, discussion areas, questionings, as well as themes and groupings of poems, and is included in the poetry package. 

Areas covered in the poems, which cover a range of age groupings, are children’s issues and challenges of today, including friendship, peer pressure, gangs, bullying, difference, influence of technology, media influence in fashion and body shape, self-esteem, children being young carers, children being ill, poor housing, poverty, different types of family situations, school situations.