Then & Now Poem

Directions: Think about your life now and how it has changed since you were younger. In a "Then & Now" poem, you write one line that describes a part of your life now; then, the next line describes what that part of your life used to be like. I recommend at least 4 stanzas for this poem.

Example:

I can write stories and poems confidently
I used to scribble in my mother's notebook and think I was writing

I can score points in tennis
There was a time when I was too little to hold up a tennis racket

I understand everything in my math book
Once I had trouble with math and had to ask my mother for help

I don't know how to play any instruments now, but
I used to play a flute in the school band

My brother and I get along really well today, but
we used to call each other names and hit each other every day

Sense-sational Poems

You can make your poetry come alive by using all your senses. What does your subject look like? Sound like? Smell like? Feel like? Taste like?

Use all your senses that make sense to describe your subject. You can use the format below which uses similes, or you can use a format of your own.

Format:

Line 1: Your subject
Line 2: Looks like ________________.
Line 3: Sounds like ________________.
Line 4: Smells like ________________.
Line 5: Feels like _________________.
Line 6: Tastes like ________________.
Line 7: Another name for your subject

Example:

Goldfish
Looks like a yellow submarine
Sounds like rippling water
Smells like food flakes
Feels like a sequined broach
Tastes like Friday dinner,
but I’ll never eat
My pet, Sharkie

Season Poem

Follow the following format to create a poem about one of the seasons:


Line 1: (season) is (adjective)

Line 2: Like (another thing that can be described by this adjective)

Line 3: It feels like (What does the season feel like?)

Line 4: It sounds like (What does the season sound like?)

Line 5: It smells like (What does the season smell like?)

Line 6: It tastes like (What does the season taste like?)

Line 7: (What else can you say about this season?)

Example:

Winter is white
Like a blank sheet of paper
It feels like being wrapped in blankets
It sounds like holiday music
It smells like chimney smoke
It tastes like hot chocolate
I love the first snow fall, but I am happy when Spring comes

Noisy Poem

Read the poem "Noise" by Jessie Pope. All the words in the poem that sound like their meaning are examples of onomatopoeia. (whoop, thud, rattle, boom, etc.)

Think of a rain storm. What are some of the words associated with a rain storm? A clap of thunder, rain drops, sprinkles, dripping, splashing.

Pick a topic to write about that has a lot of noises associated with it. Write a poem about this subject, including as many sounds as you can.

Example:

Too Noisy to Study

I'm trying to study. I really am.
I must do well on my next exam.

But what is that dripping and dropping and plinking?
It really is affecting my thinking!

And what is that buzzing and humming and drone?
Those sounds are really making me moan!

And what is that ticking and tocking and gonging?
For some silence, I really am longing!

And what is that crunching and munching and slurping?
I think it's the dog. Oh no! Now, he's burping!

Everyone quiet! Not one more sound!
How can I study with this noise all around!

Hmmmm.....now, it's too silent without even one peep.
It's too quiet for thinking. I think maybe I'll sleep.

Narrative Poem

Narrative poems tell stories. They can be long epic stories that fill a book or they can be short stories that fill a page. They can be serious thought-provoking tales, silly fun tales, or something in-between. What you absolutely have to have in a narrative poem, though, is all the elements of a story.

Example:

Big Girl

(introduction)

When I was a little girl
I wanted to show everyone
I was finally a big girl
So I walked beside
Daddy
His legs were longer than
My little, short legs
But I kept up with him to show
I was a big girl

(rising action)

It was hard
And I got tired
But I made sure
My little legs
Kept up with
Daddy's

(climax)

Then, one day
I stopped
And turned around
And saw Mommy
Behind us
She was tired
And it was hard for her to
Keep up with
Daddy and Jeffrey and me
She wasn't as big as us
She was small
Way back there
So, I stopped racing
And trying to show how big I was
And I walked with Mommy

(denouement)

And maybe we were way back
And small
But I felt bigger

Name Poem

Create a name poem by writing the letters that spell a name vertically and using each letter to begin a line of your poem. The subject of this poem is the person whose name you've spelled. Your poem can rhyme or not.

