Tip #1
• Keep a notebook at home. Put all kinds of stuff in it – ideas, poems, doodles, thoughts, memories, little stories. Try and write something in it every day. Don’t show it to other people – just keep it as your private writing place.
Tip #2• If you want ideas for poems, find
somewhere quiet and daydream for a while. See what ideas come to you. If nothing comes, why not try writing something that begins “I wish...” “I remember...”“When I was...”“100 years ago...”“Once when...”
Tip #3
• Where do ideas come from? – our memories and – our imagination.
• Think of something that has happened to you and change it around so that it becomes a fiction. Use it in a poem.
Tip #4
• Sometimes you can start to write a poem before the idea is ready to be written out. So it’s good just to think and ponder over your idea first. With a bit of luck, other ideas will come along too.
Tip #5
• Once you’ve written a new poem and you feel you can’t do any more to improve it, leave it for a while – say a week or so. Then come back to it fresh and see what needs to be done next.
Tip #6
• In your first draft, don’t worry about spellings or handwriting or punctuation, just get your ideas down. You can sort out all the spellings etc. later on.
Tip #7
• Computers are very useful when writing poetry. However, it’s best if you can write your poems first by hand and then later put them on the computer.
Diamante Poems
• Diamante is a seven-line, diamond shaped poem which contrasts two opposites. It is more a visual poem than one to be read aloud. Children can illustrate their final copies to produce an art piece.
http://teachit.acreekps.vic.edu.au/poetry/poem4.htm
The Format of a Diamante Poem• First Line and seventh line
(Name the opposites.)
• Second and sixth lines (Two adjectives describing the nearest opposite.)
The Format of a Diamante Poem• Third and fifth lines
(Three participles (-ing words) describing the nearest opposite.)
• Fourth line – two nouns for each of the opposites. (This is the transition point where the poem changes from one of the opposites to the other.)
Example #1
The opposite
The opposite
Four transitional nouns,
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,Two adjectives,
Two adjectives,
Example #1
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,Two adjectives,
Two adjectives
Earth
Moon
Four transitional nouns,
Example #1
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,Round, Big,
Bright, Dust,
Earth
Moon
Four transitional nouns,
Example #1
Spinning, Rotating, Moving,
Shining, Glowing, Changing,
Earth
Moon
Round, Big,
Bright, Dust,
Four transitional nouns,
Example #1
Planet, World, Craters, Luna,
Spinning, Rotating, Moving,
Shining, Glowing, Changing,
Earth
Moon
Round, Big,
Bright, Dust,
Example #2
MoonBlue, orbit
Moving, twisting, coolingDark, still, light, busy
Turning, burning, warmingYellow, bright
Sun
Now It’s Your Turn…Follow the format and compose your
own diamante poemThe opposite
The opposite
Four transitional nouns,
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,
V-ing, V-ing, V-ing,Two adjectives,
Two adjectives,
You can try…
• Teachers…Students
• Children…Adults
• Spring…Winter
• Day…Night
• Love…Hate
• Peace…War