Eight Page Poetry Booklets for Sophomores taking the Second Year of a Foreign Language
1. This assignment will introduce you to some facts and observations about poetry. The activities have been designed to make poetry easy to read and write in the language you are presently studying.
2. Write your poems in Word. Save them to your file in school.
Print them out for your teacher when you are ready.
3. You will be doing 8 poems for a period of 16 weeks. One poem will be due every two weeks. By the end of the semester you will have created a Poetry Booklet in the language you are studying.
4. You will be making Poetry Booklets using the eight Poetry Formulas Below. Follow the directions in each one carefully. You will write your poems in French or Spanish in Word. The only poem that does not have to be on the computer is the Shape Poem. Be creative, colorful and innovative.
1. Acrostics
Write your foreign language name or your American name
vertically down on the computer in Word.
Compose a poem using the letters.
The letters of your name may be the first letter
of a word, the middle letter, or the last letter.
Try it in English for practice,
then do it in a foreign language.
Variations: Use words from your vocabulary list.
Use mythological names.
Use a word of your choice.
Examples:
I used my last name in this poem: COLOZZI
le Coeur
Ou
L'�me
tOujours
aimeZ
alleZ
Invisible.
I used a French name in this poem: JEAN
Jubilant jongleur
Est �videmment exceptionne
Annonce que l'avion
N'est pas n�cessaire.
I used a Spanish name in this poem:
Carlos
haCe
cAlor
peRo
en eL
veranO, no hay
eScuela
2. Cinquaine
A cinquain poem has five lines that is why
the title has a cinq in it which means five
English and cinco in Spanish.
Follow the directions for each line and
compose your poem in a foreign language.
See the English example below,
but make sure you write your poem in the
language you are studying. Center your
lines for the best effect.
Line 1 a noun
Line 2 two adjectives that agree with the noun
Line 3 three verbs
(3 infinitives)
Line 4 a short phrase of four words
Line 5 a synonym to the first noun
Variations:
Use a vocabulary word as your noun.
Use verb tenses that you are studying.
Use synonyms that you are studying.
Examples: In English:
Lion
Angry Strong
To roar, To scare, To survive
They hunt you unthinkingly
King
In French:
Feu
Rouge Chaud
Br�lant, P�tillant, D�truisant
Vos couleurs sont vivantes
Danger
In Spanish:
Sol
Amarillo Caliente
Tocar, Mirar, Sentir
me gusta la playa
Luz
3. Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry. It is
about things in nature like the moon, the sun,
the animals, the seasons, and the weather.
It also has a revealing aspect about it.
Haiku does not have any rhyme. It is formed
by the syllables of the words.
You must count the syllables of each word.
There are only three lines in each Haiku.
In the first two lines present your idea and
in the third line you should have some type of
surprising connection to conclude your poem.
Follow the directions for each line and
compose a Haiku in a foreign language.
See the examples below in English and
try counting out the syllables on your
fingers. Then, write your Haiku in
the language you are studying.
Line 1 five syllables
Line 2 seven syllables
Line 3 five syllables
Variations:
Use weather vocabulary.
Use vocabulary words that you have studied.
Use a creative interesting word as your theme.
Examples:
Snow Haiku in English
The world is white now
Flaky snow from flaky clouds
Look forward to spring.
Chocolate Haiku in French
La Tour Eiffel de
Chocolat, tu es si belle
Je veux te manger.
Rainbow Haiku in Spanish
El arco iris
Rojo, verde, y azul
Cielo sonrojo.
Australia Haiku in English
Today it did snow
In Australia it's unknown
Photos I did send.
4. Shape Poem
Think of an object and personify
the object. What would the object
say? Write the poem in the shape
of the object.
What does it feel like to be a flower
with stems and petals? What does it
feel like to be in the sun or rain?
How would the object describe itself
to you?
Themes:
Use an object from the lesson you are studying.
Use a object that has personal meaning to you.
Use a mythological name.