Examples:

Jokes around
Always moving
Makes drawings
Easy talker
Smart

Maria likes to dance and sing
And she wears a pretty ring
Rarely does she ever frown
I don't think she's ever down
And her favorite season's Spring

Variation: Use a word, not a name, to create a poem in the same way.

Mirror Poem

Directions: Mirror Poems are composed of two stanzas. In the first stanza, you describe what you look like on the outside, what you would see if you looked in the mirror. In the second stanza, you describe what is inside you, feelings and thoughts that can't be seen.

Example:

On the outside,
I am petite
My hair and eyes are brown
I have freckles
I like to dress in black
I love to eat dark chocolate

On the inside,
I am quiet and sensitive
I am afraid of heights and snakes
I miss my family
I feel guilty that I live so far away
I wish I were a writer

Metaphor Mystery Poem

How to write a metaphor mystery poem:

1. Pick a thing to describe. This is the title of your poem.


2. Brainstorm. Write down as many things as you can that are like your subject in some way. Think about how the things are similar.


3. Pick at least 5 of the things you wrote down during the last step.


4. Create the lines of your poem from the five things.


5. Now, you can read the lines of your poem to people and see if they can guess the mystery subject, the title of your poem.

Examples: (See if you can guess the subject of each poem. The answers are below, written backwards.)

Poem 1:

Cotton balls
Fuzzy rabbit tails
Grandfather's whiskers
Spun sugar
White paint spattered on a workman's blue jeans

Poem 2:

Heartbeat
Steady drummer
Metronome
Ticking bomb
Rooster crow

Poem Example 1: SDUOLC
Poem Example 2: KCOLC

Limericks

Limericks are a fun, silly form of poetry. They are 5 lines long. The first, second, and fifth lines are longer and rhyme. The third and forth lines are shorter and rhyme.

Examples

There was a young man with a jeep
Who drove across a river quite deep
He was swept off his course
By the river's strong force
And he now sails the oceans in that jeep

There once was a camel with three humps
Who came down with a case of the mumps
When the doctor arrived
He said with a sigh,
"That beast didn't need some more lumps."

Haiku

Haiku is a poetry form that began in Japan hundreds of years ago.

Haiku is always three lines long and has a total of seventeen syllables. The topic of the poem should be something in nature like animals, trees, or seasons.

Here is the format:

First Line: 5 syllables
Second Line: 7 syllables
Third Line: 5 syllables

Examples:

Maples in Autumn
Trees dancing in a cold wind
Colorfully dressed

Catfish in the pond
Whiskers brush the mud bottom
Eluding the hooks

See more of my haiku:http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

• Haikus 1


• Haikus 2

Fortune Cookie Couplets

Couplets are a pair of lines in a poem. Rhyming couplets are what their name describes: two lines of poetry that rhyme.

Write at least 5 different rhyming couplets. The topic for each couplet should be a future prediction someone might get in a fortune cookie. An example might be "I'm happy to say / You'll have a great day" or "If you cheat on that test / You'll end up in a mess."

Once you've written your rhyming fortunes, cut them into small strips of paper that could fit inside a fortune cookie. (One recipe I read suggested 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.)

Then make a recipe for fortune cookies, placing one of your rhyming couplets inside each one.

Here are a few Fortune cookie recipes I found on the net:

• About.com Fortune Cookie Recipe


• Fortune Cookies So Easy


• All Recipes Fortune Cookies III

Dialogue Poem

In dialogue poems, a conversation takes place. A person may have a conversation with him- or herself. Two or more objects or animals may talk together. Two people may have a discussion. A person may talk to an animal or object.

Example:

Sock and Shoe Speak

"Oh no!" said my sock,
"What a smell!
You need a bath, Mr. Shoe.
I can tell!"

"I'm leather," said Shoe.
"I don't smell.
Your dryer sheet stink!
I'm unwell!"

"I need a clothespin,"
said the sock.
"It's the only way
we will walk."

Shoe laughed and he smiled
"With no nose,
Sock, what will you do?
Hold your toes?"

