AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
CINQUAIN:
ALL ABOUT ME!
MELD Lesson Designed by
Dr. Jamila Gillenwaters
Academic English Mastery Program
MELD Objectives:
1.Teachers will take students through the five stages of the Writing Process in order to produce an autobiographical
Cinquain poem.
2.Students will learn (or review ) how to use a thesaurus and a Personal Thesaurus for Academic Language Development.
3.Teachers will integrate CLR teaching strategies into the lesson.
4.Teachers may use the PowerPoint provided to teach the lesson with, if they choose to.
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising,
and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 4 here.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.5c Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but
not identical meanings (synonyms).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including
those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g.,
wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).
Skills:
This lesson is more about: teaching the stages of the Writing process, reviewing parts of speech, Tier 2 vocabulary
development, and letting the students express how they feel about themselves than poetry.
Materials:
•Chart Paper
•PowerPoint
•Access to computer for final drafts of poem (Optional)
CLR Elements:
•Use of Personal Thesaurus of Conceptually Coded Words to build Tier 2 vocabulary
•Use of Response and Discussion Protocols to facilitate Instructional Conversations
•Cooperative and Communal Learning
Lesson Created by Dr. Jamila Gillenwaters, AEMP
OBJECTIVES:
WE ARE GOING TO:
o
o
o
o
Progress through the stages of the Writing
Process
Create Autobiographical Cinquains
Learn how to use a thesaurus
Learn how using a Personal Thesaurus
can help use learn new vocabulary words
CINQUAIN
Sandy
mammal, scientist
inventing, exploring, chopping
brainy, inventive, tough, friendly
Squirrel
Model
WHAT IS A CINQUAIN?
o
o
o
A cinquain is a five-line poem that has special
word counts.
A cinquain poem has its own unique format.
As we write our poems, we will have to focus on
the format required by this type of writing.
WHAT IS THE FORMAT?
Autobiographical CINQUAIN
Line 1: A one-word line, your first name.
(This is your subject.)
Line 2: Two nouns that describe the subject.
Line 3: Three verbs that end in –ing that describe what the subject does.
Line 4: Four adjectives that describes how the subject looks, feels, or
acts.
Line 5: One word, your last name.
Parts of Speech
WHAT IS A NOUN?
o
Person, place, thing or
idea.
Miss Mitchell
o Friendship
o Classroom
o Happiness
o Sunshine
o Gummy Bears
o
At school
Outside
of school
athlete
scholar
sister
Nouns that
describe us
WHAT IS A VERB?
• Shows Action
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fly
Skip
Jump
Pounce
Whisper
Sneak
Laugh
sports
school
verbs that
describe what we do
home
outside
of school
WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE?
• Describing words
that affect nouns
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Brown (Colors)
Red
Quick (Speed)
Slow
Huge (Size)
Tiny
Hard
Feel like
Look like
Adjs. that
describe us
Act like
Other
NOW, LET’S CONDUCT A GALLERY
WALK FOR OUR PREWRITING
Your First Name
2 Nouns
3 Verbs
4 Adjectives
Now it’s time to make your own
Cinquain!
WHAT IS THE LAYOUT?
Line 1: A one-word line, your first name.
This is your subject.
Line 2: Two nouns that describe the subject.
Line 3: Three verbs that end in –ing that describe what the subject
does.
Line 4: Four adjectives that describes how the subject looks, feels,
or acts.
Line 5: One word, your last name.
WHAT IS A SYNONYM?
o
o
A word having the same
(or almost the same)
meaning as another
word.
An alternative to the
word.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
excited
o happy
o movie
o sports
o
eager
glad
film
athletics
•
•
Give me examples:
A THESAURUS…
…is a dictionary that gives alternate words or
synonyms.
…can be used online as well.
…can also be found of inside of a dictionary.
BUT HOW DO I USE A PERSONAL
THESAURUS?
PERSONAL THESAURUS
The word placed in this box
represents a concept I know and
understand.
The words placed on these
lines represent my “new”
“Tier 2” “spicy” vocabulary
words!
They are words I am
learning.
Learning them will help build
my reading comprehension as
well.
a
awful
ask
inquire
haughty
appalling
request
arrogant
unpleasant
interrogate
conceited
dreadful
all that
The word placed in this box is
an antonym for the word in
the box.
great
answer
humble
Lesson Created by Dr. Jamila Gillenwaters, AEMP
REVISION:
HELP SPONGEBOB REVISE HIS POEM!
Sponge Bob
friend, cook
singing, flipping, catching
funny, kind, square, yellow
Square Pants
Revision:
Help SpongeBob revise his poem!
friend
buddy
companion
acquaintance
enemy
cook
funny
kind
REVISE YOUR CINQUAIN
o
o
o
You revised SpongeBob’s cinquain poem, now
you’ll do the same thing to revise your own writing.
Use the synonyms you found to revise your 1st
draft of your cinquain.
Make sure each line of your poem meets the word
count criteria for the poem.
EDITING / PROOFREADING
o
o
o
What’s the difference
between revising and
proofreading?
Look at your poems to
take note of the
proofreading marks I
added to your poems.
Let’s explore the
classroom resources
we can use to edit our
poems.
FINAL DRAFT
Sponge Bob
buddy, chef
singing, flipping, chasing
comical, considerate, square, yellow
Square Pants
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Options
o
o
Students may create paragraphs
after they complete their poems.
Students may complete a
multiple paragraph,
autobiographical essay:
o
o
o
o
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: A paragraph that
explains why these nouns describe
you
Paragraph 3: A paragraph that
describes why you like to “do” these
verbs—Why do they describe what
you like to do?
Paragraph 4: A paragraph that
describes why these adjectives
describe you.
Sponge Bob
buddy, chef
singing, flipping, chasing
comical, considerate, square, yellow
Square Pants
Lesson Created by Dr. Jamila Gillenwaters, AEMP
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Example of a paragraph created
using the cinquain as the
“Prewriting”
All About ME!
Hi! My name is Sponge Bob
Square Pants, and I believe I am
unique! I am a great friend to my
buddies, Patrick and Sandy. I am
an excellent chef because I make
the best Crabby Patties in Bikini
Bottom! I spend my time singing as
I work, flipping Crabby Patties, and
chasing jellyfish. I am a yellow
square, and that’s how I got my
name. I think my hilarious practical
jokes make me comical, and I am
very considerate to all of my friends.
I believe all of these qualities make
me a pretty unique individual!
Sponge Bob
buddy, chef
singing, flipping, chasing
comical, considerate, square, yellow
Square Pants
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Example of a essay created
using the cinquain as the
“Prewriting”
All About ME!
Hi! My name is Sponge Bob Square
Pants. I live in a pineapple, under the sea,
in Bikini Bottom. I’m quite a unique
individual. I mean, have you ever met a
sponge quite like me before?
I describe myself as a buddy and a
chef. My best friends, Patrick and Sandy,
and I have the most exciting adventures
together! Iwork as a chef at the Crabby
Patty……continue on
I enjoy singing while I work,
flipping Crabby Patties, and chasing
jellyfish. (each supporting detail sentence of
this paragraph would provide details about
them participating in these activities).
(Continue with this model)
Sponge Bob
buddy, chef
singing, flipping, chasing
comical, considerate, square, yellow
Square Pants