Forms of Poetry

Visit our poetry and writing site to see what my kids have written.  We have joined an Internet Project hosted by Susan Nixon for 3 years now.  They are on the site also.

Just click on our mouse to return to the index.

 

 

 

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 Inside-Outside 

Candy Poetry 

 Cinquain   

5 W's   

 Couplet

  Limerick

 Alliteration

 Diamonte  

Onomatopoeia

 

About Me Poetry

Noun/Adjective Poems 

 I Used to...But now 

Parts of Speech 

  Moment Poetry  

 Haiku 

Clerihew  

Imagery

Concrete

Bio Poems

Subject Poetry

 ABC Poetry

Color Poetry

Question 

Free Verse

Quatrain 

  Acrostic

                

             

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About Me Poetry: The directions were as follows:  Write a paragraph about yourself.  Put some poetic language in to describe something in the paragraph.  When you read this poem and others you will realize that when you do poetry all year the kids can and will apply it to everything.

When I cry my heart beat pounds in sadness.  When I get hurt it stings, but it does go away because of the kiss of love from my mother.  My mom kisses me and I feel like a bird singing in its nest.  I go to the pool with my dad and I feel as strong as a grizzly bear.  But, when I'm with Mrs. Stein I feel like  glimmering stars are watching over me.

Top                                     By: Jenna                                                                                     

Noun/Adjective Poems:

By: Kristi

Stores,
Stores,
Stores,
Craft stores,
Bagel stores,
Big, fun toy stores,
Shiny, colorful clothing stores,
Those are just a few.

Food stores,
Medicine stores,
Sweet, smelling flower stores,
Smart, full of picture book stores,
Computer stores, too.

Deli stores,
Vacuum stores,
Don't forget fish stores,
Last of all, Best of all,
I like pet stores.
 
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Subject Poetry:  This can be done on any subject you wish.  All you do is make a list of what you learned.

Hawaii

Sandy beaches

Beautiful islands

Sugar cane, pineapples

Deepest blue water

Necklaces of orchids

Black sand

Kilauea volcano

Lush, green, bright flowers

Macadamia nuts,

Graceful dancers

Hula

 Top                                                        By: Daniel

Parts of Speech: A parts of speech poem has five lines.

Line 1 is one article and 1 noun.

Line 2 is an adjective, a conjunction, and another adjective.

Line 3 is one verb, one conjunction and one verb.

Line 4 is one adverb.

Line 5 is one noun or pronoun that relates to line one

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I Used To...But Now...Things the kids use to not enjoy doing, or eating, etc. But now they have learned to like it.

I used to hate reading.
But now I really love reading chapter books.
I used to run really fast.
But now I don't run that fast.
I used to hate my sister.
But now I love her a lot.
I used to love to play Lego's.
But now I love to go on the computer.
I used to hate school!
But now I LOVE school because I have a good teacher!

By: Evan


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ABC Poetry : An ABC poem has 5 lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling.

Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses - and the first word of each line is in alphabetical order from the first word. Line 5 is one sentence, beginning with any letter.

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Color Poems:  Choose a color and describe or compare things that have that color.

Red comes from Santa’s red cheeks
As red as a berry.
Red hides in a rainbow in the
Soft, swift sky in the summertime.
Red feels like love from your mother
Anytime you’re sick.
Red smells like a fresh scented
Rose that just bloomed in your garden.
Red works as a good luck color
in a Country with over 2 billion people,
Called China.
Red is a color of embarrassment.

By: Norah

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Moment Poetry: Discuss the word moment. Then asked the kids to choose a piece of paper, that you  have put into a box, with different titles on it.. (My Sickest Moment, My Happiest Day, My Saddest Day, The Best Day of My Life, The Worst Day of My Life, etc.  They are to write on what  they have chosen. But ask the children to move you with emotion when you read this.  Feel what they feel. Make you feel emotional!   

My Saddest Moment

I see her everyday.

I always ask her if she is feeling better.

It's always the same answer...no.

In the middle of the night

I hear crying.

It's my dad sitting by the window crying,

the phone's on the floor.

I ask dad why he is crying.

He tells me that grandma died.

I run up the stairs and jump onto

my bed and began to cry.

My grandma will have a better life

in heaven

without any pain.

But, I miss her

so very much.

  By: Kerri  

(This really didn't happen, Kerri told me later on, but it sure moved my emotions and brought me into tears!)

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Question Poetry: This poetry pattern can be used to question anyone or anything.  It can be rhyming or free verse. 

 

Tree

Oh, Tree!

Why are you so sad?

Why aren't you glad?

Did someone hurt you?

 

Oh, child!

I am sad because my family

has been cut down.

Nobody has hurt me yet!!

 

I have a solution!

We'll help stop pollution

By sending a note

To the President.

Plant more trees

and don't cut them down.

Then you will be able to grow

Help keep our planet safe

By cleaning the air.

 

Thanks,

Now I will have a good life.

By: Shaina

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Free Verse: An easy definition of free verse would be prose written rich in imagery and broken up with line breaks instead of punctuation and paragraphing.
Clerihew: A humorous format contained in a single quatrain and composed of two rhyming couplets. The rhyme scheme is a-a-b-b with lines of uneven length. 

Our Preschool teacher, Mrs. Brandi

Made me feel very handy.

But, when she made us do circle time

I felt that it was a big crime.

By: Erik

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Quatrain: 4 line Poetry

Formed by two rhyming couplets. Easy! This pattern is called a a b b. The first line rhymes with the second  and the third line rhymes with the fourth line. Other quatrain patterns are a b a b,  a b b a, and a b c b. 

