Kindergarten
Poetry: Acrostic
What is the definition of Poetry?
What are the main elements of
Acrostic Poems?
Who is the possible audience?
What will I use for examples of
this genre? (Immersion)
**For additional titles see grade level
Immersion book list on the Writing
Intranet page.
What are some mini- lessons that
may need to be taught?
*See Intranet for suggestion mini-lesson
lesson plans
What are my expectations for
instructional time and publishing?
Poetry is a type of literature in which the sounds and meaning of language are compiled to create
images, feelings and/or ideas.
An acrostic poem uses the letters in the topic word to begin each line. All letters should describe
or relate to the topic word.
 Chosen topic is written in vertical form
 Words convey feelings and thoughts about topic
 Use sensory images to describe topic
 Uses descriptive words
 Peers
 Parents
 Teachers
Websites that share acrostics made by children and/or lessons to create poems:
 www.readwritethink.org
 www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/acrostic.html
 www.enchantedlearning.com/poetry/acrostic/
Planning for mini-lessons during a unit of study should be determined based on ongoing observations during
writing.
Organization: writing vertically for the topic and then writing horizontally to describe topic
Ideas: clear communication about topic
Word Choice: using descriptive and sensory words to convey meaning
Voice: unique to person’s feelings about topic
Conventions: using spaces between words, stretching out words, using the lines of the paper
appropriate from left to right and top to bottom
The amount of instructional time it takes to complete a writing unit needs to be pre-determined
by the teacher during the planning stage of the unit.
Suggested Publishing format: Class book collection of acrostic poems
Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, Writing for Audience and Purpose: (Heinemann, Portsmouth NH)
Elementary Language Arts Office
Required parameters are missing or incorrect.
2011/2012
Kindergarten
Poetry: Acrostic
This instructional model is not a day-by-day plan, but an overall picture of how to have students successfully write Acrostic Poems. The best units of study are
those in which the teacher takes into account their own areas of expertise, their students’ curiosity, prior experiences, and interests.
Process
Plan
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Gather many examples of the acrostic poems. Be familiar
enough with the elements of acrostic poems to be able to
enrich it for the children.
Your goal in this unit is to be sure that all students can
generate an acrostic poem.
On Going Assessment
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Immerse
and
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Discuss
and Chart
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Expose the children to a variety of poems from many authors.
Introduce them to acrostic poems and read many examples to
the students. Find authentic examples from websites:
www.readwritethink.org,
www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/acrostic.html,
www.enchantedlearning.com/poetry/acrostic)
Have students browse and examine many acrostic poems with
your guidance.
During this immersion phase, begin a chart titled, “What did
we notice about acrostic poems that make them special?”
Some comments might include:
“The word goes down the paper.”
“Each letter from the word begins a new thought.”
“The poem describes the authors feelings or thoughts about
the word.”
Every time you read a new acrostic poem, change the color of
the marker. You may want to put a copy of the poem title on
the chart as you add insights.
As you are reading aloud or after reading an acrostic poem,
record what the students notice about the poem. For example:
“What kind of words are the authors using in their poems?”
Take the poem apart with students and notice what makes
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Find out what students already know about poetry and chart
their responses.
Use their responses (their knowledge, questions, omissions,
confusions) to guide your teaching.
Be thinking, “What else do they need to know and
understand before they can successfully write an acrostic
poem?”
What do I need to do, say, read, model, show, and explain
before they are ready to effectively write on their own?
Check students’ growing understanding by asking, “What
have we learned about acrostic poems?”
While charting students’ responses, make note of how their
understanding of the genre is growing (or not).
Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, Writing for Audience and Purpose: (Heinemann, Portsmouth NH)
Elementary Language Arts Office
Required parameters are missing or incorrect.
2011/2012
Kindergarten
Poetry: Acrostic
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
them “good”. Continue to chart what the author did and
remind the students that they can do it too!
Keep charted responses short and meaningful; add
illustrations or pictures as necessary.
Make sure that students know that poems can be created about
any topic—food, pets, nature, people, animals, school, etc.
Write several acrostic poems in front of students as you:

Teacher
Demonstrates
Writing
and/or do
Shared
Writing of
Acrostic
Poems
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Write your poem first to model choosing a topic and deciding
what good describing words/phrases you will use for each
letter.
Draw pictures and write your acrostic poem.
Make all of your decisions in front of your students. You may
say something like this, “Kids, I’m going to be thinking out
loud as I write my story. I’m doing that so that when you write
you’ll know what kind of thinking writers do.”
Refer to the class chart often so that students see that you are
thinking like a writer by noticing what other authors have
done, always reinforcing that our poems are important to us.
They are our special thoughts and feelings.

Sustained
Writing Time
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If the audience was not predetermined, negotiate the
audience with your class.
Before students begin to write have them sit in small
groups and tell their poem word and the describing words
he/she can use to make his/her poem.
Teach focus lessons to support student needs.
Ask students, “What did you notice about my writing?” Check
to see if they are picking up on your writing process, for
example:
 Re-reading (to figure out what to say next to revisit and
rethink what you’ve written)
 Revising as you go
 Some editing as you go
 Thinking about characteristics you’ve listed together on
the class chart.
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When students are engaged in writing and know what
to do, the room has an engaged working hum.
The teacher is able to conduct mini-conferences with
students.
This writing time can include shared writing, dictation,
picture writing, and scribble writing and writing with
incomplete or complete spelling.
W5 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
Revise (hold
public content
conferences,
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Celebrate the work and the writer’s strengths.
Focus on content first.
Acknowledge the child and the hard work he/she has put
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Use conferences to assess students’ writing progress.
Notice patterns, for example, you may need to teach
mini-lessons that support using descriptive and sensory
Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, Writing for Audience and Purpose: (Heinemann, Portsmouth NH)
Elementary Language Arts Office
Required parameters are missing or incorrect.
2011/2012
Kindergarten
Poetry: Acrostic
and/or
individual
conferences
during and
after drafting)
Negotiate
Editing
Expectations
into this piece of writing.
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words to convey meaning (Word Choice).
Whole group discussions for making teaching points and
having focus lessons (mini-lessons).
Identify what the writer needs to move forward.
Revise your writing in front of the students.

Continually determine through observation and
discussion, which focus lessons to teach to small
groups or the whole class to help students move
forward.
Involve students so they are part of the decision-making in
determining what they are able to do independently.
Create an “Editing Expectations Chart” that lists all of the
agreed upon conventions with the students.
Hold students accountable for editing expectations agreed
upon as a class.
Hold editing conferences once students have done all they
can on their own.

Possible agreed upon conventions may be:
We will have capital letters at the beginning of each
word in our phrase/sentence.
We will put spaces between our words if using a phrase
or sentence.
We will spell words on the word wall correctly.
Note whether students are taking responsibility for
doing most of the editing work.
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W6 With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing including collaboration with peers.
Publish
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Think about a variety of publishing options. For acrostic
poems, you may want each student to publish 2-3 poems
and make a class collection of acrostic poems.
Share the writing with the intended audience so students
will understand that writing is a purposeful, powerful form
of communication.
Make published poems and pieces available for all
students to read.
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•
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Final published work that goes public should be as
perfect as we as we can get it.
Ask, “Has each student taken pride in producing
interesting, accurate, readable content with his/her
best efforts?”
Use rubric to score student writing.
Use Writing Checklist as a tool for documenting
progress in writing standards.
Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, Writing for Audience and Purpose: (Heinemann, Portsmouth NH)
Elementary Language Arts Office
Required parameters are missing or incorrect.
2011/2012