A cinquain (5-line poem) is one version of formula poems that work well with beginning English learners. There are many varieties of cinquain, but I like to give students the following formula:
Line 1 — 1 noun (person, place, thing, or idea); this is the subject of your poem
Line 2 — 2 adjectives that describe the noun
Line 3 — 3 present participles (-ing words) that describe the subject
Line 4 — 4 words that tell more about the subject
Line 5 — 1 word: repeat line 1 or use a word that is similar (synonym)
Line 1 — 1 noun (person, place, thing, or idea); this is the subject of your poem
Line 2 — 2 adjectives that describe the noun
Line 3 — 3 present participles (-ing words) that describe the subject
Line 4 — 4 words that tell more about the subject
Line 5 — 1 word: repeat line 1 or use a word that is similar (synonym)
Southwest Key students wrote their poems on paper, typed them in MS Word, and imported pictures (their own or from the Internet) to complement them. I have also had students transfer their cinquains to storyboards as a basis for creating PowerPoint presentations. Here are this year's poems, translated from students' MS Word files to a slideshow:
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