Can I tell you a secret? You have to promise not to tell my kids. I HATE POETRY! Ugh I hate writing it, reading it, or really teaching it. That being said I know I have to do it so I always teach it around the holidays. I think it is easier because the theme is already there. This seems to be less stressful for my kiddo that has a hard time being creative in her writing.
We always start by making a list of topics that go with the holiday so they have a starting place. Examples for Valentines Day are: chocolate, love, candy, red, flowers, sweethearts. Brainstorming together helps them get their creative juices flowing for writing their own poetry. Here are some great types of poetry to try:
A few years ago we studied Haiku poetry and made love bugs. This one was super fun because we made it into a craft and who doesn’t love a craft! If you want to see all that we did and read our Haiku’s check it out on my guest post at Rusty and Rosy.
The type we studied this year was cinquain. Cinquain poems are a simple, five-line verse form that create a rhythm. It follows this pattern:
Line 1: Two syllables (the subject of the verse)
Line 2: Four syllables describing the subject
Line 3: Six syllables showing action
Line 4: Eight syllables expressing feeling or observation about subject
Line 5: Two syllables describing or renaming the subject
We had some fun this year and after the kids made them they got to turn them into a poster on Picmonkey. They thought this was the best part! Here are their creations:
Go try and make some with your kids and share them in the comments! I would love to see what your kids come up with.
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