Teach your students to write a cinquain and ask them to use a winter theme such as snowy weather, or holidays. Cinquains are ideal for the 5th-grade level because they are created by using a series of syllables, which should be easy to teach. A cinquain is a 5-line poem. The first line will have two syllables, the second line will have four, third line will have six, fourth line will have eight, and the fifth and final line will end with 2 syllables. Give your students an outline of the form and a few examples to get them started.
Hand out a winter-themed word search. Either have the students work in groups or separately. Have the students use the words from the word search in a winter-themed poem. Require the students to use all of the words or even just a portion of the words from the word search. Give the students a list of potential ideas such as favorite winter foods, winter activities, and objects that represent winter.
Assign a short story that involves winter. Have the students read the story and write a poem that relates to the story. Students can use the poem to further explore the theme of the story or to write a continuation of the story. Give the students a list of potential topic ideas to help them think outside of the box. Choose a specific style of poem, or allow the students to freely write and arrange their own poems.
Provide a long list of poetry-writing winter prompts. Include 20 plus ideas. Assign several styles of poems and ask your students to select a new topic for each one. For example, assign a haiku, acrostic, and a villanelle. Give your students several days to complete the poems. Before you have the students turn in the final copy, have them critique poems in groups the day or two before they are due so that they can work on rewrites.