Poems
Rhyme teaches a child to hear the inside of a word. That is why poems come before paragraphs.
Where these poems come from
- The traditional rhymes below are long out of copyright and may be used freely.
- The other verses were written for RCF English and may be copied and used for teaching, with acknowledgement.
- No poem from a schoolbook or another website appears here. Children's poems are in copyright like any other writing. If a poem is set for your child's class, use the book it is printed in.
Why rhyme matters before reading
A child who can hear that cat and hat end the same way has noticed that a word is made of parts. That noticing is what makes sounding out possible.
This is why rhymes are taught to very young children everywhere, in every language. It is not decoration. It is the groundwork.
A traditional rhyme
Rain, rain, go away, / Come again another day.
Traditional
What to do with that one
- Say it together four or five times until the child joins in without being asked.
- Find the rhyme: away and day. Ask for two more words that end the same way - play, say, stay, today.
- Change a word: Snow, snow, go away. Children find this very funny, and changing a word is the first step towards writing one.
- Say it in different voices: loud, whispered, slow, fast. Repetition stops feeling like repetition.
Written for RCF English
The bus is late, the bus is slow, / The bus is full, but in we go. / I hold the rail, I count to ten, / And here is school. We're late again.
Written for RCF English
What to do with that one
- Find the rhymes: slow and go, ten and again. Ask which pair rhymes better, and why. There is no wrong answer, and the question makes the child listen.
- Count the beats by clapping. Most lines have eight. A child who feels the beat will read poetry aloud properly for the rest of their life.
- Ask what happens: who is speaking? Where are they going? How do they feel about it? Four lines are enough to have a real conversation about.
- Write the next two lines together, keeping the rhyme.
Written for RCF English
One crow on the wire, / Two crows on the gate, / Three crows in the mango tree, / Four crows on my plate! / Five crows and my lunch is gone - / Next time I won't be late.
Written for RCF English
What to do with that one
- Count on fingers as you say it. Number words and rhyme together are easier than either alone.
- Act it out. One child is the crow, one guards the plate.
- Draw it, one picture for each line. Then put the pictures in order without the words.
Learning a poem by heart
Learning a few lines by heart gives a child a store of English they own outright. Spread it over four days.
Day one: hear it
You say the whole poem three or four times. The child only listens. No pressure to join in.
Day two: join in
Say it together. Stop before the last word of each line and let the child supply it. The rhyme will help them.
Day three: take turns
You say one line, the child says the next. Then swap, so they get the lines they did not have yesterday.
Day four: say it alone
The child says the whole poem. Prompt with the first word of a line if they stop; do not say the line for them.
Talking about a poem
Three questions work with almost any poem, at any age: What is happening? Which words do you like? How does it make you feel?
There is no wrong answer to any of them, which is why children will answer. The habit of having an opinion about a text, and giving a reason for it, is exactly what Literature will ask for later.
Next
Short Reading Comprehensions
From four lines of verse to four lines of prose.
Interactive Activities and Games
Rhyme and sound activities that mark themselves.
O/L Literature
Where this leads, several years from now.