Are you looking for a great writing idea to try out with your class?
This idea has lots of potential and your children will love it. We will start by explaining just what a lantern poem is and then look at some ideas you might want to try out with your class.
What Exactly Is Lantern Poetry?
A lanturne or lantern poem originated from Japan. It is a five-lined poem with a fixed syllable count for each line.
Line one has one syllable
Line two has two syllables
Line three has three syllables
Line four has four syllables
Line five has one syllable
The idea is to get the children to centre their writing so that the resulting pattern of words resembles a Chinese lantern. This adds a challenge to use the right words to create the desired visual appearance.
So you might get something like this:
An extra challenge for your children would be to add more structure by introducing the following instructions:
Line one should be a one syllable noun
The two syllables in line two should describe the noun
The three syllables in line three should describe the noun
The four syllables in line four should describe the noun
The last line should be a one syllable noun which is a synonym of the noun in line one
You might get something like this:
A final idea would be to base the whole poem around synonyms.
Line on – a one-syllable noun.
Line two – a two syllable synonym of the noun in line one.
Line three – a three syllable synonym of the noun in line one.
Line four – a four syllable synonym of the noun in line one.
Line five – a one syllable synonym of the noun in line one.
You might end up with something like this:
If the children can’t always find a four syllable synonym for the last line then a mix of words would work, as long as they totalled four-syllables.
Why not get your class to try the same exercise but this time finding antonyms of the word in line one?
We hope there are just a few ideas here that the children in your class will enjoy.
And finally, if you would like a FREE PowerPoint lesson using the idea of writing Haiku poems with synonyms then CLICK HERE.
Have fun!
Mike & David from Goodeyedeers.
