Acrostic Poetry for Teens, Creative Writing, Poetry Creation, PDF & Google Drive

Use the classic acrostic form of poetry to inspire your students’ creativity. This student handout includes advanced acrostic poetry writing tips, an excellent example of the acrostic style of poetry by Lewis Carroll, and a writing assignment. Also included are three separate themed topic assignment sheets, including popular film titles, characters from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, and noted authors of American literature. If none of these topics work for your classes, you could easily brainstorm assignment topics to go along with whatever unit your students are currently studying.

I like to introduce the acrostic style (students always remember building this type of poetry from their elementary school years) and use the example to model how students can take the technique to a more-mature level. After looking at the structure/rhyme/meter of the example, I then host a lottery of topic selection by tossing all of the topic slips into a bag and having each student chose his/her own topic. When I use this in my American Lit. class toward the end of the semester, I have students build an acrostic based on a famous American writer that we’ve studied. The student who draws the name “Amy Tan” from the sack is always thrilled (“Just a six-line poem? Yes!”), while the student who chooses “Ralph Waldo Emerson” has a bit more work to do and receives condolences from classmates. The lottery aspect, I’ve found, increases the drama and fun spirit of the assignment.

I've also used these materials as one of my poetry creation stations. More details on that procedure here on my blog:
https://laurarandazzo.com/five-ready-to-use-poetry-stations/

This poetry activity is achievable for reluctant writers while still challenging for your more advanced students. I also like to reserve the computer lab on my campus for the writing time, since acrostics just beg for distinct font and formatting treatments.

This 5-page product includes (PDF + Google Drive version of assignment sheet):

One-page suggested lesson procedure

One-page student assignment handout

Three pages of themed assignment slip topics (popular films, American writers, characters from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet) – just choose the one that best fits your class or make your own!

This item is included in my 4-week poetry unit. Click HERE to check out my money-saving poetry lesson bundle. If you purchase the bundle, there's no need to buy this item separately.

Also, this item is included in my English 9-10 full-year curriculum. If you already own the full-year download, please do not purchase this item here individually. If you’d like to receive this item plus everything else needed to teach 180 days of English 9 or English 10 at a deeply discounted price, click here to learn more about the full-year curriculum download.

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Heart image credit: Pixabay, Public domain