Teaching notes for Rhyme Time

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1 BLM 75 R hyme time Down behind the dustbin I met a dog called Sid. He could smell a bone inside but couldn t lift the lid. by Michael Rosen from Wouldn t you like to know (Puffin) Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King s horses and all the King s men Had fried eggs and bacon for breakfast again. from All Right, Vegemite! compiled by June Factor (Oxford University Press) Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard To fetch her poor dog a bone. When she got there Her cupboard was bare So the poor little dog had Pal. from All Right, Vegemite! compiled by June Factor (Oxford University Press) There once was a man from Barcoo Who discovered a mouse in his stew. Said the waiter, Don t shout And wave it about, Or the rest will be wanting one too. (Anonymous) Blake Education Fully Reproducible 99

2 Teaching notes for Text form: Rhymes and word play Medium: Book Field: Funny situations Tenor: Poet to general audience Mode: Written OTHER RESOURCES Illustrated poetry anthologies; rhyming dictionaries. Art materials. INTRODUCING THE UNIT This unit is a light-hearted look at the way language can be used to send up situations through poetry. Encourage students to share jokes or riddles and discuss what makes the joke funny. Ask them to consider whether different cultures might perceive humour differently. WHAT A JOKE! Encourage students to read the poem aloud so that they can hear the rhythmic patterns and rhyme schemes. Explain that rhymes often use the quatrain or four-line stanza form but this may vary according to the meaning. Before students illustrate this rhyme, discuss how visual texts work to create the meaning and mood of the verbal text. The illustration does not merely show the same information as the verbal test provides. Point out that the visual text helps to create the humour. Assist students to think about the dustbin they will draw and where it will be situated. Encourage them to think what kind of dog Sid is, and why he couldn t lift the lid off the dustbin. You may wish to show a range of styles of illustrations in poetry anthologies and picture books. Discuss the difference in effect of some of the different styles, particularly illustrators such as Quentin Blake compared with Julie Vivas. Encourage students to use these as models for their own illustrations. RHYMING LINES This activity encourages students to listen to the sounds in words. You may need to assist students to hear the rhyming patterns and to become aware of different spelling in rhyming words. Ask students to find rhymes for polysyllabic and monosyllabic words. If you have rhyming dictionaries in the library it might be useful to show these to students and to encourage them to make use of other resources that will help them find unusual words. DOWN BEHIND THE DUSTBIN Compare the original Michael Rosen poem and the alternative version. Jointly construct another version with the whole class before encouraging individual students to write their version. Ask students to read the poems aloud to emphasis the humour. Discuss what makes the poem funny and help pinpoint how the rhyme contributes to the humour. Encourage illustrations that highlight the humour. NEW RHYMES FROM OLD Encourage students to compare these nursery rhymes with the originals. Discuss how the changes affect the rhyme, humour and meaning. Old Mother Hubbard for instance does not use a rhyming line. Introduce the term parody (send up). Ask students to discuss any parodies that they have encountered in the media or in books. Discuss reasons why people parody the words of others. Explain that parody can be helpful and assist them to be clever rather than hurtful in their discussions. Encourage students to experiment with a variety of alternatives for their parodies of nursery rhymes and explore how these might affect meaning. LIMERICKS Encourage students to notice the rhythmic and rhyming patterns in the limericks. Clapping the rhythm as the lines are said will assist them. Encourage students to identify what is amusing or fantastic in the limerick and to draw this using an appropriate style of illustration. THERE ONCE WAS A... Help students to discuss different forms of limericks and involve them in researching, reading, writing and then independently constructing their own limericks. FOLLOW-UP/EXTENSION Have students create a book of modern limericks and a book of parodies of famous poems. 100

Name Date What a joke! We often have fun with words making jokes, puns and riddles. Do you know any riddles? Share these with a friend. Sometimes we make jokes that play games with words.

