ESL Writing Activity: List Poem

Here is a writing activity to help ESL students learn English writing with a whole lot of creativity.

List Poem

• Time: 10-20 minutes
• Level: High beginner +

Examples

There are a great many examples of List Poems on the net. One of my favorites is by the great writer Shel Silverstein’s, Sick, a fine list poem.

• This online pdf has many good examples of list poems.
• Good examples by younger writers can be had here, the Poem Farm.

Description

What is a list poem? It is a kind of free form poetry.

This fun, high interest activity asks students to make a list of things and put them inside a loosely structure poem.

What kind of list?

• Things I’m afraid of
• Places I’d like to visit
• Food I’d like to eat
• Things I’d like to do
• People I’d like to meet
• Things I’ve learned outside class
• My best excuses
• The best presents I ever received
• Dreams

How it Works

Step 1

Explain the idea of a list poem. List poems generally have four features:

1. a single topic
2. a list of people, places, things or actions related to the topic
3. organized ideas
4. free form structure; words don’t need to rhyme

Step 2

Find and display a few examples on the web to review as models.

Step 3

Students think, create and write.

The Skill

Students learn how to build a list and sequentially integrate facts into a cohesive story. Weaving facts into a whole story is a vital cognitive skill for any writing genre.

Teach writing?

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