Best Practice in Writing a Cinquain Poem

Writing a Cinquain PoemUnidad Educativa Eloy Alfaro, Baha de Caraquez Manab Miranda Duncan, Peace Corps Ecuador TEFL

1How to get students to love to write?Make it funMake it interestingGive choicesMake it easyMake it rewardingBuild on what comes naturally Sneak-in vocabulary and parts of speech

Romance, emotion and no punctuation!2What is a Cinquain Poem?an unrhymed poem with five lines arranged in a special wayWhen written, its shape forms a diamond.pronounced SIN cane (from Latin root for five)inspired by Japanese haiku poemAmerican cinquain developed by Adelaide Crapsey (early 1900)

Haiku poem traditionally is about nature and has 17 Japanese characters separated by a cutting word (juxtaposition)3Cinquain FormatLine 1:one vague or general one-word subject or topicLine 2: two vivid adjectives that describethe topicLine 3: three interesting -ing action verbsthat fit the topicLine 4:four-word phrase that captures feeling about the topicLine 5:a very specificterm that explains Line 1Optional: a title

Variation using syllables (2 4 6 8 2)4EnglishLanguageDifficult, valuableLearning, practicing, applyingYou can do this!Fluency

Example (submitted by a teacher)MenFun, romantic Loving, lusting, lying Cannot trust themCheats!

Example (submitted by a student)My passionFriends, enemiesKicking, running, winningSoccer is my life.Go team!

7The Writing ProcessGetting started: Choose a topic (ideas below).something you likesomething you dont likesomething you see around yousomething that happened to youBrainstorm: Free associate with your topic.wordssenses (see, hear, smell, taste, and touch) feelingsCount syllables (2 4 6 8 2)Does your cinquain tell a story?subjectdescriptionactionfeelingconclusion

Your turn!