Poetry | Christmas

How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Revisited

A Creative Acrostic Poem

DR SEUSS

Down past Whoville, there was a Grinch, who didn’t like Christmas, not one inch. He thought of the stockings and little delights. And plotted and planned to go in the night.

Ruining the fun, with a smile like a grimace, he stole decorations and took all the presents.

Singing their songs, the Who’s in the town, were loving the season with hugs all around. Christmas was coming and they knew with glee, the day was always going to be.

Even when their presents were stolen at night, they danced and played with joyous delight. They’d been pitched a giant curveball. But that didn’t stop them, the tall or the small.

Unhappily, the Grinch could now see, maybe Christmas didn’t come from a tree.

S o he took back the gifts and the bright decorations, and the people in Whoville welcomed his creations.

S o in the end, happiness came, to the town and the Who’s, and the Grinch all the same.

With many thanks and heartfelt apologies to Theodor Seuss Geisel.

“Welcome Christmas while we stand Heart to heart and hand in hand.” Dr. Seuss

This acrostic poem is written in response to a challenge to do a creative play on a traditional acrostic. Thanks, Pranshu, The Maverick Files for the tag.

I’m tagging the active members of the Fiction and Poetry clubs. Pick an acrostic poem style, write away, and be sure to tag me back.

Phil Truman, Agnes Laurens, Deena Thomson, Christine Graves, Ntathu Allen, Dr. John Rose, Stuart Englander, Dew Langrial, CR Mandler MAT, Lee Nourse, Lawson Wallace, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, Marne Platt, Rebecca Sealfon, Jessica Cote, Penofgold, Geetika Sethi, Karen Madej, Thewriteyard, Joe Luca, Vee Goldman, Paroma Sen, Denise Scholander, janny’s heart, Britni Pepper, Robert Trakofler, Dr. Preeti Singh, Christine Graves, Liam Ireland, Obsidian Eagle, Penofgold, Hunter Eskew, Annelise Lords, T. Mark Mangum, Shreya Sinha, Jim McAulay🍁, Christopher Madsen, Terry Trueman

Here are the suggestions that came with the challenge.

Try one of these ideas to put a fun twist on the traditional acrostic poetry writing activity.

· Alliteration Acrostic Poems: Each word in the line starts with the starting letter of each line. (Say what??)

· Verb Acrostic Poems: Each line is comprised of verbs that can be done in a specific season, holiday, sport, or place.

· Adjective Acrostic Poems: Each line is comprised of adjectives to describe something specific.

· Personal Experience Acrostic Poems: Each line includes a memory of an important event that is the focus word of the acrostic poem. Example: Field Trip, Graduation, Birthday

· Specific Direction: Be specific and narrow when you give directions for this type of acrostic poem. Example: For a “Friendship” acrostic poem, have students write about the characteristics that make a good friend on each line.

· Focus on Nonfiction: Have students research something related to a topic. Example: For an “America” acrostic, students can research Memorial Day or Flag Day, gather information and record what they learned in the form of an acrostic poem. This is perfect for biography and research projects, too. If you are studying endangered animals, have students create an acrostic poem for “endangered” and include all the information from their research in their poem.

· Fiction Book Reflection: These are so much fun to write and offer the students a change in the traditional summary or reader reflection activity. Example: If you are studying characters, have students write the name of a character from their book and fill in each acrostic poem line with character traits, feelings, and actions-all supported by examples from the text. It is an engaging way for students to show what they know! This also works well with settings. Have the students write the name of an important setting from a book and write the acrostic poem with the focus of how the setting impacted the story.

· Mixed Up Acrostic Poems: Each line has a different rule created by you! Be creative and use your students’ ideas and interests to guide you.

Sign up for my newsletter and receive a free copy of the Word By Word Dictionary, by Tree Langdon and The Crew.