Acrostic Name Poems: We Are Thankful For Our Friends

We Are Thankful For Our Friends Name Poems: November 2002 Mrs. McGowan's First Grade Spring Lake, NJ
These are acrostic poems. How to do this step-by-step We learned how to write an acrostic by first contributing to a whole class poem. See our class acrostic about the ocean Other examples of this poetry form
Eggs Red Interesting Nice to be in the USA	Sausages Excellent writer America November
Pandas America Ice Cream Great sister Excellent	Soccer America Reading Animals are my favorite Happy
Jellybeans Uses T.V. Sausages Terrific wrestler Ice Cream Not at school	Juana Orange America New York November Apples
Good Ice cream Apples Nice sister American Girl doll	Juan Orange Happy New hockey stick
Camels Hobbie Apples Really happy Lives at home Eggs Soccer	Soccer Tells jokes Energetic Very special Eats ice cream
Pal Awesome T.V. Reads Ice cream Can have fun Kites	Violet Interesting Cats Teddy Oranges Red Ice cream Amber
Camels Outstanding artist Nice Nature Oranges Reading	The oldest in my family Yellow shirts Likes surfing Eats pizza Rock throwing is fun
Name Poems 2001	Student Showcase

Writing Acrostic Poems With New Poets!
Marci McGowan marcimcg@aol.com H. W. Mountz School Spring Lake, NJ Class Website	This is one of the most successful writing activites for emerging writers!
Acrostic poems are easy and fun to write. Capital letters are always at the beginning of a new line. Reading and rereading help to find the best words. One or more words are written on a line. Sentences are not necessary! Teachers: take time to model & share lots of words In case students need a word, they can ask classmates for help Coloring the first letter in each line makes it stand out. Share the poems with other classes!
Setting the Stage - Things To Consider Expose the children to many poems/chants right from the first week of school. The neat thing about acrostic poems, is that you don't have to be concerned with sentence writing or rhyming. It's really helpful to have experience (oral or written) with using describing words. Name Poems I like to do acrostics with the students' names because its something they know lots about. Model an acrostic for the class using your first name. Tell why you chose the words you did, making connections to some experience in your life. For example, I have an "A" in my name. I picked the word Amber because that's my cat's name. Here's my poem: Mom Amber Reading Cats and children Interested in learning more about quilts. Then we have a big brainstorming session to make lists of words that begin with letters in the first names of the children. I write the capital letters on the chalkboard. We just think of words and I scribe to make the lists. I usually do this in the morning before lunch. When we come back after recess, we start to write our sloppy copy. Students write their name vertically on paper using capital letters. Then they find words to tell about themselves. I tell them to skip a letter if they can't find a word and go back to it later. I try not to suggest words but I do give prompts such as, "Tell about the things you do best." That usually helps them get started. I conference with each child for a little bit during this writing session. We share as soon as one or two have written enough. Once the sharing begins (we do this at our seats because most are still writing), the others want to reach that part too, so they become better focused and write more. Depending on the time limitations for the class, I often end here for this day. I copy words from the chalkboard to paper during student recess time so we can use them the next day. During the session, some students are having a conference with me (to revise, find words, edit for spelling) and some are working on another writing assignment. When all the poems are completed in a first draft, I copy them on lined paper with a thin black marker. I have tried to let them do a final copy from their draft page, but there were too many mistakes. Taking the time to hand copy each is worth it. You might be able to get an aide or parent to help. Final session has all the students copying their poems on good paper, having their work checked by me for accuracy and neatness. Students trace over first letters with crayons or skinny markers. After sharing, the poems are displayed in hallway. Later in the week, students view their work on our website and read their poems to class again. PS. One of the skills I emphasize during this writing is to reread for revision: "reread to make it better."