I Like Diamonds, and You Like Pearls, but We Both Love POETRY!

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

The images seem the same in many ways but differ in one important way.

• Did you say that the picture on the left is daytime, and the picture on the right is nighttime?

Great! You found the important difference.

This type of difference is an opposite. You will use opposites to write a diamante poem.

Not only does a diamante poem use opposites, but it is also shaped like a diamond!

Get Started!

The first step in writing a diamante is understanding opposites and antonyms, which are words that are opposites.

The word opposite, when used as a noun, means a person, place, or thing that is completely different from another person, place, or thing.

Here are my friends, Ethan and Angie. They are brother and sister. Although Ethan is only two years older than Angie, he is much taller.

• Can you find other ways this brother and sister are opposites?

• What opposites did you discover about Ethan and Angie?

You already knew he is tall, while she is short. Angie is a girl, and Ethan is a boy. They are brother and sister; those are opposites, too.

Maybe you noticed that she is wearing a skirt, and he is wearing shorts. Ethan has on his boots, and Angie has on her sneakers. You may have also noticed that Ethan has stripes on his shorts, while Angie's skirt is solid.

All these things are opposites. Great work!

Practice finding more opposites.

• What is the opposite of each word below?

• Could you think of opposites for all those words?

Awesome job! Possible opposites are dog, walk, and feet.

While dog and feet are opposites, walk is an antonym. An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word.

When contrasting people, places, and things, they are opposites. When talking about words with opposite meanings, those words are antonyms.

Talk About Feelings

When you talk about how you feel, on the inside and outside, you use describing words (adjectives and adverbs).

Since feeling words (such as happy, joyful, sick, itchy, and hot) are not nouns, use antonyms to show the opposite meaning.

• Which antonym pair do these apples represent?

Right. The one on the left is sad, while the one on the right is happy.

• Which one best fits your mood right now?

Think of some more antonym pairs or two words that mean the opposite of each other.

Going inside and getting an icy cold drink when it's hot outside is nice.

• Can you find the antonym pair in that sentence?
• Did you say hot and cold?

You are correct! The words inside and outside are antonyms too!e

Diamante Diamonds!

A diamante is a seven-line poem that takes the shape of a diamond when it is complete. There is a special format you need to follow so your poem takes the proper shape and tells your unique story about opposites.

The most important thing to remember is diamantes are poems about opposites.

Here is a short description of how to put together a diamante:

• ⇒ The first and last lines are just one word each.
• ⇒ The words that make up the first and last lines must be opposite nouns.
• ⇒ The next three lines describe the first topic.
• ⇒ In the middle of the fourth line, transition to describing the second topic.
• ⇒ The next two lines describe the second topic.

Here is the sequence for the seven lines of a diamante poem.

Walk through the example below to see all the steps in the process.

1. Think of a pair of opposites for the two subjects of the poem.

This may be the most difficult step of the entire process. You may have one noun you would like to use but can't think of its opposite.

This is where a thesaurus helps! A thesaurus provides synonyms and antonyms of words. (Synonyms are similar words.) Thesaurus.com is a great resource.

This poem example will use water for Noun A and dirt for Noun B.

2. Next, find two adjectives that describe — or show with words — the characteristics of water.

Water is wet, but wet is a boring word. Head back to Thesaurus.com to find a more interesting and vivid adjective.

Many words that have the same meaning as wet. This example poem will use the synonyms saturated and drenched to convey that water is, well, wet!

You could also choose more distinct adjectives to convey something different, like fun if you love water or scary if you do not.

3. On to the third line, which needs three interesting action verbs that are related to water and end in –ing.

This line may require a bit of brainstorming. You could write words on paper, use a graphic organizer like a bubble map, or click around Thesaurus.com for ideas.

This poem will use splashing, washing, and drinking — all things you can do with water.

4. The trickiest line is next. The format requires four concrete nouns: two for water and two for dirt.

A concrete noun is a person, place or thing — something, or someone you can perceive through one of your five senses. A concrete noun will never be an emotion or feeling, like love or sadness. Those words are abstract nouns.

This poem will use concrete nouns ocean and faucet for water. The concrete nouns mountain and garden are related to dirt. This is where the poem shifts from the first topic to its opposite!

5. The poem moves backward, starting with line five, which needs three action verbs ending in –ing that relate to dirt.

Again, use any means of brainstorming that works best for you. This poem will use walking, building, and planting.

6. The poem is nearly done! After choosing two adjectives for Noun B, the poem will be ready to format.

This poem will use the adjectives messy and muddy to describe dirt.

7. Don't forget the final line. The opposite of water is dirt.

The poem is ready to be formatted and centered on the page. Centering makes the poem look like a diamond. Formatting refers to punctuation and capitalization. When you write your poem, follow this example.

• Do you see the diamond shape? Pretty cool, right?

Head over to the Got It? section to practice some diamante concepts so you can write one on your own!