Teacher Resources for
Forget Me
Not
Poetry Forms - Scavenger
Hunt -
Downloadable PDF File
Raven Trivia Challenge -
Downloadable PDF File
Verse Novel Panel -
IRA Conference 2012 -
Downloadable PowerPoint Show
Cinquain Chains
Cinquains are a great way to
explore characters. They are short, just five lines long
as the name illustrates, so it's important to capture
the essence of a character with as few words as
possible. It's also a good activity for students who
struggle with written language.
Writing character cinquains
can be part of a book report or a stand alone activity.
They can be used to create a "cast of characters" and
because so much white space is left on the page, other
artwork may accompany the project.
Because it's a poem, ideas
are more important than grammar
and punctuation. Ironically though, students are still
exploring grammar because the cinquain focuses on using
parts of speech to create each line.
The basic format of the
cinquain is as follows:
Line 1: One word
(subject or noun)
Line 2: Two words
(adjectives describing the subject)
Line 3: Three words (-ing
verbs relating to the subject)
Line 4: Four words
(feeling words, sentence, or phrase relating to the
subject.
Line 5: One word
(synonym or word that sums up the subject)
In my recent paranormal
verse novel, Forget Me Not, I wrote sections of the
story in screenplay format. As an introduction to one of
the sections, I wrote a series of cinquains describing
the characters who appeared in that scene. I decided to
call this my cinquain chain because of the way the
verses appear to be interlocking down the page. See the
example below:
Cast of Characters:
Ally
afraid, alone
hurting, hiding, biding
never can go back
me
Sister
timid, guarded
sitting, knitting, praying
quiet girl in black
nun
Rotceo
hungry, unsatisfied
holding, kissing, groping
always gets his way
loverboy
Julie Ann
trapped, bored
forgetting, conceding,
letting
she never gets away
girlfriend
Hangman
dark, dangerous
playing, plotting, punishing
ruler of the hall
demon
And a cameo appearance by:
Elijah
brave, bold
knowing, helping, showing
he risks it all
friend
So give
it a try! Have fun creating cinquains of your own.
