Diamante Poems

Last week I had my students writing Diamante poems, which have seven lines and are shaped like diamonds. The basic structure is this:

Noun #1 (contrasting to Noun#2)
adjective, adjective (relating to Noun #1)
-ing verb, -ing verb, -ing verb (relating to Noun #1)
noun, noun, (relating to Noun #1) noun, noun (relating to Noun #2)
-ing verb, -ing verb, -ing verb (relating to Noun #2)
adjective, adjective (relating to Noun #2)
Noun #2 (contrasting to Noun#1)

They're pretty fun and easy to create (which my students like), and since there's a definite structure that they must follow, they're also easy to grade (which I like). Anyway, I told Jonathan about them, and I made one up yesterday when we were hiking in Irvine Park so he could hear an example:

Winter
dark, cold
skiing, cuddling, drinking
hot chocolate, sweaters, lemonade, flip-flops
swimming, fishing, camping
bright, warm
Summer

And then today when we were walking around Creek Park, I saw one of my favorite common birds: a Black Phoebe. It inspired me, so I suggested we make up a Diamante together. Here it is:

Phoebe
small, familiar
snapping, turning, catching
flies, park, eyes, talons
flapping, soaring, diving
large, imperious
Eagle

So there you go. It's our first attempt at writing poetry about birds...but perhaps not our last! Or maybe it is. We're not big on writing poetry.