Cinquain and

Cinquain Syllable
Poetry

Grades 2 - 7
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© Phyllis Haley 2023

Contents
Cinquain Poetry Lesson Plan

Exemplars

Checklist Printable

Draft Printable

Good Copy Printables

(B & W and Colour)

Olympic Cinquain Poem

Cinquain Syllable Poems

Exemplars

Checklist Printable

Draft Printable

Good Copy Printables

(b & w and colour)

Variations

Thank you Credits

 Writing
Creative, lifelong
Brainstorming, drafting, editing
My favourite teaching subject
Prose
by Phyllis Haley
Cinquains
Fall
Grey sky
Raking, jumping, running
Snowflakes
Winter is coming soon.
Very small
Falling so slow Autumn
They are very delicate. Grade 4 Student
Crystals
Grade 4 Student

Snowflakes
Beautiful designs
Drifting down softly Nicholas
I love the snow. Jolly, chubby
Crystals Walking, flying, sleeping
Grade 5 Student Always happy delivering
presents
Father-Christmas
Grade 3 Student

Figure
Costumes, rhythm
Spins, jumps, twirls
It's interesting to watch.
Skating
Grade 2 Student
 Step 1: Prewriting
Objectives
The learners will be able to:
• understand the format of a cinquain
• write a cinquain
Materials
• overhead projector or SMART/Interactive board to display:
• exemplars (e.g., fall, Christmas, winter),
• draft outline, and
• checklist
• chalkboard, white board, or chart paper
• student materials (e.g., pencils and personal spelling booklets)

Procedures
(Regular font with quotations indicates dialogue that the teacher can
follow; text in italics denotes instructions for the teacher.)

• "Today, we are going to write a fall cinquain. Let's look at a few examples
of cinquains and identify the format." Display cinquains and read the first
two examples. Guide the class to determine the structure of a cinquain by
asking questions such as the following:

• "How many lines does a cinquain have?"

• "How many words are in each line?"
• "How are lines one and five related?" (synonyms)
• "What kind of words are lines two and three?" (line two are
adjectives; line three are verbs)
• "What does line four describe?" (a feeling)

• Display the draft outline for the class to view the format.
 Step 1: Prewriting Continued
• "Let's brainstorm some fall words and phrases." Record student
responses. Brainstorming ideas can also be recorded in columns: adjectives,
verbs, and feelings. Another brainstorming method consists of classifying
words according to senses: sights, sounds, and smells of fall.

• "Before we write a cinquain together, let's look at the criteria." Discuss

the criteria outlined in the checklist.

• "I'll show you some more examples of cinquains and tell me if the lines
have the criteria that we just discussed." Read the remaining examples and
ask students if the lines meet the criteria (e.g., Does the second line
contain two adjectives? Has the writer included descriptive and interesting
words and avoided using simple language?).

• "Now we're ready to write a cinquain together." Guide the class to

compose the poem.

• "Let's check our cinquain with the checklist to make sure that we have
met the criteria."

Step 2: Draft
• "It's now your turn to write your own cinquain. Let's look at who our
audience will be." Write the usual audience forums: a partner, the class,
parents, bulletin board, class/school newsletter, and/or a class booklet.

• "For your draft today, you can use words and phrases from the
brainstorming list or create your own. When you're finished, you can work
on an illustration."

• "I'll circulate around the room to assist you with any further questions
you may have." Review the instructions by asking students to repeat them.
Materials are handed out and the class begins their draft.
 Step 3: Editing
Objectives
The students will be able to:
• assess their own work using teacher generated criteria
• provide constructive feedback to others, showing appreciation and
support
Materials
• examples of anonymous cinquains; use student samples from another
class or create the following: a poem that meets all or most of the
criteria, an average example that requires some revisions, and a weak
cinquain that needs a lot of editing
• proofreading checklist/acronym (COPS)
• student materials (e.g., completed draft, pencils, thesaurus, and
dictionaries)
Procedures
• "You will now have the opportunity to edit your own sentences with a
partner. We'll practice together first."
• Display the checklist and review the criteria.
• Display the anonymous draft that meets all or most of the criteria. Read
the cinquain to the class. Point out that the writer of the poem has
complete ownership and the role of the partner is to guide and make
suggestions. Lead the group to suggest revisions by looking at one criterion
at a time.
• Model the same procedure with the average example and the cinquain
that requires a lot of revision. Remember to use work that does not belong
to a student in the class; use anonymous examples from previous years or
create drafts that require changes.
• Direct the class to do the author's mumble and make any revisions
before the peer editing session.
• Students rotate around the room to different partners until the session
is over.
 Step 4: Proofreading
• Review proofreading criteria or acronym (e.g., PROSE, COPS).
• Remind students that proofreading is similar to the editing process in
that the objective is to guide students to correct mistakes.
• Proofread an anonymous draft one line at a time while referring to the
criteria: "Does this sentence have proper punctuation? Read the next
sentence slowly to find any omissions." Continue in this manner with the
remainder of the indicators.
• Arrange assigned proofreaders or allow students to choose a partner.
• Inform students to go to proofreaders during the entire allotted time and
to get signatures at the bottom of their drafts.

