(1) Poetry Lesson 5
(2) Poetry Lesson 5
The Sower (p. 22) from One Big Rain: Poems for Rainy Days,
first page of Our Big Home: An Earth Poem, Kangaroo from In
the Wind
Just like rhyme, two of our other tools are
based on repeating patterns. The first tool,
“repetition,” refers to when a poet repeats
words, phrases, or even entire lines to create a
rhythm or make an idea stand out.
When writers sit down to write a poem, they have
many tools at their fingertips. We’ve already seen
how they can choose to use rhyme or write in free
verse. There are other tools, called “poetic devices,”
that focus on the way a poem sounds.
Point out the definition on the chart.
We’ve already talked a lot about rhyme, but it
truly is a tool based on sound.
So if a poet uses the word ”good” at the start of
every sentence, it’s not a rhyme; it is an example of
repetition. The next tool on our chart is called
“alliteration.” Alliteration is also based on repetition,
but of the beginning sounds of words that are
clustered together.
Review the definition and examples of rhyme.
Read the definition of alliteration on the chart.
Display the Appendix “Playing with Sound” and point to the
first poetic device: rhyme.
(3) Poetry Lesson 5
(4) Poetry Lesson 5
Finally, we’re going to examine a tool called:
onomatopoeia! It means words that sound like
they things they represent. So the word:” buzz”
is onomatopoeia for the sound a bee makes.
The title is “The Sower.” A sower is someone who
plants seeds. The repetition is about rain.
What do you think this poem is about?
Display “The Sower” by R. Olivares Figueroa.
This free verse poem uses repetition to create a
rhythm. Do you see what is repeated?
Allow time for students to look at and study the poem,
noticing the repeated exclamations and the italicized
font.
Allow time for student responses. Read the poem.
Why do you think the rain is important? What
do you think the sower means when he says he
plants “rainbows, dawns, and trumpets”? Did the
repetition help you understand that he was
planting flowers?
Allow time for discussion.
Now let’s look at a poem that uses alliteration.
(5) Poetry Lesson 5
Display the first page of Our Big Home.
Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning
sounds in neighboring words. Do you see any
words in this poem that begin with the same
sound?
Allow time for students to look at the words. Write the
words on chart paper: “we,” “water,” “whales” and
“splash,” “slosh,” “swim.”
I’m going to read the poem. Listen carefully to
the alliteration. How does it affect the reading?
Allow time for discussion.
(6) Poetry Lesson 5
Remember that long word, onomatopoeia? It means
words that sound like what they represent. I’m going
to read a poem about a kangaroo. What do
kangaroos do? They jump! What word do you think
a poet could use to describe jumping?
Display and read the poem “Kangaroo.”
The poet uses the word “Boing!” Does that sound like
a jump?
We learned that there are many tools that poets use
to create poetry. Some of them focus on sounds.
We learned about three poetic devices that do just
that: repetition, alliteration and onomatopoeia.
Review the Appendix chart. Together, read over the
definitions and examples provided for each poetic device.