Poetry: Rhyme Scheme

I just found the little index card with my notes to myself when teaching Rhyme Scheme in Poetry, so I thought I would share. This is where the ending sound of each line is assigned a letter, starting with a. If the next line has the same ending sound as the first, it is also an a. If its ending sound is different, that line is tagged b. And so on, to the end, and the poem's rhyme scheme/pattern has been recorded. Some examples might be abab or aabb. Shakespeare favored abab cdcd efef gg in his sonnets. This is easy to teach if you've already studied Patterns in Math (in Waldorf, this is introduced in Grade 2).

I find an anthology of VERY simple children's poetry makes teaching this lesson easier.


It's actually an awesome anthology and one of my favorite suggestions for a New Baby gift. I love Polly Dunbar's illustrations!

Here were the poems I used in my lesson.

"August Ice Cream Cone"

Lick.
Quick.

(to introduce the concept -- this poem is aa)


Then I modeled on the board, talking out loud as I worked my way through identifying and writing the rhyme scheme of each poem:
"Piggy Back"
"Paper Songs"
"Rain"

And, finally, I read aloud "The Early Morning" twice slowly for their first attempt to write the rhyme scheme on their own. They listened and wrote what they thought the rhyme scheme was and then I explained the answer so they could check their work.

My lesson plans for the entire Poetry unit are available at my website.
http://www.waldorfcurriculum.com/Curric/02/poetry_seasons.html