Quick Poetry Activities for High School Creative Writing (Printable Bundle)

Support the development of poetry-writing skills with this bundle of quick, convenient activities for middle and high school Creative Writing classes. These resources provide a survey of poem formats and are suitable for a range of purposes: emergency sub plans, bell-ringer activities, supplements to thematic units, etc. Materials are delivered in both printable Word Document and PDF formats. (Alternatively, a Google Drive option is available.) Included are directions, templates, and/or examples of the following poetry forms:

• Autobiographical Poetry: Students will generate an autobiographical poem that introduces them to their teachers, focusing on various aspects of their lives: their beliefs, their dreams, their needs, their influence on others, and more. In addition, this template makes for a fitting introductory activity for long-term substitute teachers. A prewriting document is provided.
• Japanese Haikus: Students will write traditional haikus: three-line poems following a syllabic structure of 5-7-5. In addition to exemplars, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as a bell-ringer activity.
• American Cinquains: Students will write American cinquains: five-line poems following a syllabic structure of 2-4-6-8-2. In addition to exemplars, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as a bell-ringer activity.
• Butterfly Cinquains: Students will write butterfly cinquains: nine-line poems following a syllabic structure of 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2. In addition to an exemplar, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as a bell-ringer activity or saving it as an emergency substitute lesson.
• Nonets: Students will write nonets: nine-line poems following a syllabic structure of 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. In addition to an exemplar, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as a bell-ringer activity or saving it as an emergency substitute lesson.
• Dizains: Students will write a dizain: a single stanza of 10 lines, each containing 10 syllables, which follows a consistent rhyme scheme (ABABBCCDCD).
• Huitains: Students will write a huitain: a single stanza of 8 lines, each containing 8 syllables, which follows a consistent rhyme scheme (ABABBCBC).
• Sensory Poetry: Students will explore an abstract concept and write an 11-line poem that makes the concept come alive with sensory description. In addition to a template, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as a holiday-themed activity or saving it as an emergency substitute lesson.
• Limericks: Students will write limericks: humorous, five-line, single-stanza poems following a standard rhyme scheme of A-A-B-B-A. In addition to exemplars, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as an emergency substitute lesson.
• Color Poetry: Students will choose a color that resonates with them in a positive way and generate an original poem exploring a variety of concepts they associate with their chosen colors. This template also makes for a fitting emergency sub plan activity. A prewriting worksheet is provided.
• Guilty Pleasure Poetry: Students will practice writing poetry with syllabic structure and explore a guilty pleasure that resonates with them. In addition to a template, an exemplar and prewriting document are provided. Teachers may consider using this resource as an engaging bell-ringer activity.
• What If? Poetry: Students will indulge their curiosity of the world by pondering thought-provoking questions beginning with the phrase "What if" and generate a free-verse poem of at least 20 lines. In addition to a template, a prewriting document is provided.
• Past to Future Poetry: Students will write a three-stanza poem in which they participate in self-reflection and exhibit growth mindset. Each stanza varies in tense: the simple past (first stanza), the present continuous (second stanza), and simple future (third stanza). In addition to a template, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource as a bell-ringer activity or saving it as an emergency substitute lesson.
• Elegies: Students will write an elegy, following traditional elegiac stanza format: a quatrain with A-B-A-B rhyme scheme wherein each line is written in iambic pentameter. In addition to an exemplar, a prewriting document is provided. Consider using this resource to support a unit on Shakespearean writing.
• Self-Image Poetry: Students will write a five-stanza, ten-line poem in which they reflect on their personal evolution, hence the name self-image poem.

Resources are available for a variety of creative writing tasks:

• Writing Adventure Fiction - Google and printable
• Writing Dinosaur Tales - Google and printable
• Writing Fairy Tales - Google and printable
• Writing Fantasy Fiction - Google and printable
• Writing Gothic Fiction - Google and printable
• Writing Realistic Fiction - Google and printable
• Writing Science Fiction - Google and printable