Lesson: Rhythm and Rhyme

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Lesson Objective

Students will be able to explain and use rhythm and rhyme in their writing.

Lesson Plan

Objective:  Students will be able to explain and use rhythm and rhyme in their writing.

Lesson Plan


Do Now:  Think of your favorite song, why is it your favorite?  How does it make you feel?  Why does it make you feel that way?

Opening:  I like to think of poetry as music or songs.  Sometimes you can really feel a beat to the poem and it can be more fun or enjoyable to read.  In language, rhythm is a cadence produced by a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Rhythm occurs in all forms of language, but is particularly important in poetry and verse.  Just as there is rhythm in music, language, especially poetry, also has rhythm.

Direct Instruction (I DO): 

Rhythm is the cadence or beat in a poem and rhythm are integral to Shel Silverstein’s poetry. As we read a couple of his poems we are going to clap out the poems together, one clap per syllable.


What is a syllable you may ask? 


Demonstrate what a syllable is by clapping the syllables in students’ names and other common words.


Demonstrate the syllable concept with Shel Silverstien’s “Alice”


ALICE (Where the Sidewalk Ends, p. 112)

                                                                           Number of Syllables

She drank from a bottle called DRINK ME           | | | | | | | | | 9

And up she grew so tall,                                         | | | | | | 6

She ate from a plate called TASTE ME                 | | | | | | | | 8

And down she shrank so small.                              | | | | | | 6

And so she changed, while other folks                  | | | | | | | | 8

Never tried nothin’ at all.                                       | | | | | | 6


Model after each line how you make a hash mark for each syllable.


Take notice of the patterns of syllabication within various poems.  Explain that patterns with syllables can make for very interesting poems.


Other poems to use:

“My Beard” (Where the Sidewalk Ends, p 163)

“Come Skating” (A Light in the Attic, p. 71)

“The Deadly Eye” (Falling Up, p. 37)

“A Closet Full of Shoes” (Falling Up, p. 118)


Then ask them to make marks on paper and count out the syllables per line. Working with the same poem, “Alice.” 


Demonstrate how the syllable pattern can also correspond to the rhyme in the poem as well.  As seen above, the lines with 6 syllables; the same rhythm pattern are also the lines that rhyme.


When authors do this, it makes the poem a bit more predictable in terms of how it sounds to the reader or how it should be read.




Guided Practice (WE DO):

Using the modeled strategy, have students practice as a class with the following poem:

  • Make sure to point out syllables

  • Make sure to point out rhyme pattern with the syllables

The Land of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bedclothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.


Using a couple different poems from different authors, split students up into pairs and have them try it on their own.

Call students back together:


Read Oct. 17th – Nov. 6th in Love That Dog.


  • Make sure to point out where Jack uses rhythm and rhyme in his poem.   

Discussion Question:  Jack’s beliefs about poetry change throughout the year.  What do you believe about poems?  What makes something a poem?  How are poems different than stories and other kinds of writing?

Facilitate a small discussion after reading.

Independent Practice (YOU DO): 

Give students 15 minutes of Journaling Time in order to try rhythm and rhyme in their work.

Challenge students to come up with a poem with a syllable pattern and rhyme like Shel Silverstein or Jack.

Use this time to conference with students and discuss their writing.

Assessment:  Give students various lines from popular poems or speeches and have them count the syllables.

Lesson Resources

Lesson 62   Lesson Plan
Lesson 62 Poetry Terms Rhyme   Notes
Lesson 62 Poetry Terms Rhythm   Notes


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