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Rhyme in Poetry
Year:	4	Range:	Fiction and poetry
Term:	2
Text:	"A Poem", "The Moonlit Stream", "The Owl" and "Wild Flower", from The Moonlit Stream and other poems, compiled by John Foster, published by Oxford University Press; "Again, Again, Again, Again", "Fairy Story" and "Jocelyn my Dragon" from The Speller's Bag and other poems, compiled by John Foster, published by Oxford University Press.

Provided by:

Rhyme in Poetry

Year 4

Aims

to explore a range of rhyming schemes in poetry.

NLS Framework Objectives

Text:

(7)

to identify different patterns of rhyme and verse in poetry.

Lesson Overview

Whole class: Pupils look at two common rhyming patterns: rhyming couplets and abab.

Guided group: Pupils explore a more complex rhyming pattern.

Independent group: Pupils explore some poems with the rhyming patterns that they studied in the whole group session.

Plenary: The teacher presents extracts from three different poems, with three different rhyme schemes. Rhyming words are missing. The pupils have to work out what the rhyme schemes are. The teacher assesses the pupils' understanding of rhyme schemes.

Before this Lesson

It is assumed that the pupils have read a range of poetry.
Key words: rhyme, rhyming couplets, alternate lines, verse or stanza.

Resources and Tools

Easiteach tools and features used: Word Highlight, Read Text, Word Wallet, Split Screen, Word Builder Cards, Cloze Underline, Easiteach Keyboard.

Shared Whole Class Work

Screens 1,2

Screens 1 and 2 present short extracts from two different poems.

To open the session, ask the pupils what they know about poetry. Focus on rhyme. Also, ask them if they have any favourite poems. Can anyone recite a poem?
Read the verse on Screen 1. On the screen, ask pupils to highlight pairs of rhyming words in different colours using the Word Highlight tool.
Do the same for Screen 2. Emphasise that the poems have different rhyming schemes.

Screen 3

Screen 3 presents two more extracts from the poems studied on Screens 1 and 2. However, this time some of the rhyming words have been deleted.

Ask the pupils to type in, or drag from the Word Wallet, appropriate words to complete the poems. To help them find rhyming words, pupils can refer to the alphabet on the screen and the rhyming Word Builder Card fragments underneath each poem. For example, to find a word to rhyme with "moon", try each of the letters of the alphabet in front of "oon".

Instead of typing onto the cloze, you could use Word Builder Cards; pupils could make starting cards by choosing from the Letters and Punctuation tab, and assemble the fragments into rhyming words. This approach encourages pupils to explore spelling patterns. They could also type into the existing cards.
Alternatively, you might prefer to omit the alphabet and Word Builder Card fragments before showing this screen to the class.

After the exercise, if you would like the class to read the two poems in their entirety, Screen 9 presents "A Poem" and Screen 10 "The Moonlit Stream".

Guided Group Work

Screens 4,5

Screen 4 presents the first stanza of the poem "The Owl" by Tennyson. This has a more complicated rhyme scheme. Screen 5 presents the second stanza, but some rhyming words have been deleted.

Show Screen 4. Read the extract together, with the help of the Read Text tool.
Ask pupils to highlight the rhyming words in different colours, using Word Highlight, to explore the rhyme pattern.
Show Screen 5. Ask pupils to complete the poem, using their knowledge of the rhyme scheme.

If the pupils want to refer back to the work they did on Screen 4, go to Screen 4 and select Split Screen view. In this way the two stanzas are shown side by side. Alternatively, the missing words have been placed into the Word Wallet, and could be dragged into the poems.

Suggestions for Independent Work

Screens 6,7

Screens 6 and 7 present the pupils with extracts from two other poems, "Again, Again, Again, Again" and "Jocelyn my Dragon", which have similar rhyme schemes to the poems used in the whole-class session.

For each poem, ask pupils to identify the rhyme scheme from the study of one stanza, and then to complete the missing rhyming words in the rest of the extract, using either the screen page or a printout.

The missing words have been placed into the Word Wallet, and could be dragged into the poems.

Plenary

This screen shows extracts from two poems with different rhyme schemes, "Fairy Story" and "Wild Flower".

Ask pupils to identify the rhyme schemes and complete the missing rhymes.
The missing words have been placed into the Word Wallet, and could be dragged into the poems.

Using ICT to Extend the Lesson

	The pupils could study a range of poems and explore their rhyme schemes.
	A class collection of poetry could be organised, with poems that have similar rhyme schemes grouped together.
	Teachers and pupils could use the Cloze Underline tool to remove rhyming words from poems in Easiteach, to prepare cloze exercises. A variety of poems suitable for this purpose may be found in the Easiteach Literacy resources, e.g. (3) oral poetry - "Gran can you rap?", (3) poems senses - "A matter of taste", (4) poetry diff forms 2 - "Epitaphs".