10. TEACHING END RHYME and INTERNAL RHYME
Day 1-2:
Using the same steps teach lessons on EYE RHYME (a similarity between words in spelling but not in pronunciation, i.e. rain/again) and SLANT RHYME or NEAR RHYME (a type of rhyme with words that have similar, but not identical sounds, i.e. crate/braid; yours/years; thumb/gun).
- Teach a focus lesson on END RHYME.
- Analyze a mentor poem that has a consistent end Rhyme Scheme (i.e., AABB). For older or more advanced classes, an example of a more sophisticated poem can be added or substituted
- In small groups the class composes poems with the same Rhyme Scheme (AABB).
- Analyze another mentor poem with a different End Rhyme scheme. (ABCB)
- In small groups the class composes poems with the same Rhyme Scheme (ABCB). For more advanced classes, add other end rhyme schemes , i.e., AABA—"Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" or ABAAB "The Road Not Taken."
- Each student chooses a rhyme scheme and writes a poem or, as a contest, pairs choose a rhyme scheme out of a bowl and compose a quatrain with that rhyme scheme. To make it more fun and quicker, add another bowl with topics, such as School Day and ABAB rhyme scheme.
- Teach a focus lesson on INTERNAL RHYME. Internal Rhyme is a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or a rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse.
- Follow the We Do-I Do procedure from the first day.
Using the same steps teach lessons on EYE RHYME (a similarity between words in spelling but not in pronunciation, i.e. rain/again) and SLANT RHYME or NEAR RHYME (a type of rhyme with words that have similar, but not identical sounds, i.e. crate/braid; yours/years; thumb/gun).
- deconstruct a mentor text
- whole class, group, pairs, draft a stanza including the poetic element
- individually, draft a short poem with __ stanzas.
9. I AM POETRY for Building Classroom Community
"WE are a piece of the puzzle that is our class."
1. Teacher explains the I AM POETRY format which can be written in free verse or rhyming stanzas.
1. Teacher explains the I AM POETRY format which can be written in free verse or rhyming stanzas.
2. Teacher shares her model.
3. Students draft their poems
5. Teacher shares her revised model.
- Writers fill in the form with information about themselves, turning the list into poems.
- Writers are encouraged to change any of the verbs to ones that better suit them and their writing.
- Any who finish before classmates are encouraged to look over word choices. Did they say exactly what they wanted to say? POETRY is “the best words in the best order.”
5. Teacher shares her revised model.
6. Students revise their poems.
7. Teachers can also add a second or alternate Revision Focus Lesson for writers to add POETIC DEVICES/FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE that has been previously taught or can choose one to teach.
8. Students again revise their poems to add poetic device(s) taught.
7. Teachers can also add a second or alternate Revision Focus Lesson for writers to add POETIC DEVICES/FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE that has been previously taught or can choose one to teach.
8. Students again revise their poems to add poetic device(s) taught.
9. WE ARE…ALL PARTS OF THE PUZZLE Activity:
This lesson and a sample of a class WE ARE poem is included, along with more collaborative activities, in NO MORE "US" AND "THEM": Classroom Lessons & Activities to Promote Peer Respect, taking students from seeing similarities to valuing diversity to reaching respect.
- Writers are asked to put a star next to their favorite line or a line that they want to share with the class.
- Students stand in a circle around the room, a volunteer begins, and, going clockwise around the circle, each shares a line to create a class WE ARE poem.
This lesson and a sample of a class WE ARE poem is included, along with more collaborative activities, in NO MORE "US" AND "THEM": Classroom Lessons & Activities to Promote Peer Respect, taking students from seeing similarities to valuing diversity to reaching respect.
8. LIST POETRY
LIST POETRY is a good way to begin poetry with emerging writers, or all writers, of any age.
Have students write a LIST POEM of a place, object, person, or a topic they are studying. Teach through a Gradual-Release-of-Responsibility Writing Workshop Model: Reading a Mentor Text > Teacher Model (I Do) > Guided Practice (We Do) > Independent Application (I Do).
MENTOR TEXTS: For younger students I may use as a mentor text Nikki Giovanni’s “Knoxville, Tennessee”; for older students as a mentor text, I employ the simple structure but challenging text of two William Stafford poems, “What’s in My Journal” and/or “What I Learned Last Week.” A wonderful collection, by a variety of poets at diverse reading levels, is Georgia Heard's Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems.
