Rhyming Poems

Building academic language

Word

Prior to the lesson pre-write the Five Busy Honey Bees poem on chart paper in large letters.

• Explain that you will be reading a poem to the class. Define a poem as something that tells a story, yet is usually shorter than a story and often includes rhyming words.
• Display the Five Busy Honey Bees poem and read it aloud. Emphasize the rhyming words at the end of each line.
• Read the poem again, this time having the students echo-read each line after you.
• Model underlining the rhyming words in the poem.

Sentence

• Read the poem again and have students give a thumbs up when they hear a rhyming word pair.
• Create a class illustrated word bank of rhyming word pairs (start with the words from the poem), using quick sketches or pre-picked images.
• Have students turn and talk to a partner to come up with additional rhyming words to add to the word bank.

Discourse

• Play a quick rhyming game with the class. Hold up one of the vocabulary cards (e.g., Hat) and have students share out a word that rhymes as quickly as they can.
• Have students turn and talk to a partner to share a sentence using two words that rhyme (from the game or word bank).
• Pass out student copies of the poems and have students underline the rhyming word pairs. If time allows, invite students to draw a picture of their favorite part of the poem.