Alphabet Poetry Unit: How to Write an ABC Poem

ABC & Alphabet Poetry Lesson

Teaching students to write poetry can be easy. One simple type of poem for elementary or middle school students to write is an ABC or Alphabet poem. These two types of poems are a variation of the basic use of the alphabet with poetry.

ABC Poem

An ABC poem has five lines that create a feeling, mood or imagery. Each line is made up of phrases. The first word of line one begins with an A. The second line begins with a B. The third line begins with a C. The fourth line begins with a D. The fifth line begins with an E. However, there are variations of this poem. The writer can begin with any letter in the alphabet and use the next five letters in the alphabet to start each line of their poem.

Example ABC Poem:

Summer Mud

All the mud squishes

Between my dirty little toes

Clods of dirt swirling and bobbing

Draining towards the mucky steam, creating

Eddies in the rain-swollen ditch after a summer storm

Alphabet Poem

The alphabet poem uses all 26 letters in the alphabet. Students need to write all of the letters of the alphabet on the left side of their paper. Then for each letter, they need to write a phrase that focus on a single topic. Or, they can write a narrative poem using the Alphabet Poem format. Students need to be creative and keep focused on their topic.

Make Final Copies

Once students have completed a rough draft of their ABC or Alphabet Poem, they need to illustrate the poem. Pictures, clipart, stickers and/or stencils can add creativity and fun to the pieces. Teachers need to have markers, colored pencils, stencils and clipart books available for this part of the process.

Once the final copies are complete, students can share their poems with the class. Then, the completed alphabet poems can be displayed in the classroom.

This post is part of the series: Poetry Lessons

Teachers can try the lessons that all focus on writing different types or genres of poetry.