Friendship Cinquains/Poetry Modeled on a Book
Submitted by: Ruth
A cinquain is a simple five-line poem that follows a pattern. Interview a friend and use what you learn to write a cinquain about that person. Copy the cinquain onto a heart pattern.
Interview a Friend
1. What is your name?
2. What are some adjectives that describe you?
3. What are some activities that you enjoy?
4. What do you think makes you a good friend to others?
5. Do you have a nickname?
6. What else do you want to tell me about yourself?
Write the Poem
Line 1 Person's name
Line 2 Two adjectives describing that person
Line 3 Three action words
Line 4 A four-word phrase about friendship
Line 5 Nickname or noun
(Came from Laura Candler's file cabinet)
Poetry
1. A project that has been very successful for me is writing a poem modeled on the book I Live in Music by Ntozake Change. After reading the book to the class I give them a copy of the poem to use for the form when they write their own poem. Each child picks something that is important to them (basketball, track, art, music, math, church. jewelry, horses are examples of things used). After writing the students look through old magazines to find pictures to go with the subject. They glue the typed poem anywhere on a 12 x 18 piece of tagboard and then make a collage around it with the pictures they found. I have had some very impressive work done with this project. I usually laminate them so students can save them.
2. After reading poems from the book Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Adventures in Color by Mary O'Neill, students pick a color and write a poem about that color. We mount these on white paper and they illustrate it using either water colors or pastels.