PROSE

v Punctuation (periods, commas, quotation marks)

v Read your work over slowly
v Omissions
v Spelling: circle any words that you would like to look up in the
dictionary
v Engage in checking for capital letters (beginning of sentences;
proper nouns)
 Cinquain Poetry Checklist
Name __________________________________ Date ___________________

1. I have done the author's mumble. (I have read my work

to myself.) c
2. I have used the proper format:

Line 1 One-word title c

Line 2 Two adjectives c
Line 3 Three verbs c
Line 4 Four words expressing a feeling c
Line 5 Synonym for the title c
3. Poem focuses on one topic. c
4. My words are descriptive and interesting; I have avoided using

simple or banned words such as good, nice, and neat. c

5. I have written a variety of verbs and nouns so main words

are not repeated. c

6. Someone else would be able to read my printing/
handwriting. c
 Cinquain Poem (Draft)
Name __________________________________ Date ___________________

Format
A cinquain is a five-line poem that follows this pattern:

Line 1 - one-word title Rudolf

Glowing sight
Line 2 - two adjectives (describing)
Pulling the sleigh
Line 3 - three verbs (action)
A light he is
Line 4 - four words expressing a feeling
Reindeer
Line 5 - synonym for the title
Grade 4 Student

1 ____________________________________

2 _________________________________ ________________________________

3 ______________________ ______________________ ______________________

4 _____________________________________________________________________

5 ____________________________________
 Templates
My Cinquain My Cinquain
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By By

Use templates for

any theme.
Seasons
Holidays
Events
Celebrations
Curricular Topics
Sports
Animals
 My Cinquain Poem

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By ___________________________________
 My Cinquain
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By
 Cinquain Poem

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by ________________________________________
 My Cinquain
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By
 My Earth Day
Cinquain
Climate
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Crisis, long-term
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Heating, melting, flooding

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Impacting our precious planet

_____________________________________________________________________

Weather
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Phyllis
By ___________________________________
 Cinquain Poem
Candy
____________________________________

Sugary , sweet
____________________________________ ____________________________________

Craving , Unwrapping , savouring

________________________ ________________________ ________________________

Favourites are conversation hearts

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Confections
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By
CINQUAIN SYL•LA•BLE
POEMS

To write
Literacy
Thinking, Imagining
Putting ideas on paper
Compose
by Phyllis Haley
Cinquain Syllable Poems
Spinach
Squishy, slimy
Slides off the plate, wiggly
Yum, wonderful, give me some more.
Tasty

Hockey
A fun ice game
Action, competitive
I'd like to play it every day.
A sport

Baseball
Four white bases
Catching, hitting, running
I can feel the wind in my hair.
A sport

Puppies
Labrador dogs
Grow into an adult
All labs give so much love to you.
Maggie

By Grade 4 to 6 Students
 Cinquain Syllable Poem Checklist
Name __________________________________ Date ___________________

1. I have done the author's mumble. (I have read my work

to myself.) c
2. I have used the proper format:

Line 1 title: 2 syllables c

Line 2 description of title: 4 syllables c
Line 3 action/verbs: 6 syllables c
Line 4 expressing a feeling: 8 syllables c
Line 5 synonym for the title: 2 syllables c
3. Poem focuses on one topic. c
4. My adjectives are descriptive and interesting; I have avoided

using simple or banned words (good, nice, and neat). c

5. I have written a variety of verbs and nouns so main words

are not repeated. c

6. Someone else would be able to read my printing/
handwriting. c
Cinquain Syllable Poem (Draft)
Name __________________________________ Date ___________________

Format
A cinquain syllable poem is a five-line poem that follows this
pattern:
Line 1 - title: 2 syllables
Line 2 - description of title: 4 syllables
Line 3 - action/verbs: 6 syllables
Line 4 - expressing a feeling: 8 syllables
Line 5 - synonym for the title: 2 syllables

Rainbow Simpson
Arching colours Bart, ten years old
Fading away slowly His best friend is Millhouse
It makes me happy to see one. He likes to pull pranks on teachers
Bright rain Naughty

By Grade 4/5 Students

1 ______________________________

2 _______________________________________________________

3 _________________________________________________________________

4 _________________________________________________________________

5 ______________________________
My Cinquain Syllable Poem

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By ___________________________________
My Cinquain Syllable Poem

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By ___________________________________
My Cinquain Syllable Poem

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 My Cinquain Syllable Poem
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By
 My Cinquain Syllable Poem
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 My Cinquain Syllable Poem
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By
Cinquain Syllable Poem
A Cinquain Syllable
Poem
 Check out:
Valentine’s
Day

Poetry
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-Day-Poetry-8966411
 Check Out:
Earth Day Poetry

Earth Day
Poetry

Contents
Teaching Tips
Earth Day Story Links
Websites
Word Banks
Cinquains: examples, checklist, good copy and generic
templates (black & white and colour)

Earth Day is important because…

Acrostic Poems: checklist, good copy and generic
templates (black & white) and colour, examples
Couplets: checklist, draft, good copy and generic
templates (black & white and colour), examples
Diamante Poetry: checklist, draft, good copy and
generic templates (black & white
and colour), examples
Bonus: Earth Day and Arbor Day
Comparison
Thank you credits

Border Credit:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Earth-Day-Poetry-Cinquains-Acrostic-Couplets-and-Diamante-8845575
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Contents
Exemplars (Grades 3 – 6)
by Phyllis Haley

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