Standards and
Assessment
Apple Cinquain Poems
Cinquain poems are a great way to reinforce nouns, verbs,
adjectives and synonyms. We began this project by reading several stories, poems and
Internet articles about apples. We also went on a field trip to a local apple farm. In
class, we brainstormed lists of nouns, verbs and adjectives that related to our apple
theme. Students then referred to these lists when creating their cinquain poems.
Rough drafts were completed, following this format:
Line 1: a title (NOUN)
Line 2: two words that describe the title (adjectives)
Line 3: three words that tell something the title does (VERBS)
Line 4: a four-word phrase about the title
Line 5: a word that means the same as the title (SYNONYM)
Then students used Kid Pix Deluxe to format and illustrate final
drafts.
This project supports the following New York State Learning
Standards:
English Language Arts
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written
language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire,
interpret, apply and transmit information.
Performance indicators:
- Gather and interpret information from children’s reference
books, magazines, Internet
- Select information appropriate to the purpose of their
investigation and relate ideas from one text to another with teacher guidance
Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written
language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression
and artistic creation.
Performance indicators:
- Listen and read a variety of literature of different genres
intended for young readers
- Recognize some features that distinguish the genres and use those
features to aid comprehension with teacher guidance
- Create their own written works that reflect the elements of the
literature they have read, using appropriate vocabulary
- Observe the conventions of grammar and usage, spelling and
punctuation with teacher guidance
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences,
ideas, information and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria.
Performance indicators:
- Listen to or read to form opinions about a variety of literary or
informational texts
Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read and write for social
interaction.
Students will use oral and written language for effective social
communication with a wide variety of people.
Performance indicators:
- Listen attentively and recognize when it is appropriate for them
to speak
- Take turns speaking and responding to others’ ideas in
conversation
- Recognize and use informal written communication for social
interaction with teacher direction
The following rubric may be used to evaluate student performance:
Apple Cinquain Rubric
Criteria |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Use of gathered information and word
bank. |
Needed considerable teacher guidance
for word selection |
Needed some teacher guidance for word
selection |
Used resources and word lists
independently |
| Reflects elements of a cinquain poem |
Three or fewer lines in proper format |
Four lines in proper format |
Each of five lines in proper format |
| Uses conventions of grammar and usage,
spelling and punctuation |
3 or more errors in spelling,
punctuation, capitalization |
1-2 errors in spelling, punctuation,
capitalization |
No errors |
| Final draft in Kid Pix Deluxe |
Final draft is formatted and
illustrated with much teacher assistance. |
Final draft is correctly formatted and
illustrated with some teacher assistance |
Final draft is correctly formatted and
creatively illustrated independently. |
Other apple related lessons and activities we used
included:
- K-W-L charts
- Apple tasting, then completed apple charts for appearance, flavor,
uses
- Created posters of the seasons of an apple tree after reading The
Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
- Apple graphs showing leading apple producing states
- The Apples of Your Eye
glyph project
- Johnny Appleseed Day apple grams to school staff
- Baked apple cookies for Open House night
- Class field trip to a local apple farm
- Apple Bytes online activities
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