Let’s listen to some brilliant songs and then write a poem with real focus on rhyming for effect!

ACTIVITY 1

We can start by hearing what the experts have to say about rhyme. Enter Eminem and friends…

Watch 00:00-03:20 & 4:33-7:25

ACTIVITY 2

Read the lyrics below. Fill the gaps with words that rhyme with the nearby words in bold. The couplet in Avril Lavigne’s ‘Sk8er Boi’ has been left completely to your imagination; you have to fill in both rhyming words. You may know some of the songs, but the point isn’t necessarily to choose the correct rhymes, just to have fun thinking of words that might fit!

1. Louis Dunford:

“As I walk these streets alone / through this borough I call _______________________

2. The Chainsmokers & Coldplay:

“I’ve been reading books of old
The legends and the _______________________
Achilles and his gold
Hercules and his gifts
Spider-Man’s control
And Batman with his _______________________

3. Lucy Spraggan:

“All the stuff, I know right now
It came from messing up most of my twenties
It’s changed for now and I hope it lasts
I spent most of my life feeling quite _______________________

4. Icona Pop & Charli XCX:

“You’re on a different road, I’m in the Milky Way
You want me down on Earth, but I am up in _______________________

5. Ayra Starr:

“Me no got the time for the hate and the bad energy

Got my mind on my money

Make you dance like Poco Lee

Steady green like ___________

6. Avril Lavigne:

“He wanted her
She’d never tell
Secretly she wanted him as well
But all of her friends
Stuck up their _______________________
They had a problem with his baggy _______________________

7. Louis Dunford:

“I’m not making a killing, _______________________
But I’m making a living and that’s enough

I’m on my way home in the backseat of a cab

And I’m talking with Bossman while I eat my kebab…

8. Wilkinson:

“Even though the dancing’s done

Don’t worry, ’cause the night is _______________________

Who cares where we go?

We’re ready for the afterglow

Someone hold the sunlight back

‘Cause we want this night to last

Smoke and lasers

Love and _______________________

ACTIVITY 3

Watch the videos and check your answers 🙂

ACTIVITY 4

There are many reasons a poet might choose a particular type of rhyme. Here are a few of those reasons:

  1. Regular ABAB rhyme might help create a sense of dullness, predictability – or of feeling trapped in a routine.
  2. Regular ABAB rhyme could, however, also create a sense of safety and security.
  3. Any kind of rhyme could reinforce the idea that a poet or speaker is trying to bring order to a chaotic world.
  4. A lack of rhyme may create an effect of freedom and openness.
  5. An irregular rhyme scheme might represent speaker’s rejection of the rules.
  6. The rhyming words might simply offer a sense of playfulness – a sense of fun.

Look again at the 8 songs referenced in this session. What effect do you think each artists was going for by choosing the rhyming words – or rhyme scheme – that they did? You can pick from the list of reasons above – or come up with your own different idea.

ACTIVITY 5

Make a list of words that you feel you might need to write about a day at school: the things you see, the things you do, the experiences you have.

Then, try coming up with interesting rhymes for the most important of those words!!

For example, you might write down words such as science. Then, you’ll need to come up with a rhyme for each of those those words. Perhaps, in the case of science, you’d choose the word ‘defiance’.

ACTIVITY 6

Write a poem about one of/some of/all of the parts of a school day (real or imagined) listed below. It doesn’t have to be a long, connected piece, you could simply write a couplet (two lines of poetry) about each different moment. Look back to the lyrics above for inspiration.

When writing your poem, you could focus on making considered decision about rhyme (and maybe meter too). The whole poem might rhyme (and be of a regular rhythm) – or perhaps you’ll choose to have some moments which rhyme, and some which don’t. (I’ve added some notes about meter just a little further down this page).

  1. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE WHERE YOU ARE… (as inspired by Louis Dunford)
  2. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE WHAT YOU’RE DOING IN LESSONS… (as inspired by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay)
  3. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE WHAT YOU’RE REALLY THINKING ABOUT… (as inspired by Lucy Spraggan)
  4. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PEOPLE TRYING TO GUIDE YOU (as inspired by Icona Pop & Charli XCX)
  5. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE TO LIFE… (as inspired by Ayra Starr)
  6. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT SOMETHING YOU NOTICE AT SCHOOL… (as inspired by Avril Lavigne)
  7. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE ABOUT SOMEONE YOU MEET/SOMEONE YOU TALK TO ON WAY HOME… (as inspired by Louis Dunford)
  8. TELL YOUR READER/AUDIENCE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AFTER SCHOOL… (as inspired by Wilkinson)

You don’t have to write a poem with a clear narrative, but here’s an example of how to do that if you want to try:

Meter

  1. Iambic pentameter: an iamb is two syllables (one stressed, followed by one unstressed). A line of iambic pentameter has 5 of these iambs. So: 10 syllables in total.
  • Iambic tetrameter: an iamb is two syllables (one stressed, followed by one unstressed). A line of iambic tetrameter has 4 of these iambs. So: 8 syllables in total.
  • Dactylic dimeter: a dactyl is made up of three syllables. Dimeter means there are two dactyls in the line of poetry. So: 6 syllables in total.
  • Hexameter: a line of poetry with 12 syllables in total.
  • Free verse: poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular rhythm
    • free verse could represent stream of consciousness
    • lack of regular rhythm or rhyme may create an effect of freedom and openness.
    • free verse may  represent the speaker’s rejection of the rules.