3 Name Date What a joke! We often have fun with words making jokes, puns and riddles. Do you know any riddles? Share these with a friend. Sometimes we make jokes that play games with words. Often these jokes may be in the form of poetry. Poetry can be serious but it can also be very light-hearted and funny. Read the first poem, by Michael Rosen. Talk with a friend about this poem. What makes it funny? BLM 76 Illustrate the poem. Rhyming lines In the poem by Michael Rosen there are two rhyming lines and two lines which do not rhyme. In the rhyming lines the dog s name forms part of the rhyme. Some of the humour comes from this rhyme. Below are three names that are sometimes given to dogs. Think of three more names and write them in the spaces provided in the top row. Now try to find some words that rhyme with these dog s names. Share your rhyming words with a friend. Butch Lady Goldie NA 3.4 NSW 2.2 Interacts effectively and reflects on own skills and how others use communicating skills and listening strategies. NA 3.6 NSW 2.7 Identifies simple symbolic meaning and stereotypes in texts and discusses how writers create worlds through language which achieves a wide range of purposes. Blake Education Fully Reproducible 101

4 BLM 77 Name Date Down behind the dustbin... Using the pattern of the poem, and some of your rhyming words, write more verses to the poem. You may wish to do your rough work on paper and publish your finished verses in the space provided below. Here s one verse to get you started. Down behind the dustbin I met a dog called Sam. He said he wouldn t eat the bone He d prefer brown bread and jam. Take turns to read your poems to a group. Talk about what makes the rhymes funny. Draw illustrations of some of the funny aspects. 102 NA 3.2 NSW 2.3 Recognises that certain types of spoken texts are associated with particular audiences and purposes. NA 3.10 NSW 2.13 Recognises and discusses how own texts are adjusted to relate to different readers, how they develop the subject matter for particular purposes and audiences. Blake Education Fully Reproducible

Name Date BLM 78 New rhymes from old Read the version of Humpty Dumpty and Old Mother Hubbard at the beginning of this unit. The last line of each of these rhymes has been changed.

5 Name Date BLM 78 New rhymes from old Read the version of Humpty Dumpty and Old Mother Hubbard at the beginning of this unit. The last line of each of these rhymes has been changed. In Humpty Dumpty the rhyme still works, but in Old Mother Hubbard there is no rhyme. Talk with a small group about what is funny in these nursery rhymes. Write your group s ideas in the space provided below. Choose some nursery rhymes and write your own new versions by changing the last lines. You may wish to keep the same rhyme or to change the rhyming pattern. Try to make your poem funny. Do your rough work on paper and then publish your finished version of each rhyme in the space below. You could also illustrate your rhymes to bring out the humour. NA 3.4 NSW 2.2 Interacts effectively and reflects on own skills and how others use communicating skills and listening strategies. NA 3.5 NSW 2.5 Reads a wide range of written and visual texts and interprets and discusses relationships between ideas, information and events. NA 3.6 NSW 2.7 Identifies simple symbolic meaning and stereotypes in texts and discusses how writers create worlds through language which achieves a wide range of purposes. NSW 2.12 Writes using consistent shape, size, slope and formation. Demonstrates basic desktop skills on the computer. Blake Education Fully Reproducible 103

6 BLM 79 Name Date Limericks A limerick is a five line poem which recounts a comic or fantastical incident. The first, second and fifth lines are longer and rhyme with each other, while the third and fourth lines are shorter and also rhyme with each other. Read the limerick at the beginning of this unit. Talk with a friend about why this is comical or fantastical. Notice the rhyme scheme and the rhythmic pattern. In this list of sixteen words there are eight pairs of rhyming words. Link the rhyming words on the lines below. tough bread enough twirl stood pearl hood die said sty hare mare pair here dear flare Write words that rhyme. young showers crow town lace four Complete the limerick. A silly young man named Joe Moved the hay but was way too slow. He 104 NA 3.1 NSW 2.1 Communicates and interacts for specific purposes with students in the classroom and in the school community using a small range of text types. NA 3.6 NSW 2.7 Identifies simple symbolic meaning and stereotypes in texts and discusses how writers create worlds through language which achieves a wide range of purposes. Blake Education Fully Reproducible

7 Name Date BLM 80 There once was a... Write your own limericks. Follow the rhyme pattern and try to capture the rhythm pattern. Work on rough paper and publish your edited version in the space below. When running along the street to school A wonderful bird is the cockatoo NA 3.12a NSW 2.9 Uses strategies to plan, review, proofread and publish own writing with awareness of audience and written language features. NA 3.11 NSW Able to produce a clear text using correct sentence structure, most grammatical features and punctuation conventions of the text type. NSW 2.12 Writes using consistent shape, size, slope and formation. Demonstrates basic desktop skills on the computer. Blake Education Fully Reproducible 105

Two fables. The Enemies. Three raindrops BLM 48

Two fables. The Enemies. Three raindrops BLM 48 BLM 48 Two fables The Enemies Two men who were enemies were on a voyage in the same boat, so naturally each tried to separate himself as far as possible from the other. One man stayed in the front, or