Computer Lab

National Poetry Month
Middle School

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? The Academy of American Poets first began National Poetry Month in 1996. We're going to spend some time writing and illustrating some poems of our own. 

We will be using Microsoft Word for our collection of poems and will create one document (save it as poetry in your folder) with one page for each poem.

Acrostic

An acrostic poem uses the first letter of a topic word to begin each line of the poem. For example,

Jolly
Offbeat
Enthusiastic

Each line of the poem can be one word or a descriptive phrase but each line of the poem should be something to do with the topic.

Cinquain

The word Cinquain comes from the French word for five. Adelaide Crapsey, an American poet, developed this form of poetry which is a short 5-line poem with a distinctive format. Visit Cinquain Poems to see the formatting for this type of poetry and to view some examples.

Cleriherw

Clerihew is a humorous poetry form created by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. He originally started writing clerihews when he was 16 while still at school as a diversion from his school work. Here is one of Edmund Bentley's clerihews:

Sir Humphrey Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.

Read all about how to write a Clerihew and see some examples at Giggle Poetry.

Haiku

Haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetry established in the 1890s by Masaoka Shik. Traditionally, Haiku is a 3-line poem consisting of 17 total syllables: 5 syllables on the first line, 7 syllables on the second line and 5 syllables on the third line. Haiku is typically written about nature and in English may include more or less than 17 syllables. Do not worry too much if your poem contains a few more or less than 17 syllables; concentrate on painting a picture with your words. Visit the Online Haiku Collection by Brooks Books for some powerful combinations of images and Haiku.

Read more about how to write Haiku and see some examples at Giggle Poetry.

Limericks

The history of the Limerick can be traced back to 14th century English history. The Limerick format was often found in nursery rhymes and even Shakespeare included this form of poetry in some of his plays. Limericks are short 5-line poems with a distinctive rhythm and rhyming pattern and are typically humorous in nature.

You can read more about how to write Limericks and see some examples at Giggle Poetry.

If you want more examples, check out:

• http://www.brownielocks.com/kidlimericks.html
• http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/create/limericks.cfm 
• http://members.aol.com/pwalter530/limericks.html 

Free Verse (optional)

Since most of the above types of poetry have a definite structure and were more humorous in nature, you might want to try your hand at something less structured and that isn't necessarily meant to be funny. If you do, try writing a Free Verse poem.

What is free verse poetry? From a lesson at Readinga-z.com:

• Free verse poetry is free from the normal rules of poetry. The poet may choose to include some rhyming words but the poem does not have to rhyme. A free verse poem may be just a sentence that is artistically laid out on the page or it can be pages of words. Some forms of free verse separate, or split, phrases and words between lines. Punctuation may be absent or it may be used to place greater emphasis on specific words. The main object of free verse is to use colorful words, punctuation, and word placement to convey meaning to the reader.
• Free verse poetry became popular and acceptable during the 20^th century, although scattered examples of the style were found previously. Walt Whitman is considered by many to be the first English free verse poet.

Still confused. Here is a short lesson on free verse with a few samples including one from Walt Whitman.

Now that we have our poems done, we're going to add a title page to the beginning of our document:

1. Go to Page 1 of your document and click just before the first word on your page or if a picture is on the top of the page, just before the picture.
2. Select Insert > Break
3. Click on Page Break

Center on the page, both vertically & horizontally, the following information:

• Title of your poem booklet. This is up to you but could be something like: My Poems or Poems or Poetry or My Poetic Thoughts
• Your Name.

Use the Print Preview option to check if your title is centered.

The final step is to add page borders to your document:

• Select Format > Borders & Shading > Page Border
• Click the down arrow on the Art Button
• Select an appropriate border for your poetry, make sure that Whole Document is specified and click OK.

Use the Print Preview option to check your document. Is any part of your border missing? If so:

1. Select Format > Borders & Shading > Page Border
2. Click on the Options button on the bottom right of the window.
3. Select the down arrow on the Measure From box and change this option to Text (it should have been Edge of page).
4. Click OK twice.

Now check your document again in Print Preview - you should see your entire border.

Save your poetry document.

Resources

Poetry & Poetry Types

• Giggle Poetry
• Acrostics For Children
• Online Haiku Collection by Brooks Books

Tools for Writing Poetry

• Acrostic Poem Tool
• Write an Instant Cinquain
• Fridge Magnets

Adjectives, Descriptive Words & Rhyming

• Enchanted Learning Adjectives List
• Common English Adjectives
• Descriptive Word List
• Poetry 4 Kids Rhyming Dictionary
• RhymeZone