Cinquains in Social Studies

This week I taught about the effect of the Cold War in Asia, focusing on the countries of China, Korea, and Japan. After teaching my students the ways in which they were similar and different, I had them work in groups to create pie graphs on the extensive Japanese export market currently in place in the world. I now wanted an activity that would really bring back the differences between the three countries. I decided I might try having the students write a cinquain on each country, as opposed to my normal assignment which would be to have the students write paragraphs comparing the three. I felt three cinquains would capture the same information, but allow the students the chance to write less.

I provided the "formula" for the cinquains on the board, and walked around helping students write their first one. They then wrote the others for homework, or independently in class. I found that the cinquains were a bit below the level I had hoped. Many students described the country in general, rather than providing content about their experience in the Cold War. I can understand why students did this, as they are probably used to having a lot of freedom with poetry in the ELA class. So, I think in retrospect I should have given even more guidance, perhaps even writing the first one on the board, and sharing my thought process with them. I even may have encouraged them to use the country's name for the first line, and the phrase "Cold War" for the last line of each poem. This would have kept the fact that they needed to focus on the country's role in the Cold War.

I still feel good about the role of cinquains in the content area, but think I need to provide more guidance next time - until the students are comfortable with the technique. I think the cinquain could certainly be helpful to all content area reading teachers as it provides a creative means for students to show what content they have mastered. And, I believe the technique will produce better writers.