Creating poetry
is a wonderful way for students to share information they learned through
Spanish class. To complement their culminating Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, the
third graders shared their learned vocabulary in this form of art by crafting a
Diamante Poem.
A Diamante Poem
is a seven-line poem that includes sustantivos
(nouns), adjetivos (adjectives) and verbos (verbs). The beginning and ending
lines are the shortest, while the lines in the middle are longer, giving the
text of the poem a form of a diamond, diamante.
Here’s a way to visualize this piece of art:
objeto
adjetivo,
adjetivo
verbo, verbo,
verbo
objeto, objeto,
objeto, objeto
verbo, verbo,
verbo
adjetivo,
adjetivo
objeto
Using the word
“moon” as the topic, we began by jotting down all the objetos (objects) that came to the students’ mind when asked what
does the moon look like. Then, they came up with adjetivos (adjectives) that might describe the moon such as particular color
or shape. To include “-ing” verbos (verbs),
the question was posed “If you visit the moon, what would you do?” to which many
students shared excellent and some even hilarious ideas. All the words gathered
were then written on flashcards and categorized by each part of speech, with
its Spanish translation. Then, all three third grade classes took turns at
crafted their own collective poem.
There are two
types of Diamante Poem. One is a synonym where the nouns at the beginning and
end are two words that mean basically the same thing. The other type is an
antonym where the nouns are opposites of each other. Each third grade class
chose to create an antonym:
Felix’s class:
Queso suizo
(Swiss
cheese)
Círculo, Esfera
(Circle,
Sphere)
Comiendo, Volando, Clavando
(Eating,
Flying, Digging)
Cráter, Dama, Volcán, Globo
mundial
(Crater,
Lady, Volcano, Globe)
Haciendo, Construyendo, Golpeando
(Making,
Constructing, Hitting)
Dorada, Platiada
(Gold,
Silver)
Tableta
(Tablet)
Jeanne’s class:
Helado
(Ice
cream)
Blancusa-grisosa, Esfera
(Whitish-greyish,
Sphere)
Caminando, Comiendo, Corriendo
(Walking,
Eating, Running)
Gatico, Cereza, Rosa, Bola de
nieve
(Kitten, Cherry,
Rose, Snowball)
Muriendo, Volando, Visitando
(Dying, Flying,
Visiting)
Gris, Círculo
(Grey, Circle)
Algodón
(Cotton)
Shana’s class:
Rosquilla
(Donut)
Dorada, Platiada
(Gold, Silver)
Caminando lunar, Explorando, Flotando
(Moon
walking, Exploring, Floating)
Globo rojo, Banana, O, Mármol
(Red
balloon, Banana, O, Marble)
Rebotando, Jugando hockey,
Nadando
(Bouncing,
Playing hockey, Swimming)
Rojiza, Anaranjada clara
(Reddish,
Light orange)
“Munchkin”
(“Munchkin”)
Once completed, each
class practiced learning their group’s poem in Spanish only, individually and
with each other.
To help
reinforce the learning of new vocabulary, the students played several fun
rounds of Pulgar arriba (Thumbs-Up)
and worked on a crossword puzzle.
