A shape poem is a poem that describes an object and is written in the shape of the object. In this online tool, elementary students can select shapes from four different themes: Nature, School, Sports, and Celebrations. Within these themes, 19 different shapes are included.

By selecting a shape, students are learning how to focus their writing on a particular topic. In addition, as part of the online tool, students are prompted to brainstorm, write, and revise their poems, thus reinforcing elements of the writing process. Students can also print their finished shape poems, cut and color them, and display them in the classroom or at home. For ideas of how to use this tool outside the classroom, see Tips for Using Shape Poems.

Visit this interactive tool at: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/shape/.

ReadWriteThink Lessons That Use This Tool

Dr. Seuss’s Sound Words: Playing with Phonics and Spelling (K-2)
Boom! Br-r-ring! Cluck! Moo!—you are bound to find exciting sounds everywhere. Whether you visit online sites that play sounds or take a sound hike, ask your students to notice the sounds they hear then write their own poems, using sound words, based on Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?

Dynamite Diamante Poetry (3-5)
This lesson combines grammar and spelling instruction with creative writing. Students review nouns, adjectives, and verbs and are introduced to gerunds. They then write and revise diamante poems using these types of words.

Earth Verse: Using Science in Poetry (3-5)
Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's picture book, Science Verse, serves as a model for students to use poetry to improve content area knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension—in this case, for the science curriculum.


Reading, Writing, Haiku Hiking! A Class Book of Picturesque Poems (3-5)
Students make reading and writing connections as they record their observations of their environment, learn about haiku, and write original haiku poems. They work collaboratively to plan and publish a class book of their poetry and related factual notes.

Shape Poems: Writing Extraordinary Poems About Ordinary Objects (3-5)
In this lesson, students learn the characteristics and format of shape poems and write their own shape poems using an online interactive activity.