Holiday Cinquain

Language Arts

Students will use the simple cinquain format to write a poem that describes a holiday celebration or special event.

What You Need

What to Do

  1. Write this poem on the board:

    Cats
    Furry, friendly
    Purring, playing, sleeping
    Friends when you need them
    Pets

  2. Ask students what they notice about this poem. They may notice that the first and the last lines are a single word. The first line contains the topic of the poem and the fifth line contains a word that is either a synonym for the topic or that expresses something about it. The second line consists of two adjectives that describe the topic. The third line contains two verbs ending with “-ing” that go with the topic. The fourth line is a short phrase about it.
  3. Explain to students that this form of a poem is called a cinquain, because it has five lines and “cinq” is the French word for “five.”
  4. As a class, write a cinquain about a holiday or event that is coming up.
  5. Pass out copies of the My Cinquain worksheet. Have students write holiday poems of their own.
  6. Go around the room having students read their poems. If students had trouble coming up with words to complete their poem, have the class help out.