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Mrs. Barragree's fifth grade website

"Preparing Minds for the Future;
Souls for Eternity!"

Acrostic Poem

  1. Prewriting:
    1. Brainstorm a total of 10 Most Important People, Things, or Activities in your life.
    2. Pretend you are traveling through the galaxy on a spaceship, and can only take five of the people, things, or activities with you. Circle the five that you would take with you.
    3. If you were guaranteed that one of the five things you circled could stay with you for the rest of your life, which one would you choose? Put a star by that one person, thing, or activity.
  2. Drafting:
    1. Write phrases and sentences about the starred topic. These should describe your topic, tell why it is so important to you, and tell how you feel about the topic using vivid words.
    2. For the person, thing, or activity that you have starred, write one word going down the left column of your page.
    3. Look at the phrases you wrote, and try to find phrases that begin with the letters in the topic word.
    4. Add more phrases and sentences about your topic to complete the acrostic. Remember that it is not necessary, or even desirable, to have the ends of each line rhyme.
  3. Revising:
    1. Read your acrostic aloud. What words sound weak or strange? Change them to use better, more interesting words.
    2. Read your acrostic to see if it helps the reader use their five senses to really understand your topic. Check for words and phrases that describe sights, smells, textures, sounds, and tastes associated with your topic. If you don't have any, or only one or two, try to add some "sense" words to your poem.
    3. Have you put emotion into your acrostic? Poetry is meant to help people experience one another's feelings, so be sure you have described your topic in an emotional way.
  4. Editing:
    1. Check your poem's conventions. Look for correct capitalization, spelling, and punctuation. If you have used just phrases, you may not need end punctuation.
    2. Make sure that your phrases all do begin with the letters that are in your topic word.
  5. Final Copy:
    1. Choose a way to visually present your poem. Options might include handwriting it, typing it on a computer, using art materials to make a poster, or writing it on an unusual object, such as a coffee can.
    2. Make the letters of your topic word stand out. They may be larger, in a different lettering style, or a unique color.
    3. Be sure that you copy your acrostic poem carefully and neatly, so that it is easy to read and enjoy!

Example of a simple acrostic:

Bring a sense of solitude
Open new worlds to explore, and new friends to share my adventure
Only get more valuable with use
Keep me up until 3 a.m., filled with nervous tension and curiosity
Sit heavy on the shelf, weighted with knowledge

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