Identify Techniques Used in Rhyming Poetry

In this activity, we are going to be looking at rhyming poetry.

 

Here is part of a rhyming poem:

 

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Jane Taylor

 

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

 

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

 

Then the traveller in the dark

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

How could he see where to go,

If you did not twinkle so?

 

 

Each verse of a poem is called a stanza.

This poem has three stanzas and there are four lines in each stanza.

 

Can you see the rhyming words at the end of each line? 

 

In the first stanza, star rhymes with are and high rhymes with sky.

In the third stanza, dark rhymes with spark and go rhymes with so.

 

Can you spot the rhyming words in the second stanza?

 

 

 

Similes

 

Many poems have similes in them.

A simile compares two things using like or as.

 

For example, 'the snow was like a soft blanket' or 'the snow was as soft as a blanket'.

 

 

Can you see the simile in 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'?

 

The star is 'like a diamond in the sky'.

 

 

Alliteration

 

Alliteration is when words close together start with the same sound or letter.

For example, Brilliant Beth ate two burgers.

 

 

Can you see the b sound close together in this sentence?

 

Can you find any alliteration in 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'?

 

On the third line in the second stanza it says 'Then you show your little light'.

There is alliteration of the l sound in 'little light'.

 

 

In this activity, we will read two rhyming poems and answer questions about them. Make sure you feel confident with stanzas, similes and alliteration before you begin.