Education Technology


NCTE: Acrostic Contest

Activity Overview

After sharing an example of acrostic poetry, the teacher divides the students into groups. Students, competing in groups to win the Speed Prize and Audience Prize, will write acrostic poems that creatively employ knowledge of a given topic.

Before the Activity

See the attached Activity PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity.

Print the appropriate pages from the Activity for your class.

Install the NoteFolio™ App on the students' graphing calculators following the attached instructions.

Share an example of acrostic poetry (see the Teacher Sample "Spring" Acrostic Poem). Place it on the overhead projector. Read it aloud or have a student read it aloud. Review the definition of an acrostic poem.

During the Activity

  • Distribute the appropriate pages from the Activity to your class
  • Follow the procedures outlined in the Activity


  • Students will write in a variety of situations (impromptu, over time, in collaboration or alone). Note: In this case, the student is writing in collaboration with other students in a limited amount of time.

    After the Activity

    To determine the winner of the Audience Prize, post the typed acrostic poems in the classroom and have a different class vote for the winner. Please see Acrostic Student Ballot.