Cinquain Poetry Lesson Plan
4th Grade
Objective: Students will be able to identify the common structures of
cinquain poetry and write their own examples.
Motivation: Tell the students, “We have been working hard the past few
days to identify new types of poetry. Today we will focus on a type of
poetry called a cinquain.” Introduce the Learning Target---I can identify the
structure of a cinquain poem and create my own cinquain poem.
Teach/Active Engagement: Explain to the students, “A cinquain is a five
line poem that describes a noun. Who can remind me what the definition of
a noun is?” Explain that there is a format to follow for creating a cinquain
poem. Call attention to the following poem on the Smart Board:
Penguins
Black, white
Swimming, jumping, fishing
All the penguins jump down into the water.
Birds
Using the poem, explain the format of a cinquain poem:
The first line is always one word that is a noun. In this poem the noun is
penguins. This lets me know the rest of the poem will be about penguins.
The second line always has two adjectives, or words that describe a noun. In
this poem the adjectives are black and white. These two words describe
what a penguin looks like.
The third line always contains three verbs or action words with the ending –
ing. Penguins normally swim, jump, and fish.
The fourth line is a phrase, or a sentence about the noun. For example, in
this poem the sentence is, “All penguins jump down into the water.” The
sentence is still related to the topic but describes something more about
penguins.
Finally, the fifth line of a cinquain poem is one word. This one word is a
synonym for the title of the poem. Birds is a synonym for penguins in our
example above. The writer simply renamed the noun from the first line.
All cinquain poems follow this five line structure. Let’s look at another
example together. Show the cinquain poem, “Moon”
Moon
Dark, holes
Moving, changing, repeating
The moon revolves around the earth in one month.
Rock
Turn to your partner and take turns reading this poem aloud. What do you
notice about the structure of the poem? Students should respond citing
examples from the previous poem including the adjectives and verbs.
Guided Practice: As a class, work with students to create an example of a
cinquain poem using the word “student.” Follow the pattern and allow
students to volunteer suggestions.
Exit Slip: Students will complete an exit slip requiring them to identify a
cinquain and will write their own original cinquain. These will be typed and
added to their Writing Folders.
Ghost
Scary, and formless
Haunting, terrifying and frightening
It will scare you
Phantom
HAMBURGER
Juicy ,Meaty
Sizzling ,Oozing ,Cooking
Comes from a cow
Meat