Clare’s Diamante

Dog

big, smart

running, hunting, barking

wild, strong, cute, soft

biting, clawing, wobbling

playful, rough

Puppy.

by Clare B.

Paul’s Diamante

Land

hard, solid

hissing, shaking, breaking

conquered, beautiful, unstable, drinkable

evaporating, flowing, falling

salty, clear

Water.

by Paul C.

Corey’s Diamante

Day

sunny, hot

playing, jumping, sliding

sun, play, bed, pajamas

hot tubbing, sleeping showering

crickets, cold

Night.

by Corey B.

Jenna’s Diamante

Fall

chilly, colorful

raking, changing, falling

feast, candy, gifts, family

sledding, freezing, shivering

cold, snow

Winter.

by Jenna A.

Cori’s Diamante

Child

curious, obnoxious

crying, playing, hitting

grounded, silly, strict, headstrong

talking, loving, spoiling

harsh, fun

Parent.

by Cori M.

 

Isabella’s Diamante

War

fight, guns

killing, shooting, yelling

blood, knives, friend, love

giving, teaching, creating

calm, kind

Peace.

 

by Isabella K.

What Is A Diamante?

A Diamante Poem follows a very specific format – there are seven lines, and each line must have a specific number and type of words.  When you’re finished, the poem will be in the shape of a diamond!  Look at the format and example below, and then try writing your own diamante poem.

 

Line 1- Topic (noun)
Line 2 –Two describing words (adjectives)
Line 3 – Three action words (-ing verbs)
Line 4 – Four words: Two words about the topic and two  

               words that are opposite of those in line 2
Line 5 – Three action words for the ending noun (-ing verbs)
Line 6 – Two words to describe ending noun (adjectives)
Line 7 -Ending noun (opposite of Line 1)

The next few posts will feature some diamante poems that our students have written.

December Writing Club and Christmas Cookie Extravaganza!

Today, we had our Poetry Power meeting at my house.  We learned how to write a Japanese poem called a tanka.  However, I don’t think our minds were really into poetry that much, because it is almost Christmas, and we were looking forward to making some cookies.  We frosted  and decorated Holiday Cut-outs, learned how to make Stained Glass Windows, made Peanut Blossoms, put the final coat of powdered sugar on some Russian Teacakes, baked some Chocolate Crinkles and dusted the Thumbprint cookies with powdered sugar before adding the jelly to them.  Most of the boys weren’t really interested in making cookies(they did fine on the eating part 🙂 ), so they played in the backyard.  Afterwards, all the kids went in the backyard and played dodgeball while the moms visited.  All in all, it was a good time.  Here are a few pictures of the days’ activities.  Thanks again to all the moms who helped me out greatly!

Click on pictures for a better view.

                         

             

Here are some of the types of cookies we made.

               

Chocolate Crinkles                    Holiday Cutouts

           

Thumbprint Cookies               Peanut Blossoms

Lovely Lanturnes

Grass

laying

on the ground.

Skinny, green blades

move.

Corey B.

 

Big

bright stars

shining far,

silvery, bright

light.

Claire B.

Snow

falls on

the tall trees

and sticks to each

branch.

Kaitlyn M.

My

dog

had eleven

puppies. They’re so

cute!

Jenna A.

(Her dog really did have 11 puppies! Click on this photo to see a bigger image.)

What is a lanturne?

Uhm, excuse me.  Shouldn’t you be asking what is a “lantern”? 

Actually, it is a lanturne.  A lanturne is a five lined Japanese form of poetry with a syllabic pattern of one, two, three, four, one.  If you use your imagination, the basic shape of a lanturne does look like a lantern.  This is the type of poetry we learned about in our first writing class in September.  Here are a couple written by me, the teacher.

Peas

swirling

on my plate.

They don’t taste so

great.

 

 

 

Smile

lingers

on your face;

telling of your

joy.

 

 

Stay tuned for our next post which will feature lanturnes written by our students.