Teaching Poetry Writing

Chapter 11

Playing With Words

Riddles and Jokes Finger Plays Creating Word Pictures

Figure 11-1

Playing With Words

Hink-pinks Form answer to riddle or describe

something Hink-pinks – two one-syllable rhyming

words Hinky-pinkies – two two-syllable rhyming

words Hinkity-pinkities – two three-syllable

rhyming words

Poetic Devices - Rhyme

Ending sounds are the same

• Dr. Suess stories

• Nursery rhymes

Poetic Devices - Comparisons

Simile – compares something to something else using the words “like” or “as”

•Ex. The magma draped the sides of the volcano like frosting on a cake

Poetic Devices - Comparisons

Metaphor – compares two things by implying that they are the same

•Ex. The magma was frosting on the volcano cake

Poetic Devices - Alliteration

Repetition of the initial consonant sound in consecutive words or words in close proximity

• Ex. Majestic, merciless, meandering magma

A My Name is Alice (Bayer, 1992) Tongue twisters

• Dr. Suess - Oh Say Can You Say?

Poetic Devices - Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like their meaning (crash, slurp)

• Ex. The crackling, crashing magma oozed from the volcano

The Noisy Alphabet (MacDonald, 2003) Crash, Bang, Boom! (Spier, 1972) Comic Strips

Poetic Devices - Repetition

Repetition of words and phrases structure and add interest to writing

• Ex. The magma scorches nature’s finery, scorches nature’s finery

Gingerbread Man (Boy)

Writing Poems

Formula poems• “I Wish…” - each line begins with “I wish”

• Color – each line begins with a color word

• Five-Senses – write about a topic using five senses

• “If I Were…” – write about how feel/do if something else

Formula Poems

• Comparison – compares something to something else

• “I Am…” – written from viewpoint of book character or historical figure

• Preposition - each line begins with preposition

• Acrostic – lines arranged so first letter of first line spells a word when read vertically

Writing Poems

Free-Form Poems

• Concrete - poem arranged on page to create picture/image

• Found - arrange words from other sources to make a poem

• Two-Voices – written in 2 columns

• Free Verse – lines do not rhyme

Writing Poems

Syllable and Word-Count Poems

• Haiku – Japanese, 17 syllables, 3 lines, focus is nature

• Cinquain – five lines with 22 syllables

• Diamante – seven lines written in shape of diamond

Writing Poems

Rhymed Verse Forms (most common)• The Little Turtle

• Limericks – popularized by Edward Lear

• Clerihews – describes a person

Model Poems• Apologies

• Invitations

Teaching Students to Write Poems Introduce to poetry

• Read first chapter of Anastasia Krupnik (Lowry, 1995)

• Shel Silverstein

• Jack Perlutsky

Teach minilessons Publish students’ poems

• Gallery Walk – Step by Step – p. 386

Guidelines for Writing Poems – p. 385

Teaching Students to Write Poems

Read model poems Present a list of characteristics of the

poetry form Analyze the model poem for how it

reflects the characteristics of the form Write a collaborative poem using the

form Children write independent poems

Assessing Students’ Poems

Ask

• Has student experimented with poetic form that was taught in minilesson?

• Has student use process approach – writing, revising, editing poem?

• Has student used wordplay or another poetic device?

Have students self-assess

Assignment

Select a science GPS (3rd, 4th, 5th grade)

Select 3 poetry formats (p. 374-383)

Write a list of characteristics that could be used for teaching the poetry format

Assignment

Use the content from the GPS to write a model poem for each of the 3 formats

Use at least one example of a comparison, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and repetition within the 3 poems.