Words rhyme when the WHOLE END OF THE WORDS sound exactly the same. Not just when they have the same sound in the middle, and not just when the end of the word is spelled the same. It has to be the same sound.
Most rhymes with post, ghost, roast and toast, but not with lost or frost.
Most, post, ghost and toast all have a long "O" sound in the middle, like in hole.
Lost and frost both have a short "o" sound in the middle, like in hot.
It doesn't matter that the spelling pattern is the same - you have to make sure that the SOUND is exactly the same at the end of the word.
Remember, poetry is about patterns of SOUNDS IN THE AIR rather than patterns of spelling.
If the end of the word sounds NEARLY the same, that isn't rhyming. Rhyming means the ends of the words sound EXACTLY THE SAME.
So "Mean" rhymes with "Seen" (even though the spelling pattern is different - you remember your phonics lessons! There are lots of different ways to spell the same vowel sounds in English) but it doesn't rhyme with "Team", because "m" and "n" sound different.
Try saying them out loud. Listen to the sounds.
If you're not sure what a word sounds like, don't just guess - try looking the word up on Dictionary.com, where you can click on an icon and listen to the word being pronounced by a native English speaker.
TODAY'S LESSON
Learning Objective: To successfully compose rhyming couplets, using rhyme and rhythmWe're going to try another rhyming exercise today because I want everyone to be confident with this and right now it looks like we aren't all there yet.
RHYMING COUPLETS.
A rhyming couplet just means two lines that come right after each other, where the words at the ends of both lines rhyme with each other. You can have a rhyming couplet on its own, as a teeny tiny poem, or you can use lots of rhyming couplets together to make a longer poem.
Here's the beginning of Roald Dahl's poem "Little Red Riding Hood", where you can see some rhyming couplets in action:
Little Red Riding Hood
As soon as Wolf began to feel
That he would like a decent meal,
He went and knocked on Grandma's door.
When Grandma opened it, she saw
The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin,
And Wolfie said, ``May I come in?''
Poor Grandmamma was terrified,
"He's going to eat me up!'' she cried.
And she was absolutely right.
He ate her up in one big bite.
If I was going to talk about the structure of this poem (I mean the way that it is built), I would say that it has a simple rhyme scheme of rhyming couplets. ("Feel" rhymes with "meal", "door" rhymes with "saw", "grin" rhymes with "in", "terrified" rhymes with "she cried", "right" rhymes with "bite".) I would also mention that it has a regular rhythm - if you try clapping it, and you'll see there are the same number of beats on every line.
So, today's task is pretty simple - I want you to make rhyming couplets. They're like teeny tiny little 2-line poems.
I want you to be sure that they make grammatical sense (even if they're a bit crazy) and that they rhyme and that both lines have the same rhythm.
Here are four different examples that I've done for you:
My brother has a great big nose
He also has enormous toes.
(if you clap you'll see there are 8 beats in each line)
Michael Jackson sang a song
But he got the words all wrong.
(this time I've used 7 beats in each line)
I like apples, I like pears,
I like playing games with bears.
(again, 7 beats in each line for this tiny poem)
The secret to making a perfect pancake
Is adding 3 eggs that you stole from a snake.
(this time I put 11 beats in each line!)
It doesn't matter how many beats you put in your first line - you just have to make sure that the second half matches the first half, with the same rhythm and a rhyming word at the end.
I hope these examples have helped you understand how to do it!
YOUR MISSION TODAY IS TO WRITE ME TEN DIFFERENT RHYMING COUPLETS.