TEACHER MODEL:
For my teacher model when I work with elementary students, to construct the poem “What’s in Josie’s Toy Box.” (Josie is my Australian Shepherd):
1) I brainstorm a list of toys:
2) I invite student questions to add details (sights, sounds, smells, tactile), and I draft my poem.
A small green DRAGON – stuffed, of course;
A green TURTLE – her favorite toy
It makes a crinkly sound when she bites it!
(Green must be Josie’s favorite color)
Two NYLABONES,
bacon-flavored and chicken too
Two BALLS:
One is red and bouncy.
The other is purple and full of holes;
it looks like a soccer ball, only tiny, like Josie.
A rope to play tug-of-war with brother Jake
And a little pink lamb – Josie’s very 1st toy
But where is Mr. Mouse
who squeaks in two sounds, one at each end?
3) I add an ending:
Maybe Josie is letting Jake play with it.
Jake doesn’t have a toy box anymore,
but Josie shares.
4) I play with spacing and font color and size.
LIST POETRY is a good way to begin poetry with emerging writers, or all writers, of any age.
Have students write a LIST POEM of a place, object, person, or a topic they are studying. Teach through a Gradual-Release-of-Responsibility Writing Workshop Model: Reading a Mentor Text > Teacher Model (I Do) > Guided Practice (We Do) > Independent Application (I Do).
MENTOR TEXTS: For younger students I may use as a mentor text Nikki Giovanni’s “Knoxville, Tennessee”; for older students as a mentor text, I employ the simple structure but challenging text of two William Stafford poems, “What’s in My Journal” and/or “What I Learned Last Week.” A wonderful collection, by a variety of poets at diverse reading levels, is Georgia Heard's Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems.
TEACHER MODEL:
For my teacher model when I work with elementary students, to construct the poem “What’s in Josie’s Toy Box.” (Josie is my Australian Shepherd):
1) I brainstorm a list of toys:
- a small dragon'
- a turtle
- two Nylabones
- two balls
- a rope to play tug-of-war
- a little lamb
- Mr. Mouse, a stuffed squeaky toy
2) I invite student questions to add details (sights, sounds, smells, tactile), and I draft my poem.
A small green DRAGON – stuffed, of course;
A green TURTLE – her favorite toy
It makes a crinkly sound when she bites it!
(Green must be Josie’s favorite color)
Two NYLABONES,
bacon-flavored and chicken too
Two BALLS:
One is red and bouncy.
The other is purple and full of holes;
it looks like a soccer ball, only tiny, like Josie.
A rope to play tug-of-war with brother Jake
And a little pink lamb – Josie’s very 1st toy
But where is Mr. Mouse
who squeaks in two sounds, one at each end?
3) I add an ending:
Maybe Josie is letting Jake play with it.
Jake doesn’t have a toy box anymore,
but Josie shares.
4) I play with spacing and font color and size.
5) GUIDED PRACTICE:
Students collaboratively make a list from a topic they are studying or reading about. They add details, maybe conducting some research. And add an ending (as a group or individually). These first graders (pictured) had been studying penguins. We made a list of what they knew and turned it into a poem, leaving spaces where they may add some research.
6) INDEPENDENT APPLICATION:
Writers individually brainstorm a topic (pairing for questions to add details) and write their own list poetry.
Poets drafted poems about "Disney Princesses," "What's Under My Bed," and "My Favorite Day."
>NOTE: With List Poetry, even these 1st grade Writers met two English-Language Arts Literacy standards:
•CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
•CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
Students collaboratively make a list from a topic they are studying or reading about. They add details, maybe conducting some research. And add an ending (as a group or individually). These first graders (pictured) had been studying penguins. We made a list of what they knew and turned it into a poem, leaving spaces where they may add some research.
6) INDEPENDENT APPLICATION:
Writers individually brainstorm a topic (pairing for questions to add details) and write their own list poetry.
Poets drafted poems about "Disney Princesses," "What's Under My Bed," and "My Favorite Day."
>NOTE: With List Poetry, even these 1st grade Writers met two English-Language Arts Literacy standards:
•CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
•CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
MEMOIR LIST POEMS, 8th grade examples, are included in BRIDGING THE GAP: Reading Critically & Writing Meaningfully, my book on memoir reading and writing.
7. POETRY AS MENTOR TEXTS FOR WRITING
Many of us tend to use excerpts from novels, short stories, and picture books as mentor texts for Writing Workshop focus lessons, but what about poetry?
