Text types: Texts for fun & leisure

Poems & rhymes

Helping students to read and recite poems: Teaching suggestions

Remind students that when we stress a syllable in English, we do one or more of the following:

	We make the syllable longer.
	We pitch the syllable higher.
	We say the syllable more loudly.
	We say the syllable more slowly.

In contrast, when we say a syllable without stress we do the following:

	We make the syllable shorter.
	We reduce the vowel sound.

In order to help students get a feel for rhythm and stress (two essential features of poetry) give them an opportunity to perform a chant which just focuses on stress. 

Put students into three groups and tell them that each group is going to chant in a steady rhythm which will be slightly different from the others, but which will sound good when they all join in. 

You will need to play the role of conductor and use firm hand signals to ensure that everyone comes in at the right time. You might like to demonstrate with just three students to start with:

Once they have the basic idea, it is fun to vary the chant, eg by getting each group to swap their lines, so Group A takes over Group B's line, Group B takes over Group C's line and so on. Or you an get students to clap their hands, tap their desks, etc.

Here is another rhythm:

Point out that the stressed syllables establish the pattern. This exercise is useful because it demonstrates how the unstressed syllables contract and expand to fit into the pattern. To vary the activity, you can get students to use percussion instead of (or in addition to) their voices, for example, Group A might be clapping, Group B tapping pencils and Group C using their voices. If you feel especially daring, you might even like to consider bringing in a basketball into the classroom to set the pace!

For a PrimeTeach teaching activity which provides KS2 students with practice in using appropriate sentence stress, see:

I know an old lady