8 Types of Poetry
Poetry is one of the easiest ways to bring out the creativity in all of your writers. There are many types of poetry for students to write. From the freedom of free verse to the counting of syllables in haikus, students are sure to find one that they enjoy writing.
The shorter length is perfect for struggling writers and using poetry templates will help guide the writing. Writing poems also allows them time to really use the writing process and reread and edit what they have written.
Using Different Types of Poetry Reinforces the Standards:
- Knowing the parts of speech they are looking for allows them to follow poem patterns.
- Understanding the breakdown of words helps them count syllables.
- Knowing how to use a thesaurus, dictionary, and rhyming dictionary will guide them in making the best word choice.
1. Haiku Poetry
A haiku is a Japanese style of poetry that typically focuses on the topic of nature. A haiku is made up of 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the third line has 5 syllables. Traditional haikus focus on nature.
When planning a haiku, it helps for writers to decide on their topic and then create a list of words that describe their topic. After deciding on the best words, choose the best words that will fit into the syllable pattern of the poem.
I like focusing on teaching the main idea with this poetry type. Students choose their topic and plan words that they could use. When they write the poem, the topic is the title, but they cannot use that word in the poem. I post these or read them aloud and have the other students try to guess the title of the poem.
Ways to Use Haikus:
- Assessment after a unit of study
- Vocabulary Review
- Sensory details
- Nature Walk
My Favorite Books to Use:
Learn more about ways to use Haikus in this article.
2. Cinquain Poetry
A Cinquain poem is a 5-line poem using nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe a topic. It ends with a phrase about the topic and a synonym for the topic. I like to use a planning guide when writing these poems. It helps learners think through their word choice and categorize them by part of speech. This makes writing the poem easier. This is a great lesson to pair with using a thesaurus. Students can find synonyms to make their poem stronger.
Ways to use Cinquain Poems:
- Synonyms
- Parts of Speech
- Verbs Ending in -ing
Learn more about ways to use Cinquains in this article.
3. Acrostic Poetry
Acrostic poems use the first letter in a word to write a poem. When starting to write this poetry type, have writers create a poem with one word for each letter.
As writers progress, have them write phrases for each letter of the word. You can then advance to having them write sentences that wrap around to the next letter.
Acrostic poems can be used as a culminating activity to review key vocabulary in a unit. This is a great way to assess understanding and teach students how to review and study. Posting these on a display can help students teach others about a topic.
Ways to use Acrostic Poetry
- Vocabulary Review
- Main Idea
4. Diamante Poetry
A diamante poem is a 7-line poem that uses nouns, verbs, and adjectives to compare or contrast two topics. This is a great poem to use to teach antonyms (night/day). You can also use it to compare topics in your content areas (Subtraction/Addition or Carnivore/Omnivore or Colonial America/Industrial Revolution).
Ways to use Diamante Poems:
- Compare and Contrast
- Parts of Speech
- End of Unit Review
Learn more about teaching Diamante Poems in this article.
5. Shape Poems
Shape poems allow students to add their artistic creativity to the writing process. With shape poems, you can use any style of poetry to create the poem. When you write the words out, they will take the shape of the poem.
6. Bio Poetry
One of my favorite poetry types to use is bio poetry. Bio poems can be used in many different ways and is a great formative assessment tool. Bio poetry follows a guide to answer questions about a topic. While most bio poems focus on people, I have used this to review key concepts and vocabulary for math and science units.
Bio poems are great for note-taking as students are looking for key details. They also push readers to make inferences. Readers have to comprehend and process what they are reading in order to discover the things the person loves or fears.
Ways to use Bio Poems:
- Note-taking
- Inferencing
- Get to Know You
Learn more about ways to use Bio Poetry in this article.
7. Free Verse Poetry
Free verse poetry is one of my favorite types of poetry to use. I love to introduce it as the type of poetry that is a rule breaker. Free verse has no rules. It just flows and the words take the shape and form that the author wants. No worrying over punctuation or rhyme scheme.
This format is great with combining content area vocabulary words. You can tie free verse poetry in with a novel in verse book study.
8. Limericks
Limericks follow an AABBA pattern. This type of poetry has 5 lines. Lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme and have 8-9 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme and they have 5-6 syllables. Limericks are typically meant to be funny. This style of poetry is great for word choice and vocabulary building.
Download these FREE Poetry Templates HERE.
Incorporating these types of poetry into your content areas throughout the school year will engage your learners. Using poems can enhance the content while students are using key reading and writing standards.
Want to learn more about teaching poetry?
Poetry Units and Literacy Centers
How to Teach Poetry, (Even if You HATE It!) – Download the FREE Poetry Close Read for any poem.
Follow my Poetry Board on Pinterest
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Amy says
Thank you for your great resources! I love poetry and hope to instill it in the kids!
Jessica says
You are so welcome! I am sure your love for poetry will pass to your students!
Jessica
Betzy says
Excellent!!
Beth says
Thank you so much! I teach in an almost all ESL school and it is so hard to teach poetry to children that barely speak, read or write in English. These are great and easy to use.
Jessica says
Hi Beth,
Yay! You are so welcome! So happy that these will help you. Glad this will help make it easier for your students.
Jessica
Terri says
Trying my hand at teaching 4th grade writing. Thank you for your posts, they are very helpful!
Terri
Jessica says
So happy they are helping. 4th graders are perfect for learning to teach writing. They are starting to get better at writing and LOVE sharing their ideas.
Tamar says
Hi, I am trying to download these poem templates and am having trouble doing so…. I have put in my email address to download and I am not receiving any email?
I would love to be able to use these to help my daughters with their poetry writing. Thanks!
Jessica says
Hi,
So sorry for the delay in responding. Just send me an email and I will get them to you.
Thanks,
Jessica
Jessuly says
Hi Jessica! Would love to use these templates for drafting in our upcoming unit but can’t seem to download them. Not sure if I’m clicking the right spot? Thanks!
Jessuly says
Sorry – I figured it out! Thanks again!
Jessica says
Sorry for the confusion. I am glad you figured it out!
Jessica
Jayna Wade says
Jessica I have requested this to be sent to my email but I have not received it yet. How long does it typically take? I really need them 🙂
Thanks!
Jayna
Jessica says
Can you send me an email. I’ll do it now. Not sure why it’s not working.
Bose says
Thank you for the resource! this was very useful for teaching the children poetry!
Jessica says
So happy to hear that it helped! Thanks!
Jessica
Jayna Wade says
I am still struggling to get this packet. I am sure I am doing something wrong on my end. I have emailed you but still can’t find this download.
Kathy says
I too can’t seem to download. I click on the link and it says that it is waiting. Would you please email the resources? Thanks
Jessica says
Sure. Can you email me at jessica@jessicazannini.com? This should be an automatic download. I will check the link.
Teresa says
I cannot open the https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/8faecc6c-8b55-41c3-ac1c-9748b40d4fc1/redeem.
Can you resend them to me in a different way.
Thank you.
Jessica says
Sure. Can you email me at jessica@jessicazannini.com
Donna says
Thank you for this . I am looking forward to giving my students a different aspect of expression.
Sylvia says
Hi, I am trying to download these poem templates and am having trouble doing it. I have put in my email address to download and I received an email and it brought me back here.
Jessica says
Oh no! I will check the link again.
Sylvia says
Hi, I I have put in my email address to be able to download the poetry templates and I received an email and it brought me back here.