This collection of worksheets will teach your students how to write different types of poems.

This series of worksheets was designed to help inspire young writers to better understand poem formats and how to formulate them. We start with the most primitive forms and grow to the more complex and demanding forms of poetry. We tried our best to feature the more popular forms of poetry for you. Poems try their best to capture an experience for the reader and move them to feel something. Writing poetry can be very rewarding. Looking back at your work at the end of the week is a great place to start. These activity sheets will introduce your students to haikus, limericks, ballads, alphabet poems, and more. Many teachers have found this a very valuable resource section whenever they are working on poem units.



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Printable Poetry Writing Worksheets

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Alphabet Poem Worksheet

Write an Alphabet Poem

In an alphabet poem, there is one line of poetry beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Each line begins with a letter of the alphabet in order, and is related to the overall theme or topic of the poem.

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Cinquain Worksheet

Write a Cinquain

A cinquain is a poem that is five lines long; the syllables in each line follow this syllable pattern: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2.

Ballad Worksheet

A Ballad

Study the picture. Think of a story to go with the picture. Use the Brainstorm Box to write down your ideas. Then write a ballad that tells your story. Use the back of the page for more room.

I Wish... Worksheet

I Wish...

Brainstorm. Think of ten to twelve different things that you wish for. Your wishes can be realistic or fantastic - the sky's the limit!

Free Verse Worksheet

Writing Free Verse

Free verse is the only kind of poem that has no rules at all. It does not have rhyme or regular meter. Free verse typically relies on imagery, alliteration, etc. to convey meaning.

Biography Poem Worksheet

The Biography Poem

On a separate sheet of paper, using the format as a guide, write your own bio poem about a historical person you admire. You do not have to follow the format exactly. Use your creativity!

Rhyming Poems Worksheet

Rhyming Poems

Write a couplet, a triplet, and a quatrain about nature.

Autobiographical Poem Worksheet

Autobiographical Poem

An autobiographical poem is a poem you write about yourself. An autobiographical poem follows a template that you fill in with details about yourself.

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Couplets Worksheet

Couplets

A couplet is a two-line poem. The last word of each line rhymes. Circle three pairs of rhyming words from the box below. Write a couplet with each pair.

Color Poem Worksheet

Write a Color Poem

A color poem brings a single color to life, using descriptions, nouns, and other key elements to express feelings about the color. An easy way to write a color poem is to create one line to go with each of the five senses: look, sound, taste, feel, and smell.

Haiku Worksheet

Haiku

Haiku is Japanese form of poetry usually reflecting on nature and feelings. There are three lines in a Haiku. The first has five syllables, the second seven syllables, and the third has five syllables.

Limerick Worksheet

The Limerick

A limerick is a five-line poem with a specific rhyme and meter. The rhyme scheme is AABBA. The first, second and fifth lines have three feet each with the following stressed (S) and unstressed (U) syllables: USUUSUUS. The third and fourth lines have two feet each with the following stressed (S) and unstressed (U) syllables: USUUS.

Animal Poem Worksheet

Animal Poems

An animal poem brings an animal to life through sensory images. For this assignment, you will use 10 lines of poetry to describe everything about an animal, from how he looks to how he acts. Your poem does not have to rhyme.

Diamante Poem Worksheet

Diamante Poems

A diamante poem is a poem in the shape of a diamond. A diamante poem begins with one subject, and typically ends with that subject's opposite. Similar to the Cinquain, each line uses a specific type of word, and the poem has a particular number of lines.

Favorite Kind of Poetry Worksheet

What's Your Favorite Kind of Poetry?

There are many different kinds of poetry. Some poems have very rigid rules about how many lines should be in a poem, how many syllables should be in a line, and whether or not, and how, the poem should rhyme.

How to Write a Poem

When you are writing a poem there is a process that I like to follow. It starts by establishing a goal for your work. Where do you want to go with this project? Ask yourself what you want your work to accomplish. Do you want to share an experience or describe the beauty of something? Once you define your goal. Start to explore how you can make that goal more vivid to your readers. What words would stimulate your human senses that relate to your goal? After you have those words its time to bring them to life by using similes and/or metaphors. As you put together your written language make sure to use concrete words and avoid abstract words. Concrete words describe things you can experience with your human senses like cold, green, rough. Abstract words related to feelings and emotions such as: angry, loving, and sad. When writing different types of poems, there are specific structural rules that must be followed. These rules may encompass the number of words, syllables, or lines, where stresses and accents fall, or even how the words are arranged on the paper. Your students will also be pleased to discover that some types of poems have no rules at all!

Poetry is a beautiful form of expression. Many famous writers used poetry as a medium for expressing their feelings. Our world throws so many curveballs at us, and we might sometimes feel overwhelmed with emotion. Sadly some people don't have anyone to turn to and can't afford therapists. So how are they supposed to vent out?

If you love literature, you can try penning down those feelings. They don't have to be the feelings of sorrow; they can be anything ranging from excitement to praising the nature around you. If you wish to leave a piece of yourself behind, read on to find out how to write using bold language.

A Beginner's Guide: How to Write a Poem

There are no specific rules or guidelines when it comes to writing poetry. However, the following steps will help you get started with this.

1. Brainstorm

To write a poem, you will need a theme or an idea. It could be anything like an image or memory. You need something to be your starting point. You could start your thoughts in the middle and write the first few stanzas later.

2. Don't Worry About the Idea Not Being Important Enough

Often, beginners think poetry needs to be about a specific, essential idea or a strong feeling. But this is not at all the case. A poem could be about anything, a sunny day at the beach or a silly and funny thing. There is no hard and fast rule regarding the topic you choose to write on.

3. Generate a Rough Outline

The best way to generate material is by starting off writing your poem as prose and not focusing too much on having any line breaks or rhymes. This will help you create an outline of your poetry, and later on, you can work on perfecting it.

4. Write Out Any Words or Ideas in Bullet Points

Carry a journal with you; if any idea or word comes to you in a moment, you can write it down, so you don't forget it. Later on, you can include that idea or word in your poetry.

5. Choose the Style and Form

Don't get discouraged if your initial outline looks like the opposite of a poem. Once you have the initial outline, you can decide on a style and form that speaks to you the most. To do so, read different poetry, such as sonnets, to see what fits your work best.

Research on different forms and styles of poetry is essential to understand how their characteristics can be incorporated into your poem.

6. Write For Yourself

One thing to remember when writing a poem is that you need to think that you are writing for yourself and not to please others. Often, writers get too lost in the worries of impressing others that they forget the initial idea of their work and get lost midway.

We recommend reading Letter 1 of letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. Rilke's letters offer great pieces of guidance for young poets.

Wrapping Up

Don't forget to enjoy yourself on this journey by worrying about it not being good enough. Remember that poetry is an art form and no art form is imperfect.

So enjoy yourself and get lost in the beautiful world of poetic expression.

Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it. -Salvador Dall