5th Grade
Rhyming poems are some of the most common poems that you read. Rhyming poems can be fun to write and fun to read out loud. Most rhyming poems have some kind of pattern that they follow. Here are a few examples from Shel Silverstein's book Where the Sidewalk Ends: 30th Anniversary Special Edition (© 2004 by Evil Eye, LLC):
Rhyming Poems
"Point of View"
Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless
Christmas dinner's dark and blue
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.
Sunday dinner isn't sunny
Easter feasts are just bad luck
When you see it from the viewpoint
Of a chicken or a duck.
Oh how I once loved tuna salad
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too
Till I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view.
- Shel Silverstein
Now let's look at the pattern...
Notice how every other line rhymes all the way through the poem, we can use letters to find the pattern. Here the "B" lines rhyme, and the "A" lines do not rhyme.
"Point of View"
Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless (A)
Christmas dinner's dark and blue (B)
When you stop and try to see it (A)
From the turkey's point of view. (B)
Sunday dinner isn't sunny (A)
Easter feasts are just bad luck (B)
When you see it from the viewpoint (A)
Of a chicken or a duck. (B)
Oh how I once loved tuna salad (A)
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too (B)
Till I stopped and looked at dinner (A)
From the dinner's point of view. (B)
- Shel Silverstein
"Flag"
One star is for Alaska...
One star is for Nebraska...
One star is North Dakota...
One star is Minnesota...
There are lots of other stars,
But I forget which ones they are.
- Shel Silverstein
Now let's look at the pattern...
Notice how all the "A" lines rhyme with each other, with two rhyming "B" lines at the end.
"Flag"
One star is for Alaska... (A)
One star is for Nebraska... (A)
One star is North Dakota... (A)
One star is Minnesota... (A)
There are lots of other stars, (B)
But I forget which ones they are. (B)
- Shel Silverstein
"Instructions"
If you should ever choose
To bathe an armadillo,
Use one bar of soap
And a whole lot of hope
And seventy-two pads of Brillo.
- Shel Silverstein
Now let's look at the pattern...
What do you notice about the pattern in this poem?
"Instructions"
If you should ever choose (A)
To bathe an armadillo, (B)
Use one bar of soap (C)
And a whole lot of hope (C)
And seventy-two pads of Brillo. (B)
- Shel Silverstein
Let's look at one more... this one has lots of rhyming in different places...
"Helping"
Agatha Fry, she made a pie,
And Christopher John helped bake it.
Christopher John, he mowed the lawn,
And Agatha Fry helped rake it.
Zachary Zugg took out the rug,
And Jennifer Joy helped shake it.
And Jennifer Joy, she made a toy,
And Zachary Zugg helped break it.
And some kind of help
Is the kind of help
That helping's all about.
And some kind of help
is the kind of help
We all can do without.
- Shel Silverstein
Now let's look at all the rymes...
The rhyming words are colored so they match. Do you notice any patterns?
"Helping"
Agatha Fry, she made a pie,
And Christopher John helped bake it.
Christopher John, he mowed the lawn,
And Agatha Fry helped rake it.
Zachary Zugg took out the rug,
And Jennifer Joy helped shake it.
And Jennifer Joy, she made a toy,
And Zachary Zugg helped break it.
And some kind of help
Is the kind of help
That helping's all about.
And some kind of help
is the kind of help
We all can do without.
- Shel Silverstein
Now you try writing your own! There really is no right or wrong way to do it, as long as you include rhyming in your poem somewhere. Be creative!