First Day of School Poems
Acrostic, Haiku, and Cinquain Poems are an Excellent Tool to Introduce Students
Aug 13, 2006
First day of school for primary to high school students is an introduction to staff and students. There is limited testing if any, the first day of school's purpose is to meet new and old friends. A great first day activity is for students to create name poems.
First Day of School Poems
For this activity, model one of the poems listed below, using your name as the example. Write your poem on chart paper to be easily visible to all students. Read you poem to the class and describe each step in creating the poem.
As a class, create a poem about a fictitious character or a famous artist. You and the students will write a poem as a group.
Next step is for the students to create their own poem about themselves. After the poem is completed have the students decorate the paper it was written on. The finished product will be the first piece of art to display in the classroom.
Final step is for the students to present their poem to the class.
This is an enjoyable activity for the students and the added benefit is they are working on their reading, listening, speaking, art, writing, and brainstorming skills. As well, this first day activity allows the teacher to gain insight about each student's personal interests and a glimpse at their school level. These insights are invaluable as the teacher can begin to tailor future lessons to her students.
Acrostic Poem: A poem in which the first letters of each line is a word or short phrase that speaks about the subject. The subject is written vertically.
Daring
Eats jalapeno peppers
Basketball player
Beautiful
Ice cream
Energetic
Cinquain: A poem with five lines that represents the subject.
1st Line-1 word-title
2nd Line- 2 words-describes the title
3rd Line- 3 words-action
4th Line- 4 words-feelings
5th Line-1 word-title (synonym for the 1st title)
Debbie
Energetic, fun
Likes playing soccer
Enjoys making new friends
Student
Haiku: A Japanese poem with three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, second line, 7 syllables, and 3rd line, 5 syllables.
Deb, fifth grade student
Loves to dance and play piano
She plays soccer too
Free Verse: A poem that has no set rules or guidelines.
Debbie, a girl from Maple
Excited to be in 6th grade
To learn about the moon and other interesting stuff
Her most favourite thing is talk to girlfriends
And play basketball after school
