Using Poetry to Teach Parts of Speech

 

Learn or review parts of speech by writing structured poetry.

Parts of Speech Poem 1

 

The Structure

Line 1 – one article (a, and, the) + one noun
Line 2 – one adjective + one conjunction + one adjective
Line 3 – one verb + one conjunction + one verb
Line 4 – one adverb
Line 5 – one noun that relates to the noun in the first line

An Example

An athlete *
Strong and sweaty
Pivots and shoots
Swiftly
Competitor

* This would be an excellent opportunity to talk about when to use "a" and when to use "an"  before a noun.

Parts of Speech Poem 2 

 
The Structure

Line 1: NOUN – whatever the poem is going to be about

Line 2: Three ADJECTIVES separated with commas that describe line 1.

Line 3: (3x) VERB ending in “–ing” and ADVERB describing what line 1 does, separated with commas.

Example: running quickly, jumping fluidly, racing urgently

Line 4: Three PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES, separated with commas

Line 5: INTERJECTION written with either an (!) or nothing if not as strong

Line 6: Free line with at least one PRONOUN in it

Line 7: Free line with at least one CONJUNCTION in it

Line 8: NOUN – write a synonym (word that means the same thing) for the noun in line 1.

An Example

God
Omnipotent, wise, gracious
Reigning gloriously, directing specifically, loving faithfully
Over all the earth,  before there was time,  at my right hand
Awesome!
My Creator and Sustainer
The One who made Heaven and Earth
Jehovah

Diamante

If your student wants to write a synonym diamante, the nouns at the beginning and end of the poem should be synonyms.

The Synonym Structure

Noun
Adjective, Adjective
Verb, Verb, Verb
Noun, Noun, Noun, Noun
Verb, Verb, Verb
Adjective, Adjective
Noun

An Example

Mother
caring, kind
nursing , assisting, guiding
teacher, adviser, counselor, caregiver,
leading, molding, supervising
tender, understanding
friend

If your student wants to write an antonym poem, the nouns at the beginning and end of the poem should be opposites, all the words in regular font referring to the first noun, all of the words in italics referring to the second noun. (Of course, the difference in font is only for clarity; the final poem will not have italics.)

The Antonym Structure

Noun
Adjective, Adjective
Verb, Verb, Verb
Noun, Noun, Noun, Noun
Verb, Verb, Verb
Adjective, Adjective
Noun

An Example

square
symmetrical, conventional
shaping, measuring, balancing
boxes, rooms, clocks, halos
encircling, circumnavigating, enclosing
round, continuous
circle

For a change of pace, you may want to let your student use this online tool for writing the poem.

Cinquain

The Structure

a one-word title (a noun)
two adjectives
three -ing participles
a phrase
a synonym for your title (another noun)

****

An Example

dessert
cold, creamy
eating, giggling, licking
cone with three scoops
ice cream

A graphic organizer and sample poems, including the one above, can be found here.

I'd love to see your students' poems in the comments!