The words of the poem make the distinct
contour and shape.
Examples of the shapes can be :
a cat, a TV set, Mickey Mouse�s head, a star,
a light bulb, the sun, the planet Mercury,
the half moon, a sailboat, a volcano,
a flower, a rainbow.
You may do this by hand or you may use the
computer to create your shape.
With computer technology, many people make shapes
by positioning the words to create a picture.
The subject of the poem can be seen in its shape.
Can you tell what this shape is?
je suis
un homme
blanc qui
a tr�s tr�s froid
PARCE QUE
MON CORPS
EST FAIT DE
NIEVE. MON
NEZ EST FAIT D'
UNE CAROTTE ET
MA BOUCHE EST
FAITE DE CHARBON.
J'AI DEUX YEUX QUI
SONT AUSSI FAITS DE CHARBON.
JE N'AIME PAS LE SOLEIL PARCE
QUE MON CORPS VA DEVENIR L'EAU
TU PEUX ME VOIR SORTIR CHAQUE
HIVER QUAND IL NEIGE BEAUCOUP.
5. Diamante
To form a diamante poem, you start with 2 opposite
images: e.g. hot and cold, sun and moon, or
night and day. Follow this pattern of a diamond
to form one of your own.
Center your lines.
line1: 1 noun
line2: 2 adjectives - describe & agree the adjectives
with the first noun above
line3: 3 infinitives - describe the noun in line 1
line4: 4 nouns - the first 2 nouns are synonymous
with the noun in line 1;
the 2nd two nouns are synonymous
with the noun in line 7
line5: 3 infinitives - describe the noun in line 7
line6: 2 adjectives- describe & agree the adjectives
with the last noun below
line7: 1 noun - a noun that is the opposite of the noun
in line 1
noun
adjective adjective
infinitive infinitive infinitive
noun noun noun noun
infinitive infinitive infinitive
adjective adjective
noun
See the examples in English below,
but write your Diamante poem in the language you
are studying.
Variations: Use the vocabulary list that
you are studying
Include connectives, pronouns, verbs,
nouns, prepositional phrases.
Use a short story that the class has read.
Examples:
Beauty
Pretty Lovely
Dancing Reading Singing
Girl Friend Animal Enemy
Chasing Roaring Fighting
Ugly Ferocious
Beast
6. Metered Poem
This poem is "metered" by counting the number of
syllables in a line. 8 syllable lines are common.
Write two, separate 8-syllable lines,
one about a person you admire,
and a second about a common activity.
Write the poem in the language you are studying;
remember to count the number of syllables
in the foreign language!
Tap it out with your fingers!
Example:
Mother Thersea helped the poor
She was loved by the entire world.
I like to play sports at Fenwick
I really love to play football.
7. Prose Poem
A Prose Poem is not metered, nor does it rhyme.
It contains strong image and the grammar should
make sense.
Write a prose poem about a color.Then, write a
second prose poem about the month in which
you were born.
Yellow, the color of the sun,
and of the bus to school.
Yellow means, oh so much,
and it is everywhere.
January, the month in which I was born,
and the beginning of the year.
January is the best month of the year in every way!
8. Commanding Poem
Use the imperative tense or command form
to make a poem by giving instructions
to an ianimate object or a person.
Examples: instruct objects to move:
tell clouds to move
tell the phone to pick up
tell the stove to cook something
tell a kite to fly
instruct someone how to:
behave during a firedrill,
use e-mail,
order textbooks on-line,
bake brownies, etc.
Variation: mix the ordinary with the extraordinary.
Clouds
Clouds, sweep by the sun
Clouds, cover up the rays for me
Block out those yellow beams
Allow me to see this pop fly
Eyes, keep focused on the ball
Clouds, don't move yet
Ball, come right to my glove
Clouds, break away in the sky
Third out! we won!
Questions or Advice- send an e-mail to Miss Colozzi
Click for a Copy of this page in italiano
Return to Main Table
