Photo of a book with pages folded in a heart shapeConnecting Reading and Writing: Poetry

Goals:

  • Read examples of list poems
  • Understand the characteristics of List Poems

A List Poem is a type of free verse poetry. In these poems, the author lists carefully chosen words and phrases to describe a topic or idea that is important to them.

List poems have some characteristics we can look for as we read:

  • they contain a list of items written down the page
  • the list can be made of single words, or phrases, or a combination of both
  • the list items are connected by a topic or idea (the topic is often also the title of the poem)
  • these poems might use rhyming words – it is the author’s choice

Read these four examples of list poems.
As you read, look for the above characteristics.

These poems list words and phrases that expand the topic in the title of the poem.

Tomorrow, you will write your own list poem using your Heart Map.
To get ready for writing, look back at your heart map. Try to expand your map with words and phrases that describe the ideas you have on your map. You could also add new ideas if you want.

Other Opportunities:

  • Re-read today’s poems. What do you think the author’s purpose was for each poem? (e.g., to entertain you, to describe something, to inform, to persuade, to explain something) How do you know?
  • Keep on reading books you choose every day!

Note to families: Online articles can be challenging to read. If your child is logged into their WRDSB Google Account, they can use the Read and Write for Google Chrome plugin to have online text read to them.