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In my gifted classroom last year, we celebrated National Poetry Month by writing a poem every day. I decided to use the ABCs to challenge my students to write a different form each day. Some of the forms were already familiar, such as acrostics, bio-poems, and cinquains. I wanted to expand their repertoire, so I used Google to find more forms. My students enjoyed this challenge, along with “Secret Poetry,” where we posted poems anonymously on the walls of the school halls. We got the whole school to stop and read poetry.
I want to share a few of the forms we explored and offer you some models. When working with a form, you are forced to look more closely at word choice. Whether there is a strict syllable count, such as a haiku, or a rhyme scheme like the triolet, words become important and sometimes magical.
E is for ekphrasis. Ekphrasis is not so much a form as it is a style. Ekphrasis is writing about art. When introducing this style to my students, I use the book Heart to Heart, edited by Jan Greenberg. Some of the poems in Heart to Heart extend a metaphor; some tell a story while others use a strict form.
Here is an example from my student Kaylie when she was in fifth grade writing about Monet’s Water Lily Pond and Venice: The Grand Canal.
As the moss stretches,
Look!
Look at how the dawn’s light
brings song to the Grand Canal, its wavy fingers.
Look at how the fish are lurking beneath the rainbow of colors.
To touch the water!
See how the poles creep up the morning sky to say hello.
Look!
And the lily pads
float
silently.
Look!
Look at how the dawn’s light
brings song to the Grand Canal, its wavy fingers.
Look at how the fish are lurking beneath the rainbow of colors.
To touch the water!
See how the poles creep up the morning sky to say hello.
Look!
And the lily pads
float
silently.
Dusk falls
overwhelming sounds
of water rippling.
overwhelming sounds
of water rippling.
The nightingale sweetly sings
his song
hopefully returning to his nest with a new mate.
his song
hopefully returning to his nest with a new mate.
Blinding beauty,
In the silence of the pond.
F is for Fibonacci fun. The Fibonacci series in math begins with 0 adding 1 to get 1. One added to one is two. Two added to one is three. And so on. So the form uses a syllabic count equal to the series, beginning with 1 syllable, then 1,2, 3, 5, 8. You can stop there or go back 5,3,2,1,1.
Dream Star Fibonacci
I
Dream,
Snatching
All the stars
Dozens in my hand
I won’t want to wake up today
So I will dream on
And leave these
Stars just
For
You.
–Kaylie B., 6th grade
I recently discovered two similar French poem forms, the triolet (T) and the rondelet (R). Each form repeats lines. The triolet uses the rhyming pattern of A/B/a/A/a/b/A/B. Where capital letters are present, the line repeats. Lower case indicates rhyming. Here is a sample of a triolet with a borrowed line from Betsy Snider’s book I Haiku You.
Mom
You hug away tears
Find the pain to place a kiss on.
Bless away all my fears.
You hug away tears.
Make my worries clear.
I never have to be alone.
You hug away tears.
Find the pain to place a kiss on.
Find the pain to place a kiss on.
Bless away all my fears.
You hug away tears.
Make my worries clear.
I never have to be alone.
You hug away tears.
Find the pain to place a kiss on.
–Margaret Simon
A rondelet poem similarly uses a repeated line and rhyme scheme. The pattern is:
Line 1 :: A—four syllables
Line 2 :: b—eight syllables
Line 3 :: A—repeat of line one
Line 4 :: a—eight syllables
Line 5 :: b—eight syllables
Line 6 :: b—eight syllables
Line 7 :: A—repeat of line one
Line 2 :: b—eight syllables
Line 3 :: A—repeat of line one
Line 4 :: a—eight syllables
Line 5 :: b—eight syllables
Line 6 :: b—eight syllables
Line 7 :: A—repeat of line one
I wrote this one in response to a photograph of a flamenco dancer in our local newspaper.
Flamenco Dancer
Echo the beat!
Drum boom-ta-da-boom-ta-da-boom!
Echo the beat!
Twirling red flares stir up the heat.
Mesmerized faces fill the room.
Dancer spins like a tulip blooms.
Echo the beat!
–Margaret Simon
I challenge you to try these forms and others yourself and with your students this month. Happy National Poetry Month!
Margaret Simon teaches gifted students in New Iberia, Louisiana. She blogs about teaching and poetry at Reflections on the Teche.
Margaret Simon teaches gifted students in New Iberia, Louisiana. She blogs about teaching and poetry at Reflections on the Teche.
I love the poem that was inspired by the paintings…and of course all the others. I’m going to take the line “echo the beat” with me throughout the day. xo
Thanks for stopping by. Using paintings to inspire poetry seems to always bring surprising and delightful results.
Your students are so talented, Margaret! I love what you’re doing in your classroom.
Thanks for having me. We have had a wonderful time with writing poetry. Today we wrote I am From poems. The lesson and my attempt are on my blog. I believe it is important to write alongside my students. We support each other.
I love this idea! Stashing it away for when I teach poetry…
And thanks for introducing some styles of which I was unaware–the fibonacci poems sound like a lot of fun. 🙂
Teaching math and writing all at the same time!
Thanks for sharing those wonderful poems!!!