Lesson Introduction
Students will be introduced to acrostic poems in this lesson, as a way to ease them into poetry writing. The thought of writing poetry tends to intimidate some students. We want them to feel confident and comfortable in writing simple poems as a start. Acrostic poems are easy to write because they have a few simple rules and do not require rhyme. The teacher will introduce what an acrostic poem is to the children and model how to write one, using an object found in the classroom, e.g. a book.
What is an acrostic poem?
An acrostic poem uses the letters in a word to begin each line of the poem. All lines of the poem relate to or describe the main topic word.
Learning Objectives
In these lessons, students will have opportunities to:
- Understand that poetry does not always have to rhyme.
- Find words that begin with the letters of a person or object that is important to them, using a variety of sources including word banks and dictionaries.
- Create an acrostic poem, revising it as needed, for meaning and conventions.
- Share acrostic poems in small groups, developing oral poetry recitation skills.
- Complete a reflective self-assessment checklist at the end.
Materials and Resources
To teach this lesson, you will need:
- writing materials
- word bank
- thesaurus
- dictionary
- lined paper
- chart paper
- checklist