4th grade poetry

1. PoetryPoetry
A poem is created by
putting words
together in an
interesting way to
express a feeling,
create a mental
picture, tell a story,
or make a sound.
Poetry entertains the ears and the
eyes.

2. Poems EverywherePoems Everywhere
Poems can be found in many
places. They are in your reading
book and in lots of places in and out
of school.
You might have a collection of poems in
one book all written by the same author, like
this book by Shel Silverstein~

3. Or you might find a collection of
poems, written by various authors,
but printed in the same book.
This is called an anthologyanthology.

4. Poetry Parts: Verse and Poetry Parts: Verse and
StanzaStanza
VerseVerse ~ usually means a line
of poetry, but sometimes
means a whole poem:Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I rued.

5. StanzaStanza
A stanza in a poem is like a
paragraph in an essay.
Each stanza is usually
separated by some blank space.
Common stanza lengths are
two, three, four, six or eight
lines.

6. How Many Stanzas Does This Poem How Many Stanzas Does This Poem
Have?Have?
Snevington Snee by Jack PrelutskySnevington Snee by Jack Prelutsky
I’m Snevington SneeI’m Snevington Snee
And from seven till threeAnd from seven till three
I hang by my toesI hang by my toes
From a coconut tree.From a coconut tree.
I’ve plenty of timeI’ve plenty of time
And it’s hardly a crime,And it’s hardly a crime,
And no one seems willingAnd no one seems willing
To do it for me.To do it for me.

7. Rhyme Rhyme
Repetition of end sounds is
called rhymerhyme.
My dog chewed up my homework.
He slobbered on it, too.
So now my homework’s ripped to shreds,
And full of slimy goo. (~Bruce Lansky)

8. Rhyme SchemeRhyme Scheme
Rhyme scheme can be determined by
marking similarly rhyming lines of the
poem with a letter of the
alphabet.

9. Rhyme SchemeRhyme Scheme
Here is a poem by Jack Prelutsky with an A-B-C-
B rhyme scheme:
Grizelda Gratz kept sixty cats A
She fed them very well B
On angel cakes and raisin
flakes C
And acorns in a shell. B

10. Now It’s Your TurnNow It’s Your Turn
Can you identify the rhyme scheme of this
poem by Mary O’Neill?
Green is the grass
And the leaves of trees
Green is the smell
Of a country breeze.

11. ConsonanceConsonance
The repetition of consonant
sounds in nearby words,
especially at the ends of
words, as in
blank and think
or
strong and string

12. Free Verse or Unrhymed Free Verse or Unrhymed
VerseVerse
Free verse or unrhymed poems do not rhyme
or have regular rhythm.
American Walt Whitman was one
of the first poets to publish free
verse poems.
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and
strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work…
~(From I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman)

13. RhythmRhythm
RhythmRhythm is a regular, patterned
repetition of sounds in a poem (the
beat).
RhythmRhythm and rhymerhyme can give poetry
a musical quality.

14. Figurative LanguageFigurative Language
Poets and other writers
often use figurative
language and other poetic
devices to make their
writing more interesting
and expressive.

15. Examples of Figurative LanguageExamples of Figurative Language
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Simile
Metaphor
Idiom

16. AlliterationAlliteration
Down the slippery slide they slid
Sitting slightly sideways;
Slipping swiftly see them skid
On holidays and Fridays.
~by Michael Rosen
Alliteration is when almost all of the words
in the line have the same beginningbeginning sound.

17. OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia
The rusty spigot
sputters,
utters
a splutter,
spatters a smattering of drops,
gashes wider;
slash,
splatters,
scatters,
spurts,
finally stops sputtering
and plash!
gushes rushes splashes
clear water dashes.
~by Eve Merriam
Onomatopoeia is fun to say and easy to remember! It
is the imitation of sounds in word form.

18. CombinationCombination
Sometimes a poet will combine two
or more literary devices. Can you
tell what two devices are used in
the verse below?
“ice cubes clinking clatter clink,
crazily inside my drink” ~from Ice Cubes
by Joan Graham

19. SimileSimile
“Arithmetic is where numbers
fly like pigeons in and out of
your head.” ~from Arithmetic by Carl
Sandburg
A simile is a comparison using _____ or
_____. Can you fill in the blanks?

20. MetaphorMetaphor
“On the first snowfall there is a pinhole in the
pillow of the sky
a feather from a white dove is falling from the
sky…”
(~from On the First Snowfall by Eve Merriam)
What makes this an example of a
metaphor?

21. IdiomIdiom
An idiom is a phrase whose words have a different
meaning other than its original meaning.
Don’t worry. The math
test on fractions is a
piece of cake!

22. Enjoy Poetry!Enjoy Poetry!
Poetry opens up a whole new world that is different from
prose. Try these things:
Check out a poetry book from the Learning
Center.
Start a collection of poetry by copying your
favorites into a poetry journal.
Try your hand at writing some of your own
poetry.