I tugged on my shoe
"They're so tight!
Would you both please
stop with this fight!"

See another example of one of my dialogue poems: Wind and Dandelion.

Dada Poetry / Found Poetry

Dada/Found Poetry is created by putting together words, phrases, and quotations from other sources such as songs, movies, advertisements, signs, TV programs, etc.

When you create Found Poems, you put words and phrases together so that the poem makes sense. When you create Dada Poems, the combination of phrases and words don't make sense; they are nonsense poems.

Possible topics for Found or Dada Poems:

• School


• Things I like


• Things I hate


• Favorite sports


• Newspaper headlines


• Weather


• Food


• Happy news

Examples of Found Poems:

APARTMENT FURNISHED
Bachelor
unique duplex
carpet, icemaker, microwave oven
fireplace
TV and AC
lakefront
555-1212

SHAMPOOING INSTRUCTIONS:
Wet hair
Massage shampoo into hair thoroughly
Leave in two minutes
Rinse
Repeat
Follow with conditioner

Example of a Dada Poem:

YUM!
Skiddles - taste the rainbow
Mentos - the freshmaker
Snickers really satisfies you
We love the Fishes 'cause they're so delicious
Double your pleasure. Double your fun.
Two for me. None for you.
Two scoops of raisins
in just one bowl of Total
They'rrrrrrre grrrrrreat!
The greatest taste sensation under the sun
We didn't invent the chicken.
They're made by elves.
Got Milk?
Melt in your mouth, not in your hands
Sometimes you feel like a nut
I feel like a Peppermint Patty
What do you want on your Tombstone?

Class Activity Instructions: Complete a poem (in a group or on your own) by piecing together words and phrases from newspapers. This poem should be glued attractively for display. The poem doesn't have to make sense, but it should be on one obvious topic. Make sure all your names are on your poster.

Homework Assignment Instructions: Complete a poem on your own. You may use words and phrases from magazines, newspapers, songs, commercials, signs, movies, TV programs, etc. The words may be cut out of magazines and newspapers or they may be copied down onto a sheet of paper. Your poem should be at least SEVEN lines long.

Concrete Poem (or Shape Poem)

The shape of a concrete poem adds to the meaning or feeling of the poem. The poem may be in the shape of its subject.

I created a worksheet of different shapes including a heart, a sun, a moon, a flower, and a lightning bolt that students could write their poems inside. Or they had the choice of creating their poems in shapes of their own choosing.

Example:

(Read this poem from the bottom to the top)

TREE.
THIS
NURTURES
THE SOIL THAT
GROUND AND BECOME
THEY TOO FALL TO THE
LEAVES FLOURISH UNTIL
LEAVES TO THE GROUND
THE EARTH WHEN PETALS FALL LIKE
BEAUTY THAT FLOODS THE SKY AND
BUDS THAT BECOME LITTLE FLOWERS
GREENING BLOSSOMING BLOOMING
FORTH NEW LEAVES
INTERTWINING BURSTING
ENDLESS PILLARS
UP INTO THE CLOUDS
THEY REACH LIKE FINGERS
AIR
THE
INTO
UP
SKY
THE
REACHING TOWARD
OPENING SPROUTING
TINY

Color Metaphor Poem

To create a Color Metaphor poem:

1. Choose a color. (Creative color names may be found on crayons or on paint color sample strips.)


2. Brainstorm a list of things that that color makes you think of.


3. Circle your most creative comparisons.


4. Make a poem out of your best ideas. (Remember, a metaphor is a comparison between two things without using "like" or "as." You are comparing the color that you chose to the items that you circled.)

Example:

Yellow is sunshine
pollen from the pine tree
honey of the hive
back of the bumblebee
the Autumn moon

It's springtime
and warmth
and a hug
in your mother's arms
It's joy and it's love

Yellow is
buttercups and daffodils
smiling up at me
embracing and illuminating
the wintered earth

Clerihew Poem

To create a Clerihew Poem:

1. Pick a famous person's name.


2. Make a list of words that rhyme with that person's last name.


3. Write one rhyming couplet (two lines of poetry that rhyme). The first line should end with your famous person's last name. The second line should rhyme with the first line, using one of the rhyming words from your list.


