Diamante Poems

Have students use their observations from their field study to make a diamante poem. Explain to students that a diamante is a seven-line poem that compares two different subjects. The number of words in each line makes the final poem diamond-shaped. The different subjects could range from an egg to a penguin, a shark to ray, a beluga calf to an adult beluga, or an orange sea star to a purple sea star. Even animals that are closely related can be drastically different. Line 1: one word (the first subject) Line 2: two words (adjectives that describe the first subject) Line 3: three words (“-ing” words that relate to the first subject) Line 4: four words (two nouns that relate to the first subject and two nouns that relate to the second subject) Line 5: three words (“-ing” words that relate to the second subject) Line 6: two words (adjectives that describe the second subject) Line 7: one word (the second subject) Examples: eel slimy, straight waiting, ambushing, eating fish, reef, snake, river striking, squeezing, swallowing camouflaged, scaly anaconda egg oval, white waiting, cracking, hatching chick, nest, cold, Antarctica swimming, diving, floating monochrome, feathery penguin