This month you will be studying poetry!  Poems can take many different structures.  Some rhyme, some do not.  Some have a specific beat or meter, some are more free-flowing.  For your challenge this month, you will be exploring poetry and creating a poetry notebook. 

 

There are three sections of your Poetry Notebook:

 

SECTION 1: POEMS YOU WRITE.  You will need to write four poems, each one is a different style.  They should be hand written, one poem per page, and illustrated in color.

 

1. Diamante: A seven line poem that gets its name from its diamond shape.  It describes two opposite things. 

 

Line one: Topic 1

Line two: Two adjectives that describe topic 1

Line three: Three –ing verbs describing topic 1

Line four: 2 nouns for topic 1, 2 nouns for topic 2

Line five: Three –ing verbs describing topic 2

Line six: Two adjectives that describe topic 2

Line seven: Topic 2

 

Example:

jungle

abundant, soggy

growing, stretching, living

vegetation, overgrowth, void, wasteland

decaying, drying, dying

hot, barren

desert

 

 

2. Five Senses Poem: Contains six lines.  Each line defines a subject through one of the five senses. 

 

 

Title: Subject

Line one: What your subject looks like

Line two: What the subject tastes like

Line three: What the subject sounds like

Line four: What the subject smells like

Line five: What the subject feels like

Line six: Describes your subject through an emotion

 

Example:

Fall

Fall is red and yellow.

It tastes like chicken soup.

It sounds like wind through the trees

And smells like warm wood smoke.

It feels fragile, like a crumbling  leaf.

Fall is rich.

 

 

3. Limerick: A humorous verse with five lines, with the rhyme pattern AABBA.  Pay attention to the rhythm.

 

 

Line one: State the situation  “There once was…”

Line two: What happened

Line three: What went wrong

Line four: What went wrong

Line five: The result

 

Example:

The was an old man with a cane,

Who tried to do flips down the lane,

But his cane somehow broke,

And the sorry old bloke

Ended up with a terrible pain.

 

 

4. Free Verse: Poetry without rhyme, and no form to limit you.  You are free to create beautiful pictures with words, in any form. 

 

Example:

Seashell

They’ve brought me a seashell.

Inside it sings

a map of the sea.

My heart

fills up with water,

with smallish fish

of shade and silver.

They’ve brought me a seashell.

 

 

SECTION 2: POEMS YOU DISCOVER.  Spend some times reading poetry.  Explore different authors, different styles, and different collections.  Find four poems you especially enjoy and include them in your notebook.  They should be hand written, one poem per page, and illustrated in color.  Please make sure that each poem you choose is by a different author. 

 

 

SECTION 3: A POEM YOU LEARN. Please hand-copy and illustrate this poem to add to your collection.  You will need to memorize it, and recite it to your teacher to complete your poetry study. 

 

            Bed In Summer, by Robert Louis Stevensen

            In winter I get up at night

            And dress by yellow candle-light.

            In summer, quite the other way,

            I have to go to bed by day.

 

            I have to go to bed and see

            The birds still hopping on the tree,

            Or hear the grown-up people’s feet

            Still going past me in the street.

 

            And does it not seem hard to you,

            When all the sky is clear and blue,

            And I should like so much to play,

            To have to go to bed by day?

 

 

Turn in your poetry notebook and present your memorized poem to qualify for this month’s Einstein Lunch!

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