I collected poems in a binder and made a list of writing focus-lessons for which I could use each poem (or conversely, poems I could use for a focus lesson, as pictured). When I taught that lesson, I had my read-aloud and mentor text for my Teacher Model ready to go. I had a copy I could project for my Teacher Model or photocopy for students to mark for Guided Practice.
Different educators will see different poems as a fit for different lessons; here is an example of one of my lists. Find a poem you like and think, “What lesson(s) can I use this to teach?” [I also used poetry as mentor texts for Reading Workshop focus lessons]
Many of us tend to use excerpts from novels, short stories, and picture books as mentor texts for Writing Workshop focus lessons, but what about poetry?
I collected poems in a binder and made a list of writing focus-lessons for which I could use each poem (or conversely, poems I could use for a focus lesson, as pictured). When I taught that lesson, I had my read-aloud and mentor text for my Teacher Model ready to go. I had a copy I could project for my Teacher Model or photocopy for students to mark for Guided Practice.
Different educators will see different poems as a fit for different lessons; here is an example of one of my lists. Find a poem you like and think, “What lesson(s) can I use this to teach?” [I also used poetry as mentor texts for Reading Workshop focus lessons]
6. LIMERICKS TO TEACH RHYME SCHEME and RHYTHM
A limerick is a short humorous poem of five lines with the rhyme scheme AABBA and a specific rhythm that follows the rhyme scheme [think "Hickory, Dickory, Dock"]:
I found that students enjoyed writing limericks and then chose to do so in a variety of writing units––as long as the form fit the function.
As part of our our Memoir Unit, Tyler planned to write a memoir about his family trip to Disneyland. He decided to use the limerick format for the purpose of his poem, which was to entertain and illustrate the situation—that, as a teen, he now finds comical—to his audience which he identified as other eighth graders. Since a limerick would be too short, he wrote in limerick stanzas (Bridging the Gap: Reading Critically and Writing Meaningfully to Get to the Core). His first two stanzas:
A limerick is a short humorous poem of five lines with the rhyme scheme AABBA and a specific rhythm that follows the rhyme scheme [think "Hickory, Dickory, Dock"]:
- Line 1: la, LA, la, la, LA, la, la, LA (3 stressed beats)
- Line 2: la, LA, la, la, LA, la, la, LA (3 stressed beats)
- Line 3: la, LA, la, la, LA (2 stressed beats)
- Line 4: la, LA, la, la, LA (2 stressed beats)
- Line 5: la, LA, la, la, LA, la, la, LA (3 stressed beats)
I found that students enjoyed writing limericks and then chose to do so in a variety of writing units––as long as the form fit the function.
As part of our our Memoir Unit, Tyler planned to write a memoir about his family trip to Disneyland. He decided to use the limerick format for the purpose of his poem, which was to entertain and illustrate the situation—that, as a teen, he now finds comical—to his audience which he identified as other eighth graders. Since a limerick would be too short, he wrote in limerick stanzas (Bridging the Gap: Reading Critically and Writing Meaningfully to Get to the Core). His first two stanzas:
5. A FREE- VERSE POETRY LESSON
Free verse poetry is poetry that lacks
Free verse is not usually written in lines that are sentences; the line breaks add additional meaning.
This was my introductory lesson to free verse in preparation for reading free-verse novels:
Free verse poetry is poetry that lacks
- a consistent rhyme scheme
- metrical pattern (the rhythm of the words)
- and a consistent structure of stanzas although there may be a sound or rhythmic patterns within the poem.
Free verse is not usually written in lines that are sentences; the line breaks add additional meaning.
This was my introductory lesson to free verse in preparation for reading free-verse novels:
4. TEACHING ODES
One goal of my memoir unit was to expose students to different types of writing (especially poetic forms) and have them attempt divergent types. When we wrote Memoirs about Mementos, I taught ODES which
One goal of my memoir unit was to expose students to different types of writing (especially poetic forms) and have them attempt divergent types. When we wrote Memoirs about Mementos, I taught ODES which
- focus on one object
- contain elaborate description
- are celebratory or even glorifying in tone
- I began the lesson with 2 mentor texts: Pablo Neruda's "Ode to Tomatoes" from Odes to the Common Things and Gary Soto’s “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes” from Neighborhood Odes.
- As a brainstorming activity we held a modified Show 'n Tell in groups of 4, each sharing our memento and 1-2 small-moment stories connected to it.
- Writers then brainstormed a list of descriptors for their objects.
