Explain to students that the title of the poem will also be its topic. The easiest way to teach acrostic poetry is to have your students' start with their name. Brainstorm descriptive qualities the children possess that share a letter of their name. A student with the name of "Kip" could be kind, interesting and playful:
KIP
Kind
Interesting
Playful
Students can write on construction or lined paper. If using a thematic lesson plan, use a writing sheet in a fun shape or color. Assign active words that evoke adjectives like certain animals, food, seasons and holidays. Once they understand this concept, progress to phrases:
ZEBRA
Zoo inhabitant
Eats leaves
Brays loudly
Runs fast
Always striped
Encourage your students to come up with whole phrases for each line once they have mastered the form. Using acrostic poetry as part of a grammar or spelling lesson can help make the material fun.
After the acrostic poem lesson, students are ready to move on to other forms of easy-to-teach poetry such as haiku and cinquain.