1/24/2011 Shape Poems - ReadWriteThink

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Student Interactive

Shape Poems

Grades K–5

Interactive Type Writing Poetry

Tech Requirement Flash Player required

URL http://www.readwritethink.org
/files/resources/interactives
/shape/

Overview

A shape poem is a poem that describes an object and is written in the shape of the object. In this online tool,
elementary students can select shapes from four different themes: Nature, School, Sports, and Celebrations.
Within these themes, 19 different shapes are included.
By selecting a shape, students are learning how to focus their writing on a particular topic. 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 also print their finished shape poems, cut and color them, and
display them in the classroom or at home.

For ideas of how to use this tool outside the classroom, see Shape Poems in the Parent & Afterschool
Resources section.

Lessons That Use This Interactive back to top

Grades 3–4 Grades 5–6

Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson

Shape Poems: Writing Extraordinary Poems About Ordinary Objects

Students select a familiar object online, build a bank of words related to the object, and write shape poems
that are printed and displayed in class.

Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson

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1/24/2011 Shape Poems - ReadWriteThink
Reading, Writing, Haiku Hiking! A Class Book of Picturesque Poems

Students learn haiku

write descriptive poems
and share with the class.

Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson

Earth Verse: Using Science in Poetry

Students shape up their reading, writing, and listening skills in this lesson by creating original diamante,
acrostic, and shape poems about science.

Grades 1 – 3 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson

Shape Poems: Using the Five Senses

Students write shape poems in a flash using the picture book Flicker Flash by Joan Bransfield Graham and
the online, interactive Shape Poems tool.

Related Classroom & Professional Development Resources back to top

Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson

Dynamite Diamante Poetry

Introduce gerunds and review nouns, adjectives, and verbs through engaging read-alouds; then apply these
concepts through collaborative word-sorting and poetry-writing activities.

Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing Poetry

Acrostic Poems

This online tool enables students to learn about and write acrostic poems. Elements of the writing process
are also included.

Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing Poetry

Diamante Poems

This online tool enables students to learn about and write diamante poems.

Grades 3 – 8 | Calendar Activity | August 14

Ernest Thayer, author of the famous poem "Casey at the Bat," was born in 1863.

In small groups or individually, students make baseball cards for the players in the poem "Casey at the Bat."
Students can use a word processor or the Character Trading Cards interactive to create their cards.

Grades K – 12 | Calendar Activity | April 1

April is National Poetry Month!

Students are assigned to be "poets of the day" and are provided several models to create, illustrate, and
present their different poems to the class.

Grades 3 – 12 | Calendar Activity | February 14

Valentine's Day is today!

Students find examples of figurative language and write an original example of each device, illustrate, and
share them with the class.

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Grades 2 – 6 | Printout | Writing Starter

Haiku Starter

This graphic organizer provides students the opportunity to brainstorm words about a given topic, count
and record the syllables, and draft a haiku.

Grades 3 – 8 | Professional Library | Journal

Poets in Practice

This article discusses the need to engage students and teachers in active poetry writing.

© 2011 IRA/NCTE. All r ights r eser ved.

Legal | Inter national Reading Association | National Council of Teacher s of English

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