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).