- For my teacher model, I shared "Ode to my Passport" (from Bridging the Gap: Reading Critically & Writing Meaningfully to Get to the Core, which includes lessons, mentor texts, teacher models, and student samples for 8 different types of short memoirs written in prose, a variety of poetic forms, and graphics).
3. Creating HAIKU Calendars
The haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of 3 lines, with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third.
Divide the class into 4 seasons, either 1 or 2 groups of 3 students per season.
Within groups, each student writes a haiku appropriate for one month within that season, ie., Fall Group will have a September haiku-writer, an October haiku-writer, and November haiku-writer.
Each student writes a haiku following the format and appropriate for the season. The poet finds or takes a photo or draws a picture that matches that month.
The class creates 1 or 2 different 2023 calendars with a picture and haiku for each month which can be copied and spiral-bound or sent in a pdf file to students to print and create calendars as gifts for family members, providing authentic audiences for their writing.
2. Learning Content through Writing Poetry
Students in any content area can create poems about the content which initiates engagement with the text, increases comprehension of material, and promotes learning. An activity such as writing poetry requires students to return to the textbook or their notes, or both for even more learning and to synthesize this learning by combining new learning with what they already know. Poetry also encourages students to write creatively and can produce high engagement.
Students can each choose one aspect of a topic to work on individually or in pairs and then present to the class. These presentations serve to demonstrate student learning and as a review of all material for the class.
I have designed this activity for ELA classes where small collaborative groups wrote raps based on acts Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing or chapters in novels, in science classes where students wrote quatrains about the elements; in social studies students wrote I Am poetry about people affected by historic events. See more in my blog, “The Benefits of After-Reading Response” and in The Write to Read: Response Journals that Increase Comprehension.
Students can each choose one aspect of a topic to work on individually or in pairs and then present to the class. These presentations serve to demonstrate student learning and as a review of all material for the class.
I have designed this activity for ELA classes where small collaborative groups wrote raps based on acts Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing or chapters in novels, in science classes where students wrote quatrains about the elements; in social studies students wrote I Am poetry about people affected by historic events. See more in my blog, “The Benefits of After-Reading Response” and in The Write to Read: Response Journals that Increase Comprehension.
1. Teaching Poetic Forms through Verse Novels
Verse Novels are novels written in, more commonly, free verse; in other types of verse, such as Garvey’s Choice and the new Garvey in the Dark, written in tanka; or a in variety of verse types, as in Laura Shovan The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Verse novels that are written in a variety of poetic forms can be employed as mentor texts to teach writers these forms.
Pictured are two books I used to teach poetic form: R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet (We had multiple copies in my classroom for writers who wanted to experiment on their own during Writing Workshop) and A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms.
Reader-writers can also read multi-formatted verse novels as a class, in book clubs, or individually to learn a variety of poetic forms. For example, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard shares a range of emotions through a wide variety of poetic styles: free verse, haiku, pantoum, concrete, rhymed, list, alphabet, villanelle, acrostic, and poems modeled after the poetry of other poets. In another example, Forget Me Not, author Carolee Dean creatively employs a variety of poetic forms—villanelle, pantoum, cinquain, tanka, shape poems—and meter, as well as script writing to identify the characters and alter the mood of the plot so subtly and artistically as to not disrupt the reading and the reader.
Verse Novels are novels written in, more commonly, free verse; in other types of verse, such as Garvey’s Choice and the new Garvey in the Dark, written in tanka; or a in variety of verse types, as in Laura Shovan The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Verse novels that are written in a variety of poetic forms can be employed as mentor texts to teach writers these forms.
Pictured are two books I used to teach poetic form: R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet (We had multiple copies in my classroom for writers who wanted to experiment on their own during Writing Workshop) and A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms.
Reader-writers can also read multi-formatted verse novels as a class, in book clubs, or individually to learn a variety of poetic forms. For example, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard shares a range of emotions through a wide variety of poetic styles: free verse, haiku, pantoum, concrete, rhymed, list, alphabet, villanelle, acrostic, and poems modeled after the poetry of other poets. In another example, Forget Me Not, author Carolee Dean creatively employs a variety of poetic forms—villanelle, pantoum, cinquain, tanka, shape poems—and meter, as well as script writing to identify the characters and alter the mood of the plot so subtly and artistically as to not disrupt the reading and the reader.
See my recommendations and reviews of over 100 VERSE NOVELS.
