Learn to write diamante (dee - uh - MAHN - tay) poems, a poetry form created by Iris Tiedt in 1969.  The whole writing process is scaffolded step by step, so every writer is supported and successful, regardless of their experience or abilities. Learners outside the age range are welcome if you think the class would be good for your child. 

We begin by reading and discussing an example diamante poem and co-write a poem as a group.

Then writers brainstorm words that fit with their own chosen animal or animals, sort their words into the parts of speech, and draft their poems. They choose to write synonym or antonym poems.

We edit some poems together to make sure we have used the most specific and powerful words we can. Then we share and celebrate our work. 

This is a take on a lesson I have used in my own primary school classroom with great success. There is no required homework, but I offer a customised activity for learners to complete offline after class. This class is capped to be a small class in order to facilitate enough student-student and student-teacher interaction.