Recognizing Poetry
Everywhere in the wo rld there is a change in the seasons. The selectio n belo w describes the
way they change in Korea.
No Calendar
Deep in the mountains we have no calendar
To tell us when the season change.
Flo wers blo o m – we guess that it is spring;
Leaves fall, so it is autumn.
And when children hunt for warm clothes,
We kno w it must be winter!
- Sijo Traditional
No w answer the questions.
1. Ho w does the poet know that the seaso ns have changed?
2. Ho w do you know that the seasons have changed where yo u live?
3. Why is the selection called a poem?
4. Ho w is it different from a paragraph?
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent
Writing Similes
Autumn is a beautiful season. In many parts of No rth America, the air is crisp and fresh.
Leaves change from green to many shades of red and yellow. The multi-coloured leaves
are blo wn by wind.
Poem
In a high wind the
leaves don’t
fall but fly
straight o ut of the tree like birds.
- A.R. Ammons
Answer the questions
1. To what does the poet compare the leaves?
2. Ho w are the leaves and birds alike?
3. Do es the poet use “like” or “as” to make the co mpariso n?
4. To what else might you compare the falling leaves o f autumn?
♥ A simile uses the words “like” or “as” to co mpare two different things that are
similar in some special way.
A pile of dried leaves is like a so ft bed
The leaf was as red as an apple.
♥ Po ets often use similes to create lively pictures, o r images, in the reader’s mind.
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent
Learning Activities
I. Read these similes about autumn and writer. What’s being co mpared in each o ne?
The lake was like frosted piece of glass.
The trees looked as colourful as marbles.
 Finish each simile belo w. Write the co mpleted compariso ns.
1. Thunder is as loud as _______________.
2. Rain puddles are like ________________.
3. The dark cloud looked like ___________.
4. Winter air is as cold as ________________.
5. The sleet w as like ___________________.
II. Read the poem below what season is the po ets describing? What two things do es the poet
compare? What has changed the way the bushes lo o k?
First Sno w
Snow makes whiteness where it falls.
The bushes loo k like po pcorn balls.
The places w here I always play
Look like so mewhere else today.
- Marie Louise Allen
 Write several sentences or a short po em that tells ho w so mething o r so meplace changes
with the seasons. Be sure to include a simile in yo ur descriptio n.
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent
Writing Metaphors
Read the poem below about the March wind. No tice ho w the poet makes co mpariso ns
in this poem.
March Wind
The wind is a roaring lion,
The wind is a growling bear,
The wind is a howling tiger,
Blo wing everywhere!
The wind is a shrieking whistle,
Bidding all things to hurry,
Lifting o ff hats,
Bending the trees,
Turning things,topsy,turvy!
- Mildred D. Johnson
Answer the questions.
1. To what does the poet compare the wind?
2. Do es the poet use the words “like” o r “as” in her co mpaisons?
3. What picture does this person create in yo ur mind?
♥ A metaphor directly compares two different things that are similar in so me special
way. A metaphor does not use the wo rds “like” or “as”
The petals of a flower are soft, gentle fingers.
A ro bin’s song is a message of spring.
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent
Learning Activities
I. Read the sentences below. Underline o nly the sentences that are metapho rs.
1. A breeze is the soft voice of the wind.
2. The tree had many broken branches.
3. The clear sky is a soft blue blanket.
4. Rainbo ws are colourful ribbons wrapped aro und the sky.
5. The birds sang outside my window.
II. Read the metaphor below. What two things are being co mpared?
Each seaso n is an o ld friend
 Finish each metaphor given below.
1. A full picnic basket is _____________.
2. A yello w daffodil is ______________.
3. Newly hatched chicks are ___________.
4. A bo ulder in the park is ____________.
III. Read the poem below. To what are pieces o f paper being co mpared?
The wind blows paper
High abo ve
The dirty streetWild kites with strings
- Hannah Lyons Johnson
 Write a one –line metaphor comparing the wind o r items blown by the wind to
so mething else.
IV. Draw pictures of two different things that are alike in so me special w ay. Then write a
metaphor comparing the two items you have drawn. Here are so me suggestio ns.
Co ulds/sheep
rain /tears
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
jet stream / highway
Ade Vincent
Understanding Rhythm and Rhyme
Rain, clouds, and sun are a part of summer everywhere, Summer comes to both the country and the city. Read
this poem about the rain in the city. What tells you that this is poetry?
Rhyme of Rain
“Fifty stories mo re to fall,
Nothing in our way at all,”
Said a raindrop to its mate,
Falling near the Empire State.
Said the second, “Here we go!
That’s Fifth Avenue below.”
Said the first one, “There’s a hat.
Watch me land myself on that.
Forty stories isn’t far –
Thirty seven – here we are –
Twenty, sixteen, thirteen, ten” –
Answer the questions
“If we make this trip again,”
1. How do you know that this is a poem?
Said the second, “we must fall
2. Which words rhyme?
Near a building twice as tall.”
3. Where do the rhyming words appear?
“What time to think o f that,”
4. Count the beats in each line?
Said the first, and missed the hat.
5. Do they form a pattern?
- John Holmes
6. What is this pattern called?
♥ Some poems rhyme. A rhyme occurs when the same sound or sounds are at the end of two words. Every
pair of rhyming words has the same final vowel sound.
park / dark
still / hill
begin / thin
♥ The accents or beats, that form a pattern in a line of poetry are called rhythm. Most rhyming poems
have the same number of beats in each line.
If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
4
You’d sail on water as blue as air,
4
And you’d see me here in the fields and say;
4
“Doesn’t the sky look green today?”
4
- A.A. Milne
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent
Learning Activities
I. Read this poem. Underline the rhyming wo rds. Then tell ho w many beats are in each
line.
I wander do wn a country lane,
Aro und my neck’s a daisy chain.
I lo o k fo r frogs and play with friends –
I ho pe this summer never ends!
- Viginia Larrain
II. Here is a riddle poem. Can you guess the answer? Find he rhyming words. Then write
a sho rt rhyming idle poem of your o wn.
I’m the sun in sky of green.
I’m the go lden summer queen.
I’m a friend of every child
because I’m strong and bright and wild!
Gro wn – ups cut me when they mow –
fo rget they loved me years ago.
But when I’m gone, then don’t you sorro w.
I’ll be back again tomorrow.
- Else Minarik
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent
Checking up
I. Label each sentence “ Simile” or “ Metaphor”.
1. The fool mo o n was a glass bulb lightning up the sky.
--------------
2. Pumpkins lay in the fields like o range beach balls.
…………
3. The sky looked as angry as the stormy sea.
…………
4. Grass is a tableclo th carefully laid upon the earth.
…………
II. Read the simile below then write your o wn simile abo ut the rain.
The pitter –patter of rain
o n the sidewalk is like
the fall o f a thousand pins.
III. Read this metaphor. Write a metapho r abo ut the weather.
Icicles
are the w alking sticks.
of the winter winds.
- Bella Coola Traditional
IV. Underline the rhyming words and write the number o f beats after each line.
Watching the Moon
September evenings such as these
The moon hides early in the trees,
And when we drive along the shore
I think I miss the trees the more
Because the moon is coming down
Beyond the branches and will drown.
- David McCord
Source Harper and Row
For Garum Minor Seminary
Ade Vincent