Diamante (Diamond) Poem

Supplies: Bible, paper & pencils

Verse(s): Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Goal: Reinforce the lesson that "There is a time for everything."

Set-up/Introduction: Revisit Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Point out how there a season for everything and how Solomon presents pairs of opposites to demonstrate that.

Today we are going to write a diamante poem. Diamante is the Italian word for diamond and describes the shape of the poem. (Show example.) It is made up of seven lines in this form:

line 1: one noun
line 2: two adjectives describing line 1
line 3: three participles (words ending in -ing or -ed) relating to line 1
line 4: two nouns relating to line 1; two nouns relating to line 7
line 5: three participles relating to line 7
line 6: two adjectives describing line 7
line 7: one noun which is an opposite word for the noun in line 1.

(See http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/diamond.htm for examples.)

Activity: Divide class into groups of 3-5 children. Each group will pick a pair of words and create a diamante poem. Allow about 4-5 minutes for each group to create their poems. You might even provide each group the samples of at least the form to assist them in creating their poems.

When done, allow each group to read their poems. Consider including some or all of them in the children's ministry newsletter.

Conclusion: Discuss poems as you go.

(The picture shows the poems the kids wrote. I did a screen print to preserve the diamond shape of the poems.)