Introduction to Poetry – 6th grade Created by: Jacob Sowell 6th grade teacher Millbrook Middle School

What is poetry? It is a form of writing that uses not only words, but Imagery Patterns of sound Figurative language … to share strong feelings or a powerful message/ theme.

Poetic Form A poem’s form is its shape or what it looks like. Poems are divided into lines. Lines are usually grouped into stanzas. Stanzas function like paragraphs in a story.

Imagery Poets use words that appeal to the reader’s senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste – to paint a picture in the reader’s mind.

Patterns of sound Alliteration Rhyme Rhythm Repetition

Alliteration The repetition of beginning consonant sounds of a series of words. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Lincoln, the Man of the People by Edwin Markham She left the Heaven of Heroes and came down To make a man to meet the mortal need A man to match the mountains and the sea The friendly welcome of the wayside well

Rhyme The repetition of same or similar sounds, usually in stressed syllables at the end of a line.

Rhyme Scheme Uses the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern Are labeled according to their rhyme sounds (aabbcc) 1st rhyme sound in a poem is “a” and each time the 1st rhyme sound is heard, it is “a” 2nd rhyme sound in a poem is “b” and each time the 2nd rhyme sound is heard, it is “b” The pattern continues with “c”, “d”, etc.

I Like My Nose

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—     While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—             Only this and nothing more.”

Rhythm The pattern of stresses or beats in a poem. Poets use patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables to create a musical rhythm in a poem. Poets often use rhythm to create a certain mood.

Hickory Dickory Dock Hickory, dickory, dock, The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Hickory, dickory, dock.

Repetition The repeating of certain sounds or words to create a certain effect. Poets often repeat words to emphasize their importance.

Hickory, dickory, dock, The mouse ran up the clock Hickory, dickory, dock, The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Hickory, dickory, dock.

Figurative Language Similes Metaphors Onomatopoeia Personification

Simile The comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as.

My Family My mom is like a fire. She's always warm, but sometimes she gets too hot. My brother is like a tornado. He always moves fast and spreads destruction wherever he goes. My sister is like a snowstorm. She's pretty to look at and icy at times, but with a little bit of sunshine, that iciness melts. Together we are like a partly cloudy day. We have our moments of darkness and gloom, but the sun always peeks through.  

Metaphor The comparison of two unlike items by saying one item is the other.

Peace by Star Fields The wind is now a roaring, smashing   The wind is now a roaring, smashing monster of destruction, raking all man's work from the valleys, from the vales, and sends them spinning, broken flying -

Onomatopoeia A word that resembles the sound it represents. Crash! Bang! Boom! Thud!

The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;  Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, ringing clear; Tlot tlot, tlot tlot,in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?  

Personification Gives human characteristics to animals, objects, etc. Winter With his icy fingers he stole my smokey breath, laid a sheet of slippery freezing cold by my feet and then whispered in my ear right to the drum that echoed in my brain with excruciating pain.

Types of Poems

Free Verse Written without rhyme or rhythm Is very conversational – sounds like someone talking with you Some do not use punctuation or capitalization, or other ways of breaking the rules of grammar. A more modern type of poetry Use your “senses” when writing

I Dream’d in a Dream I DREAM’D in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth, I dream’d that was the new city of Friends, Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led to rest, It was seen every hour n the actions of the men of that city, And in all their looks and words. by Walt Whitman

A Snowy Day Cold A snowy day is white A snowy day is snowmen and snow angels A snowy day is sledding A snowy day is cold Cold Wear your coat, hat, gloves and scarf. See your breath. My teeth shiver. Listen to the wind blow. The cold smells like frozen snow.

Pancake Our class made a pancake with finely-ground flour and cheese and tomatoes wrapped in it. It had a crinkly edge with lots of little holes for the steam to escape. Then Billy knocked the whole lot over but our teacher rescued it Then we cooked it under a flame And put it in the fridge for later. It was a real work of art. It was our milled, filled, frilled, drilled, spilled, grilled, chilled, skilled, pancake.

Couplet Examples: Chocolate candy is sweet and yummy Definition: A unit of verse consisting of 2 lines that usually rhyme A couple = 2 people, 2 things, 2 of everything May be humorous or serious Can be song lyrics, jokes, Dr. Seuss books, etc. Examples: Chocolate candy is sweet and yummy It goes down smoothly in my tummy! Make that chili good and hot Cook it in a Texas pot!

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are, Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky Then the traveler in the dark Thanks you for your tiny spark; How could he see where to go, If you did not twinkle so? - Mother Goose

Bed in Summer In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people’s feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day? -Robert Louis Stevenson

How is song a form of poetry? The lyrics and words in songs are poetry The poem is a song once it’s put to music Listen to your favorite song. Then read the lyrics. See if you can find a poem hiding in the song.

Song Couplet If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I’d been married long time ago Where did you come from where did you go Where did you come from Cotton-Eye Joe -Rednex

Acrostic Poetry Definition: Example: Music M y head is full of rhythm The first letters of each line form a word or message relating to the subject The letters of the subject written vertically Each line begins with a word or phrase that starts with that letter Does not have to rhyme Simple, based upon one word Example: Music M y head is full of rhythm U ntil I can barely sit still S ee me move to the beat I t does the same for others C an you feel the magic of music?

Teacher T akes time to listen E ach student is important A lot of patience C ares about learning H as all the answers (or will look it up!) E ach day a new adventure R eally organized (most of the time!)

Me M y heart beats inside of me E very second of the day and night!