Adult learners who are reluctant to even begin to write will sometimes respond well to being given a very precise structure into which to place their written thoughts. Form poetry is just that, a formal structure in which language is used in a very specific way. But if you are someone who is struggling daily with spelling and grammar, this can be a fun and non-threatening way to begin to get your thoughts down on paper.
Alphabet Poems: This is a simple pattern that is a fun way of expressing one’s feeling about themselves, a friend, or even a tutor. It’s simple; you just use the letters in someone’s name as the beginning of a phrase that describes that person. For example:
Reader of novels
A lover of music
New home-owner
Daily commuter
Young at heart
Try it with any proper name or other noun.
Cinquains are five-line poems that can be written about almost anything. They follows a very simple pattern:
Line 1 – a one-word title or name of something or someone (noun)
Line 2 – Two words describing the subject in line 1 (adjectives)
Line 3 – Three words describing the action of the subject (verbs)
Line 4 – A sentence expressing a feeling you have about the subject
Line 5 – One word that repeats, or renames, the subject in line 1
For example:
Cicada
ugly noisy
drumming sawing praying
sad and regretfully lonely
Singer
Besides just being fun, cinquains can be a great reinforcement when teaching the parts of a sentence—verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc.
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