Technology + Interactives + Poetry = Fun, Engagement, & Learning
Last week’s post on ReadWriteThink’s Cube Creator was very popular, so I thought I would share more interactives that can be put to good use for writing Poetry during April, National Poetry Month.
InteractiveIn this online tool, students can learn about and write acrostic poems. 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. As part of the online tool, students brainstorm words to help write their poems and can save their work-in-progress to revise and edit, reinforcing elements of the writing process. Students can also print their finished acrostic poems or proudly show off their work by e-mailing it to a friend.
In this online tool, students can learn about and write diamante poems, which are diamond-shaped poems that use nouns, adjectives, and gerunds to describe either one central topic or two opposing topics (for example, night/day or winter/spring). Examples of both kinds of diamante poems can be viewed online or printed out.
Because diamante poems follow a specific format that uses nouns on the first and last lines, adjectives on the second and fourth lines, and gerunds in the third and fifth lines, this tool has numerous word-study applications. The tool provides definitions of the different parts of speech students use in composing the poems, reinforcing the connection between word study and writing. It also includes prompts to write and revise poems, thus reinforcing elements of the writing process. Students can save their draft diamante poems to revise later, and save and print their finished diamante poems.
In this online tool, students can write poems based on shapes from five different categories: Nature, School, Sports, Celebrations, and Shapes. Within these categories, 32 different shapes are included.
By selecting a shape, students are learning how to focus their writing on a particular topic or theme. 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 save their draft poems to revise later. The finished theme poems can also be printed and colored to display in the classroom or at home.
Some Poetry to enjoy:
April Rain Song by Langston Hughes (Disney Junior Official YouTube)
(View other poems on this site.)
More Resources for Poetry in April and all year.
Related articles
- National Poetry Month (poemattic.wordpress.com)
- National Poetry Month: Web 2.0 Poetry ~ Mixbook (bloomingedu.wordpress.com)
- National Poetry Month: Writing Inspiration For Kids (bloomingedu.wordpress.com)
- April is National Poetry Month! (bloomingedu.wordpress.com)
- National Poetry Month: Host a Poetry Slam (bloomingedu.wordpress.com) ( Love this idea. Watch the student samples.)
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