ReadWriteThink: Write a Gem of a Poem: Learning Beyond the Classroom

For Ages 11–14
Write a Gem of a Poem

Children write poetry with purpose in this activity. First, they learn about diamante poems—diamond-shaped poems that follow a set structure on each line. Next, they consider the idea of cause and effect and work it into the poem format. Children enjoy the chance to be creative, but they also develop critical thinking skills that are so important in the later grades.

Time
45 minutes or longer, depending on how many poems are written

What You Need

Computer with Internet access and a printer
Diamante Poems
Diamante Poem Format
Cause and Effect Definition Sheets
Cause and Effect Questioning Frames
Diamante Poems tool

Why This Is Helpful
By emphasizing cause and effect, this activity blends creativity with thinking skills. It marks an important step when children can do this advanced kind of thinking, understanding that if A happens, B will happen next. Communicating cause and effect in a poem will help children see that poems can show ideas. In other words, poems are more than just pretty words strung together on the page. And writing diamante poems also requires children to choose the correct parts of speech for each line.

Here’s What To Do
Before starting the activity, familiarize yourself with diamante poems and the Diamante Poems online tool that children will use to create their poems. Also review the idea of cause and effect with the aid of the resources listed under “What You Need.” You might print a sample diamante poem to show the diamond-shaped structure; you can print the example poems from the Diamante Poem online tool or from the Diamante Poems website.

If you need a grammar brush-up, see Parts of Speech Help. You might also consider sharing this with children you are working with.

1.	Talk with your child about diamante poems and show an example or two.
2.	Open a discussion about the concept of cause and effect. Help the child fully understand the idea and then invite him or her to give a personal example or two. Explain that your child’s poem will explore this cause and effect. Use the Cause and Effect Definition Sheets and the Cause and Effect Questioning Frames to talk about this in more depth.
3.	Using the Diamante Poem Format, review the parts of speech (adjectives, -ing words, etc.) that will be used in the cause and effect poem.
4.	Open the Diamante Poems tool together. Note that the tool gives examples of antonym and synonym diamante poems. Click on “Get Started” to show the child how the tool requests the words that will be used in the poem.
5.	Help the child select a cause and effect topic for this activity. The topic can be humorous: What happens if Mom leaves her coffee cup on the car roof or Dad drops his cell phone into his iced tea? It can also reflect your child’s personal interests: If the world continues to spew out carbon emissions at this rate, what will happen next? Your child can use the Cause and Effect Questioning Frames to flesh out the topic.
6.	Give the child some time to write and revise the poem using the online tool.
7.	Print out the finished poem. Did your child’s poem meet the requirements of the diamante format? (If it didn’t, it might still be a fine poem.) Gently encourage your child to revise, if necessary, and write other diamante poems.
8.	Join in the exercise by writing one of your own and inviting other family members to do so also. Your child could help a younger sibling write a diamante poem, giving the older child a chance to share what’s been learned. The child might even like to write one from a pet’s perspective.

Visit the ReadWriteThink Tips for Using Diamante Poems for more information about this tool.

Glossary

Cause and effect
The relationship between one event and another when the second happens as a direct consequence of the first. For example: The wet floor was slippery [cause], so the little boy fell [effect].

Diamante poem
A poem whose longest line comes in the middle, creating a diamond-like shape. Sometimes written in a cause-and-effect format.

Parts of speech
The categories used in grammar to group different types of words, such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.

This activity was modified from the ReadWriteThink lesson plan “Slipping, Sliding, Tumbling: Reinforcing Cause and Effect Through Diamante Poems” available online at http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=965.

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Last Modified: 5/28/2009 2:23:15 PM