Topic​: Poetry, Rhythm, and Rhyme

SOL Content Area, Number, and Description:

10.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze literary texts of different cultures and eras.
k) Compare and contrast how rhyme, rhythm, sound, imagery, style, form, and other literary devices
convey a message and elicit a reader’s emotions.

Instructional Objectives:
● Define rhythm and rhyme scheme.
● Create a distinction between rhythm and rhyme scheme.
● Identify the rhythm of a poem.
● Identify the rhyme scheme of a poem.
● Create a definition for poetry.

Materials:​ ​Class computer, laptops, projector, handouts.

Hook:​ ​The class will begin with the students thinking for a minute and then writing a response on a separate piece
of paper so they are ready to write on the board to the question “What is poetry?”

Questions:
● “How are rhythm and rhyme similar? How are they different?”
● “In what ways do the rhythm and rhyme scheme of a poem affect your interpretation?”

Lesson Body and Sequence:

● The class will begin with the students thinking for a minute and then writing a response on a separate piece
of paper so they are ready to write on the board to the question “What is poetry?” (these questions have
been prepared [“why would someone write poetry?”, “how is poetry different from a short story”, “how
have you studied poetry in the past?”, “In what ways is poetry easier to study than a longer story? When is
it more difficult?”] to keep the short class discussion going). Afterwards, each small group will discuss
their answer and create a group definition. A student from each group will be randomly picked to share
their response for each group.
● The students will then be shown a series of five texts and must discern if the text that is shown is poetry or
not with their group members. The students will be given about a minute to discuss whether the text shown
is a poem. Then the students will be asked to raise their hand if think the text shown is a poem. If they
agree, a student from their group will be randomly chosen to explain why. The same process will happen
for the students who disagree.
● The students will then complete a formative assessment asking them “what is your personal definition of
poetry?”
● Afterwards, a “hook activity” about rhythm and rhyme scheme will occur. The question “What is the
relationship between rhythm and rhyme?” will be posted on the board. The students will take a minute to
think of and then write down a response on a separate sheet of paper. Then the students will come up, six at
a time (two groups at a time) as called on by the teacher, to write their responses on the board, then the
students will silently read and think about the responses on the board.
● After the short discussion, the students (in their groups) will work together to come up with a definition for
rhythm a​ nd ​rhyme scheme ​and subsequently share their responses with the class by sending up a
representative to write their response on the board. This will be done with six students and then three
students to accomodate for the amount of groups and markers in the room.
● A definition of ​rhythm ​and ​rhyme scheme ​will be provided for the students so they could compare and
contrast the definitions they created with the provided ones.
● The students will then be provided with the poem “Across the Border” by Sophie Jewett and the rhythm of
the poem will be shown to the class. This specific poem was chosen as it has a consistent rhythm
throughout the piece and can be open to interpretation.
● The individual groups will then be provided lyrics to popular songs and asked to describe the rhythm of the
piece and how they arrived at that answer.
● Afterwards, the students will respond to a formative assessment that is centered around identifying the
rhythm of “A Song in my Front Yard” by Gwendolyn Brooks.
● The teacher will then model for the students how to identify rhyme scheme using “Across the Border” as
the class example again.
● The students will then take out their chromebooks and independently work through differentiated material
based on their responses to the rhyme scheme questions on the pre-assessment. These materials will be
shared with students in Google Classroom. This material was based on two categories of students, those
who confused rhythm and rhyme scheme and those who did not. The group who confused rhythm and
rhyme scheme are the ​Indigo g​ roup while those who did not are the F ​ uchsia​ group. The indigo group will
receive a reading that details both rhyme and rhythm while the fuchsia group will simply review rhythm.
When the students are done, they will discuss their responses with their group members.
● Finally, the students will be shown a short model poem created by the teacher. The students will create a
poem focusing on rhyme and rhythm while explaining their rhyme scheme and rhythm choices on their
formative assessment.
 The file names for each activity are in bold under student actions.

Time Teacher Actions Student Actions

10 minutes Facilitate the poetry definition Participate in the poetry hook activity. (​Poetry
hook activity. Presentation 2a​)

10 minutes Show the students the texts and Engage in the text analysis with their group
facilitate a short discussion members to discern if a text is poetry. (​Poetry
around the “Girl” text. Presentation 2a​)

5 minutes Provide the students with the Complete the poetry formative assessment.
poetry formative assessment. (​Poetry Presentation 2a​)

10 minutes Facilitate in the rhythm and Engage in the rhythm and rhyme scheme hook
rhyme scheme hook activity. activity. (​Poetry Presentation 2b​)

10 minutes Present definitions of rhyme Analyze the given definition of rhyme scheme
scheme and rhythm. Review the and rhythm. Review the rhythm in “Across the
rhythm in “Across the Border”. Border”. (​Poetry Presentation 2b​)

15 minutes Assist students as they complete Complete the rhythm activity. (​Lyric Analysis
the rhythm activity. Worksheet​, ​Songs​)

10 minutes Provide students with the rhythm Complete the rhythm formative assessment. (​a
formative assessment. song in my front yard​)

15 minutes Provide and assist students with Complete the rhyme scheme assignment.
the rhyme scheme assignment. (​Rhyme Scheme Worksheets​)

5 minutes Provide students with the exit Complete the exit ticket. (​Poetry Presentation
ticket. 2b​)

Formative Assessment: ​Collect the students’ poetry, rhythm, and rhyme scheme formative assessments.

Groupings:​ The students will be grouped in groups of three. They will be grouped by readiness as determined
by the results on the pre-assessment they took.