List Poems
Disappointment is waking up and realising it's Monday
Disappointment is rain at playtime - again
Disappointment is going on a school trip and having to write about it
Disappointment is PE when it's freezing
Disappointment is having to re-draft your story when you thought it was finished
etc etc
Disappoint is a way of life.
Here's how to write one in a group:
- Talk only - no writing
- Agree on your idea (boredom is, happiness is, humour is, surprise is, a good time is, anger is, red is....)
- Each member of the group makes up one line
- Take it in turns to say your line aloud
- Add more lines
- Talk about your lines: Do they sound right? Do you want to make any changes?
- Perform your poem to the class
- Write is out for display
Description Poems
Apple
Appealing,
Slippery,
Crunchy,
Crisp,
It makes my tongue tingle.
Write your poems on apple shaped paper.
Simple fun way to build up vocabulary charts for the room.
Try: lemon, celery, grapes, honey etc.
Haiku
5 syllables
7 syllables
5 syllables
Lantern Poems
1 syllable
2 syllables
3 syllables
4 syllables
1 syllable
Onomatopoeic Poems
Lists of words that describe the sounds of a place or event.
Supermarket
clattering
clashing
bustling
shoving
crashing
kerthump
kerthump, kerthump
goes my
trolley wheel!!
Cinquains
Title
Describes appearence
Describes texture
Tells about taste
Describes your opinion of it
Octopoems
A chef is white
He is the spring time
in a kitchen
He is sunny
A chef is an apron,
a tall kitchen stool.
He is a TV advert,
A crispy roast chicken!
1 Topic is a colour
2 A season
3 A place
4 A type of weather
5 A type of clothing
6 A piece of furniture
7 A TV show
8 A type of food
Alphabet poem
Autumn is a season
Blustery weather battering the trees
Chilly winds cool the air
Dull and rainwashed days
Evenings getting darker
Falling leaves flutter down
etc
Emotion Poem
My fear is red as the evening sky,
It tastes of black, burned toast.
It smells of bonfires, looks like bonfires,
Sounds like an animal about to die.
It's jagged, harsh and makes me cry.
Use an emotion (fear, happiness, anger etc) to write this poem.
- what colour is this emotion?
- what does it taste like?
- what does it smell like?
- what does it look like?
- what does it sound like?
- what does it feel like?
Description
- Write an advertisement for a new deodorant on the market. Design and describe the active ingredients.
- Invent a new perfume. Describe the aroma, the ingredients the cost, the best place and time to wear the new scent.
- Use interesting words to describe the smell of: salt and pepper, cheese, the rubbish bin
- Write a careful description of a piece of junk without saying what it is. See if your description is good enough for someone to identify it.
- Write a description of your bedroom
- Draw a colourful map of a journey to discover new lands (ship, land, sea, space). Use map features like hills, rivers, towns etc. Use your map as a setting for your story - use description.
- Who's looking through the keyhole and why?
- Describe a shell from the point of view of an.... (ant, blind person, giant, small child)
Recount/Personal Experience
- Write about a misunderstanding that you've had
- The best day of my life
Persuasion
- Write a letter to the principal to apologise for breaking the window of a classroom through being inside at lunchtime when you shouldn't have been.
- Is sport necessary in schools?
- Adults have it too easy. Yes/No? Why/Why not?
Quick Writes
- List as many different types of shops as you can think of!
- What smells do you associate with: supermarket, butcher, newsagent, hairdressing salon, chemist, florist
- Pros and cons (video phone)
- World is ending in 5 minutes. You can make one telephone call. Who would it be to? Why? Write script.
- Make lists of team sports and individual sports
- What are 15 plausible excuses for not taking out the rubbish?
- What are 10 things you will not say to your children when you are a parent?
- Why do mothers insist of children keeping their room tidy?
Other
Passport to Adventure
Design a travel brochure to interest and enthuse fellow travelers.
Include these details in your brochure:
- What type of climate and terrain can be expected.
- What travelers will need to take with them (eg warm woolly jumpers, climbing boot, bathers)
- What type of accommodation is available and the types of local food.
- The cost and the best way of getting there.
Fold your paper into interesting and different shapes before you start.
Super Shake
Ingredients:
My creation is called _____________________________
Write a word that tells how it feels on your tongue __________________
Drinking my creation reminds me of _______________
The very best time to drink it is_________________
My creation is as tasty as __________________
Creature Poem (or descriptive writing)
- Choose four creatures - alligator, giraffe, butterfly, dog
- Take one part from each name - alligator, giraffe, butterfly, dog
- Put them together to create your creature - Alliraffebutterog
- Choose parts of their bodies which go together and draw a picture
- Write a poem about it
Choose an idea (food, cars, music, disasters, sport, weather)
Collect some newspapers and cut out any headlines which match your idea
Put them in order to make your own poem.
Biography
Write a biography of __________ in exactly 73 words.
If the shoe fits (themed writing contract)
- Write what it would be like to spend a day in someone else's shoes. Whose?
- Write an anecdote about a time when you once 'put your foot in your mouth'.
- Find out the meaning to these expressions: footloose, footfall, foothill, foothold, footnote, footsore, footman.
- "The best shoes by far are..."
- Design an usual shoe - draw it and explain what is so special about it.
- Cinderella lost her slipper. Write a new ending to the story if Cinderella had not dropped her slipper.
Food, Food, Food (themed writing contract)
- Make up a vocabulary pile of 30 words which describe the taste of food
- Write a mouth-watering description of your favourite dessert
- Think of a name and design a menu (at least 20 items) for a restaurant you are opening.
- What is your favourite meal at home? Why?
- Write a recipe for a peanut butter banana milkshake.
- Write instructions on how to make an item of food (do not leave anything out!)
- Make a list of as many fruit as you possibly can. Spell them correctly. See how many exotic fruits you can find.
Restricted stories
Write a story of about one page without using the letter 'a'
Write a story that only uses words of 3 letters.
Describe a whatsit in exactly 73 words
