DIY Homeschooler

Here is a fun and easy way to practice identifying parts of speech (nouns, verbs, and adjectives).  Have your child create a diamond poem!

A diamond poem (also known as a diamante poem) is seven lines long, each line requiring specific types of words including nouns, adjectives, and verbs ending in -ing.  The lines do not need to rhyme.  Because of the different line lengths, the final poem will have a diamond shape.

First, have your child decide on a thing that he would like to write about.  Then have him think of various words that describe his subject placed in the following form:

1. Noun.
2. Two adjectives.
3. Three verbs that end in -ing.
4. Four nouns.
5. Three verbs that end in -ing, but different from line 3.
6. Two adjectives.
7. Noun (usually different than the noun in line 1 but meaning the same thing).

To make the student’s first diamond poem easier, you can provide him more specific instructions.  For example:

1. Kind of animal.
2. Two adjectives that describe the animal’s size, shape, or color.
3. Three verbs that end with -ing that tell what the animal does.
4. Four nouns that tell what the animal likes.
5. Three more verbs that end with -ing that tell what the animal does (different than 3.).
6. Two adjectives that describe the animal’s personality.
7. Specific animal of the kind named in 1 (a pet’s name works great here).

Here is our example based on the instructions above:

Dog

Large, brown

Drooling, licking, bounding

Food, people, cold, refuge

Running, finding, saving

Happy, affectionate

St. Bernard

Diamond poems can be about anything.  Once your child has one under his belt, have him write another about a completely different subject.  Here are a few ideas:

• The state (or country) in which you live.
• A game he enjoys.
• A recent read.
• A work of art.
• A fruit or veggie.
• A historical event.
• A literary character.
• A holiday.

For more of a challenge, try an antonym diamond poem:

1. Noun.
2. Two adjectives about the noun in 1.
3. Three verbs ending in -ing about the noun in 1.
4. Four nouns that the noun in 1 and the noun in 7 share in common.
5. Three verbs ending in -ing about the noun in 7.
6. Two adjectives about the noun in 7.
7. Antonym of the noun in 1.

Additional Resources

Diamante Poems
Interactive at ReadWriteThink that guides a student through the process then lets him print the result.

The Diamond Poem
Download with instructions, examples, and form for writing a diamond poem.

Diamante Poetry
Simple handout from Eduplace.

Activity: Cookie-Cutter Nouns
Easy noun introduction.

Activity: Feel Your Adjectives
Easy adjective introduction.

Grammar-land {Free eBook and Go Alongs}
Another easy way to learn the parts of speech.

440 Grammar Lessons + Quizzes {Free!}
Extra practice!