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Inside Outside Poetry:

Inside - Outside Poetry first describes someone as the person he or she thinks other people might see, focusing on those things which they don't especially like.  The second stanza then describes the person as the perfect boy or girl of their dreams.

An example from my Poetry Pals Club:

 

My inside self and my outside self

are different as can be.

 

My outside self wears fat, baggy clothes.

Two feet like bear paws,

Elephant ears,

With lots of fears.

 

My inside self is different you can see.

A rad, awesome dare devil

doing stunts inside of me.

Filled with care, and a gentle person.

A lovely, lovely doctor,

YEAH!!!

That's what I'll be.

By: Andrew

 

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Autobiography Poem:

Line 1: Your first name 

2: Four descriptive traits 

3: Sibling of... 

 4: Lover of (people, ideas) 

 Line 5: Who feels... 

 Line 6: Who needs... 

 Line 7: Who gives...

Line 8: Who fears... 

 Line 9: Who would like to see... 

 Line 10: Resident of (your city) 

11: Your last name (If published on the internet choose another name to describe  yourself)

 

Jarret
Kind, friendly, happy, mad
A very funny dad
Lover of riding bikes, games and dogs,
Who feels pessimistic, lonely, and excited
Who fears guns, knives and a scary kid
Who would like to see Europe,
the highest mountain and China
Meanie

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Alliteration:

Alliterations are phrases or sentences with words that repeat the same beginning consonant sounds.

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Diamonte Poetry:

______________________

(subject)

 

______________________________________

(two adjectives describing the subject)

 

________________________________________________

(three words ending in "ing" telling about the subject)

 

____________________________________________________________

(four words, the first two describe the subject the last two describe its opposite)

 

________________________________________________

(three words ending in "ing" telling about the opposite)

 

_____________________________________

(two adjectives describing the opposite)

 

________________________________

(opposite)

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Acrostic Poetry:

An acrostic poem is one in which certain letters, often the first  letter of every line, form a name or a theme.

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Imagery Poetry:

The point of this is to encourage imagery and careful word choices. The images are an instrument that the poet uses to express his or her intentions or feelings. Understanding the use of images means understanding the essential meaning of the poem. Think of images as useful "tools" that the poet uses in order to reveal or explain the meaning that is in the poem.  The Poetry Pals Club decided to choose animals for their imagery.

Examples from Poetry Pals Club:

When I am in my yard

I am like a Cheetah.

Running and pouncing on my

Prey.

When I am tired

I lay in the yellow sun...

And rest!

By: Shaina

 

 

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Candy Poetry:

Just have the children brainstorm all sorts of candy.  Put them on the white board or a chart.  Then have them imagine a  nature area, like a forest,  that had  candy instead of anything real. Use descriptive language so the reader could picture it and perhaps even draw a picture of what you wrote.  Great for buddy poetry. (Almost like in Hansel and Gretel when they came upon a candy house.  In fact you can read that first as a warm up activity.)

An example of one student from my class:

My Candy Land

 

In my dream,

all the ice cubes were big chunks

of chocolate chips.

The stars were yellow starbursts.

 

I came to a forest with a peppermint 

tea lake,

And pretzel trees,

 with green icing for the leaves.

 

I then came to a meadow of sugar canes.

Than a Jell-o wolf jumped out!

He didn't bite me.

If he did it wouldn't hurt.

 

Then a little, blue, lollipop bird

came to ME!

He told me to look up to the sky.

I did and saw marshmallow clouds.

The two lollipop birds took me

up to the blue, Laffy-Taffy sky,

and sat me on one of the marshmallow clouds.

 

Then I heard a scream!

It was my brother waking me up for 

breakfast.

By: Timothy

 

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5 W Poetry:

 

Line 1 Who?
Line 2 What?
Line 3 When?
Line 4 Where?
Line 5 Why?

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Couplet:

A pair of lines of poetry that are usually rhymed.
The last word of the first line and last line rhyme.

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Limerick:

 Lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme.

 Lines 3 and 4 rhyme

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Haiku:

Japanese form of poetry. 

Form is 17 syllables in three lines with pattern: first line, 5 syllables; second line 7 syllables; third line, 5 syllables. Usually has nature themes.

Raindrops

Raindrops falling down

On the windowpane making

wonderful music.

By: Jason

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Concrete or Shape Poem

A concrete or shape poem is a poem that forms a picture of the topic or follows the contours of a shape that is suggested by the topic. These can be used effectively with reports in science or social studies. In other words a concrete poem is one that takes the shape of the object it describes.

1. Think of some feeling (glad, sad, or mad is a good start), and begin to think of writing a poem about it.

2. But imagine that your poem is to be printed as a picture and that you can decide on the ideal shape for the poem.

3. The shape can be anything you want, as long as it has something to do with what your poem is about.

4. It might be easiest to outline the shape first, and then erase it, leaving a faint hint of the shape to guide you.

5. Popular examples are hearts and angel wings, clouds, waves and the shape of the number 7.
 

 

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Cinquain: 5 line Poetry

Syllabic verse form. Gradually increasing number of syllables in each line until the last line, which returns to two syllables.

Form for younger students:

Line 1: 2 syllables    One word giving the title. (noun)

Line 2: 4 syllables   Two words that describe the title. (adjectives)

Line 3: 6 syllables   Three words that express action. ( Verbs)

Line 4: 8 syllables    Four words that express feeling.

Line 5:  2 syllables    One word that gives the title a different name. (synonym)

 

                                      Bats                                                      Bats                            

                Small, brown                                         Small, black

             Gliding, landing, feeding                     Roosting, gliding, landing

             Bugs, fruit, eating                         Flying Fox, fruit-eater

                   Mammals                                            Nocturnal

               By: Kerri                                              By: Tyler

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As of June 5, 2002                                           

 

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