WRITING YOUR OWN RHYMING AND RHYTHMIC POEM

     

     

    By Josie Whitehead

     

     

    Using the poem “What Shall We Do with Mrs McGoo?”

     

    1     Read a poem that you like first of all and ask yourself why do you particularly like the poem? It may be that you find it funny, or that the story is interesting, or that you particularly like the subject. Just for this exercise I have chosen “What Shall We do with Mrs McGoo?” but there are lots of poems for you to choose from.

     

    2      Clap your hands with the rhythm of the poem: eg: What (1) shall we do (2) with Mrs (3) McGoo. (4 claps).

     

    3      You can try to write something similar with the same number of beats in the first line:

     

    Eg: What shall we do with poor old Mum?

    What shall we do with our neighbour’s cat?

    Whatever is wrong with my poor little dog?

    Where on earth did I leave my bag? etc etc

     

    You will find four beats in each of the above lines. You may wish to write down lots of ideas about the subject that you have chosen. 

     

    4    You will notice that I have rhymed the first line with the second line and that the third and fourth lines rhyme, and that  each line has four claps.

     

    5    You must choose a word which rhymes with the last word of your first line:

    eg: What shall we do with poor old Mum? In my poem I have explained what the problem is in the second verse – ie Mrs McGoo has lost her glasses but found her shoe. In your second line you must write something which explains the first line.

    Eg: What shall we do with poor Old Mum? She’s burnt her cakes and cut her thumb.

    Now try with my second example: What shall we do with our neighbour’s cat?

    If you find it difficult to find a rhyme, go to Rhyme Zone and write in the word cat and see what comes up:

    http://www.whiteheadm.co.uk/html/winter_picnic_lesson_plan.htm#lessonplan2

     

    Look at all the words you have to choose from: bat; flat; hat; rat; and many more. You could then choose one of these interesting words and write your second line,

    Eg: What shall we do with our neighbour’s cat? She’s sharpened her claws on my brother’s bat – or: What shall we do with our neighbour’s cat? She’s far too lazy to catch a rat; or: What shall we do with our neighbour’s cat? She spends all her life on our front door mat. - Well, these are just examples and you must choose your own words to go with your particular poem. Once you have completed the first two lines, you can tackle the last two lines in the same way. What else does your subject do and what is the result?

     

    When you have finished your verse, try reading it carefully and clapping your hands to make sure that the rhythm is perfectly right.

     

    You can then try a second verse in the second way. I have changed the subject in my second verse, bringing in Mr McGoo this time – and he is just as crazy.

     

    You need to read your poem through several times aloud because you can quickly tell this way if the rhythm is correct or not. You need to leave the poem for a while and look at it again. Read it to someone else too. You may, like me, not be satisfied with your poem and change it several times. Sometimes I am happy with a poem when I have written it, but mostly I have to go over it several times to get it right.

     

    For new poems you will need to think of new subjects. Look around at the world outside of your house. I have written about many different subjects: trains; the London bus; the blackbird who sang all night in London; the bluebells in the woods; and lots of story poems: the three little aliens; the minibeasts at Mini-Beastie Hall; elephants, penguins and even colours. You can start writing a list of subjects from A to Z – and a subject that would be packed with ideas would be a Zoo (Z). 

     

    Ask your school to have a competition for best rhyming poem.

     

     

    Good luck with your poetry writing.

     

    Josie

    Copyright 2007