Diamante poetry originated in 1969 by an American educator and poet, Iris Tiedt. A diamante is a poem that showcases contrasts in the shape of a diamond. Diamante poems rely on a certain amount of describing words in each line. Here's a beautiful example, written by Katrina Powell.
River
deep, mighty
rushing, tumbling, rippling,
flooded, forded, traversed, charted
roaring, foaming, crushing
full, titanic
Ocean
This is lesson 33 in book 1 of our creative writing books. A diamante poem is a moving piece of work. The progression and placement of words is key in making an excellent example. Notice how the fourth line shifts from describing the first noun to describing the second noun or even describing both. Using precise words in this type of poetry creates imagery in a powerful way.
Here's another:
Jungle
lush, steamy
pulsing, moving, singing
explored, conquered, wasted, abandoned
unending, parching, withering
arid, uniform
Desert.
We began our lesson by using the words lion and lamb for our nouns and doing a diamante together on the board. Coming up with adjectives, verbs, or participles together as a class was energizing and provided motivation for their own poems.
The students could choose from the following list:
Smile/Frown
Day/Night
Student/Teacher
Cheese/Crackers
Fire/Ice
Sun/Moon
Mountain/Valley
Cat/Dog
It took two half hour class periods to do this project.
I provided the students with a diamond design I made on my computer for the students to write their poems into. Then the students were supposed to add a few illustrations to their pages with chalk, markers, or pencil crayons.
After the class was over, I had the students hang their work in the hallway. Here are a few good examples of their work.
It takes effort to help fifth graders find the perfect word and help them with placement so their work becomes a master piece. But the rewards are always there! Thanks to Jamie, Kaden, Caleb, and Erica for letting me show their work.
Thank you for your patience in the lateness of this blog post. The end of January my husband's mother passed away from cancer and it's taking us a bit to recuperate.
We added a new free download! Enjoy this Spring Writing Prompt.
Keep on teaching creative writing.
-Jennifer Yoder