Types of Poetry Posters for Primary School Classrooms

Are you teaching types of poetry to your students? If so, you’ve come to the right place! Teach Starter has created this set of posters to help your students learn everything they need to know about the most common types of poetry. Each poster in this comprehensive resource provides:

• Description – A clear, child-friendly explanation of the poetic form.
• Example – An original example poem that showcases the structure and style.
• Annotations – Key poetic elements and devices are highlighted to help students understand what makes each type of poem unique.

This pack includes annotated posters for the following forms of poetry:

• Acrostic
• Kennings
• Haiku
• Cinquain
• Ode
• Limerick
• Ballad
• Shape poetry
• Diamante

Using These Types of Poetry Posters in Your Classroom

Here are some suggestions as to hope you might use these types of poetry posters in your lessons:

1. Classroom Displays – Use the posters as vibrant visual aids in your classroom. Display them in a poetry corner to inspire students to explore and write their own poems.
2. Interactive Lessons – Incorporate the posters into your lesson plans. Each poster can serve as a focal point for discussions about poetic forms, encouraging students to analyse the examples and identify poetic devices such as imagery, rhythm and rhyme.
3. Poetry Writing Workshops – After exploring the different forms of poetry, invite students to write their own pieces. The posters can serve as templates, guiding students in creating their poems while reinforcing their understanding of each form’s unique structure and style.
4. Group Activities – Organise collaborative poetry activities where students can work in pairs or small groups. Assign each group a specific poetic form from the posters, and challenge them to create and present their own examples to the class.

Download to Explore Types of Poetry

This set of posters downloads as a quick-print, full-colour PDF or an editable Microsoft Word file (for those who may wish to add their own poems). Click on the Download button above to select your preferred version.

We recommend enlarging these posters for enhanced readability.

Explore Types of Poetry with Your Students

Looking for more resources to use when teaching the different types of poetry to your students? Teach Starter has you covered!

teaching resource

Write a Shape Poem Worksheet

Set your students up for success when writing a shape poem with this set of scaffolded, easy-to-follow worksheets.

teaching resource

Forms of Poetry Teaching Slides

Explore the different forms of poetry with your students using this comprehensive and age-appropriate slide deck.

teaching resource

All About Me! - Simile Poem Poster and Template

Get to know your students and explore poetry at the same time with this simile poem scaffolding template.