Poetry

Poetry Reading Unit

Poems (Sightlines):

-At the Bus Stop,One Autumn Morning

-The -Execution

-Coup de Grace

-The Toad

-The Prisoners

-Our Appearance

-To My Son

Poetry Activities:

1) Who's speaking (presenting the poem)? What do you know about him or her?

2) What is being said in the poem?

3) What's the setting of the poem (time and place)?

4) What's the conflict and the theme of the poem?

5) What's the rhyming scheme?

Poetry Writing Unit

Writing Specific Poems:

Acrostic Poems: In Acrostic poems, the first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word. The word often is the subject of the poem.

Example:

Elegantly and efficiently shaped

Good to eat

Great fun to find at Easter

Smooth shelled

Activity: Select from the following and create five acrostic poems (5 poems):

Your Name (first or last), Manitoba, Canada, Winnipeg, Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Xbox, Axemen, School

Limerick: A limerick has five lines - the last words of lines one, two, and five rhyme, the last words of lines three and four rhyme.

Example:

"There was an old man from Peru

Who dreamed he was eating his shoe

He awoke in the night

With a terrible fright

To discover it was totally true."

Activity: Write five poems with the AABBA rhyming scheme.

Cinquain: Cinquains have five lines:

Line 1: Title (noun) - 1 word

Line 2: Description - 2 words

Line 3: Action - 3 words

Line 4: Feeling (phrase) - 4 words

Line 5: Title (synonym for the title) - 1 word

Example:

Mom

Helpful, caring

Loves to garden

Excitable, likes satisfying people

Teacher

Activity: Write five poems.

Rhyming Poems:

Couplets: Couplets are made up of two lines whose last words rhyme. They are often silly.

Example:

The cat ate a mouse

And then brought it in the house.

Triplets: Triplets are made up of three lines. The rhyming pattern can be AAA or ABA.

Example:

What a fine day

To go out to play

In the month of May.

Quatrains: Quatrains are made up of four lines. The rhyming pattern can be AABB or ABAB.

Example:

I never saw a purple cow,

I never hope to see one:

But I can tell you, anyhow,

I'd rather see than be one.

Activity: Write three poems for each (Couplets, Triplets, and Quatrains).