Write on the board words pupils associate with the Sun - good and bad - and suggest they write a concrete poem in the shape of the Sun with its rays, using some of these words.

KS2

Pupils write a detailed paragraph describing a warm, sunny day, and one describing a wild, rainy day.

KS3

Students study Ray Bradbury’s short story, “All Summer in a Day”, and pick out and comment on the metaphors at the beginning, including one for the Sun, one for the rain. What amazes them when the Sun comes out?

KS4

Discuss the Icarus myth (perhaps read Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts”, and look at Brueghel’s painting), then ask students to tell the story from the point of view of Daedalus or Icarus.

KS5

“The Sunne Rising” by John Donne is about love - but also about the Sun’s place in the human universe. Discuss the ideas the poet plays with.