Write a 🎃 Halloween Haiku & Get the Kids Writing Too!
Make writing a Family Affair!
Find out how to write a Haiku poem & get the kids writing too…
Midnight—our fabulous, furry feline—inspired me to write BLACK CAT, a Halloween haiku (Haiku: a Japanese-inspired three-line: 5-7-5 syllable poetry form) and to design a poster to go with the poem. Kids love illustrating their poems. They enjoy listening to poetry and to reading it aloud too.
Reading and writing poetry is a fantastic way to improve creativity and critical thinking skills for people of all ages. Plus, it’s an outstanding way to foster foundational learning and literacy for children. It’s so much fun to read and write poetry together! The kids will love it and I know you will too. Whether at home or in the classroom writing and sharing poetry is a perfect way to celebrate any season—for any reason!
What’s inspiring you this autumn?
Brainstorm your list and get writing.
Have fun—don’t forget to get the kids writing too!
Here are some Writer’s Tricks (literary devices found in every writer’s toolbox) I used to create BLACK CAT. These tools can set a mood— they make writing and reading memorable and fun. Check them out and see if you can discover where I used them in my poem.
Read on to find out more about these literary devices.
BLACK CAT
Black cat waits, watches…
Stalking tricksters in their webs.
Spiders are her treats!© Bette A. Stevens, Maine author
Three 🎃Tricks from the Writer’s Toolbox (Literary devices) used in writing poetry and prose
- Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. - Consonance
Another literary device used by writers and poets is consonance—repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. This repetition often takes place in quick succession. - Alliteration
You put your alliteration tool to work when words that start with the same sound are used close together in a phrase or sentence. The sound is usually a consonant and the words don’t have to always be right next to one another.
How to find “just the right words”
Abundant writing resources are available in print as well as online. Listed below are the two resources I had readily available in the classroom for my students (Grades 4-8). Paperbacks are inexpensive enough to have multiple copies on hand, and in my opinion they are indispensable.
- The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young
- Webster’s Thesaurus for Students by Merriam-Webster
Happy Writing & Reading Poetry…
🎃HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator
- Download Bette’s FREE PDF to discover even more about how to write haiku (Click this link) https://4writersandreaders.com/poetry-party-lets-haiku-lesson-1-free-pdf-from-bette/
This post is shared in loving memory of our amazing kitty, Miss Midnight. ~Bette A. Stevens
[Explore Bette’s Blog]
As I wandered out into the garden with my trusty camera early this morning, much to my surprise, an icy blanket at the edge of the rock garden had melted and a family of opening jonquils greeted me with their smiles. Being the first blooms of the season, they simply made my day and inspired me to write “A Spring Concerto,” a haiku (Japanese-inspired, non-rhyming three-line: 5-7-5 syllable poem). 
Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author 
Written
on 10/17/2020