A NEW WORD - Tetractys

Had a brilliant session last Saturday with eleven Young Writers turning up including a couple of newbies so big welcomes to them.  We were looking at a new poetry form which, rather like Haiku and Tanka, are syllable-themed non-rhyming poems.  The Tetractys is made up of five lines with the following syllable pattern - 1, 2, 3, 4, 10.    There were examples on the worksheet of how such a poem would read, one of which was:

The
flowers
that bloom in
spring, make me feel
so very happy. I love the colours.

I only discovered this poetry form myself very recently and I think it was completely new to the Young Writers, but they all had a good go at it.  Some of the younger ones really struggled (and let's face it, at least two have not even learned about syllables yet) so I suggested they just write something in rhyme, reminding them of the nursery rhymes they themselves were very familiar with just a short while ago.  As usual, I was astonished at their application to the exercises and I applaud them all for having a try. Well done to everyone.

The next session is on 6th May and that is our Picnic in the Park session (weather permitting) so would appreciate as many mums, dads or grannies as possible to come along with us.  Don't forget your snacks and drinks as well.  No need to bring folders (unless they want to) as I will supply the worksheets and writing implements.  If the weather is against us, we will stay at the library but we have had three successful Picnic in the Park sessions so far, so fingers crossed for this one.

I have ordered some Addiscombe Young Writers business cards and I will be giving these out to everyone when they arrive.  They feature all the contact details so probably a good idea to keep it safe somewhere just in case you need to contact me for any reason.

The assignment set last weekend was to continue working on the Tetractys and bring in at least one complete one with the correct form and number of syllables and - don't forget - all assignments returned count towards the next certificate in our Certificate Trail.

Take care and see you on the 6th!