4. Write another rhyming couplet that gives more information about your famous person.

Example:

Someday I'd like to meet Tom Hanks
And offer him my many thanks
For showing techniques to survive
Now, I know how to stay alive!

Cinquain

A cinquain is a five-line poem that includes feelings and thoughts about something.


The form for a cinquain is:

Line 1: a noun or topic of the poem

Line 2: Two words that describe the topic (adjectives)

Line 3: Three action words associated with topic (verbs)

Line 4: Four words that show how you feel about the topic

Line 5: One-word synonym restating the topic


Example:

The Cafeteria
Noisy, Crowded
Eating, Drinking, Talking
Too Loud For Me
Lunchroom

Bio Poem

Directions: Follow the format below to write a poem that tells the reader some important facts about you. A Bio Poem reveals what things make you unique.

Line 1: Your first name only
Line 2: Four adjectives that describe you
Line 3: Sister/brother/son or daughter of …
Line 4: Lover of … (three nouns—things, people, or ideas)
Line 5: Who feels … (three items)
Line 6: Who fears … (three items)
Line 7: Who would like to see … (three items)
Line 8: Resident of … (city, country, or street)
Line 9: Your last name only


Example:

Lisa
Silly, nice, creative, smart
Daughter of John and Janet
Lover of eating chocolate, writing poems, and spending time with my brothers
Who feels happy with family, cranky when sick, and short when reaching the top shelf
Who fears snakes, roaches, and war
Who would like to see a peaceful world, an unpolluted earth, and happy people
Resident of Austin
Parker

Being the Thing Poem (Personification)

Imagine that you are your pencil. Describe a day in your life as a pencil. How does it feel in your pencil case? How about when you are lost in the bottom of a locker?

A poem about your life may go like this:

I came in a package of twelve
You took me out first
And I was your favorite
You used me on all your exams
Until the day
You lent me to the kid
Who sits behind you
He tapped me rapidly
He gnawed me repeatedly
And when the period was over
And he finally handed me back to you
You said "Ew.
You know what?
Just keep it."
And I spent the rest of my days
Tapped and gnawed
Staring at the back of your head
From the hand of Beaver Boy.

When you give human qualities (like feeling emotions and speaking) to an animal or object, it is called personification.

Brainstorm ideas about your life as an object or an animal. Then, write a poem about your life as that object. Include what you do and how you feel.

Because Poem

These silly poems trace back reasons (or excuses) for something that happened, by repeating the last thing that was explained and then giving a reason (or excuse) for that explanation. This is repeated until you finish with a ridiculous reason for the thing that happened.

Example

I was late to class, because I was abducted by aliens
I was abducted by aliens, because they were looking for intelligent life on earth
They were looking for intelligent life on earth, because they hadn't found any yet
They hadn't found any yet, because they were looking in a rural area without many people
They were looking in a rural area without many people, because they were afraid of tall buildings
They were afraid of tall buildings, because their saucers couldn't fly very high
Their saucers couldn't fly very high, because they were full of chocolate bars
They were full of chocolate bars, because even aliens can't resist chocolate
So the reason I was late to class was because aliens can't resist chocolate.

Choose one of the poem starters below or choose one of your own. Write a poem of at least six lines.

1. I had to eat my dessert before dinner, because…


2. I couldn't clean my room, because…


3. I was late, because…


4. I didn’t sleep at all last night, because…


5. I am wearing two different colored socks, because…


6. I forgot your birthday, because…


7. I am wearing this hat, because…

Poetry: Alphabet Poem

To create an alphabet poem:

1. Start your first line with any letter of the alphabet.


2. Your next line should begin with the next letter of the alphabet. (Each line can be as short as one word to as long as a sentence.)


3. Continue until you have at least 6 lines.

Example:

Lily llama
Makes music
Nobody likes to hear
Only when she stops singing is there
Peace and
Quiet!

Now, it's your turn!