While making observations in nature you may want a record of what you see. You could take a picture or make some notes, but another way of collecting your interpretation of your time in nature is to write a poem.
If you never willingly wrote a poem because you think a poem has to be obscure, this simple format allows you to capture tangible details. In essence, a diamante is a diamond-shape poem. The lines don’t have to rhyme. As an added bonus for adults and the children, you don’t even have to think in partial or entire lines of poetry. A diamante is constructed of individual words that are placed in a specific pattern.
A poem is a great way to capture observations that you and children have made in nature. A diamante feels a bit more purposeful than taking notes; because, what are you going to do with those notes? When you write a poem, you are done. Accent a diamante with a photograph or a drawing and you can set the two in a scrapbook or combine them on the computer and post them online for friends and family to share.
The basic format of a diamante uses specific types of words. Writers can work on this poem on their own or you can lead this as a group activity, with individuals calling out words that fit the structure. The key to holding this structure together is that the selected words should have something to do with the topic, as described by the first word.
Line 1: Noun (person, place or thing)
Line 2: Adjective Adjective (words that describes a person place or thing; not an action)
Line 3: Participle Participle Participle (a verb, an action, ending in –ing)
Line 4: Noun Noun Noun Noun
Line 5: Participle Participle Participle
Line 6: Adjective Adjective
Line 7: Noun (another way of describing the person, place, or thing from the first line)
You use the words that best capture the sights, senses and experiences of a specific location. That’s it. Sixteen words, no punctuation. You are a poet. Why not start by writing a diamante and posting it below in the comments?
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