Rhyming Couplets

National Poetry Month 2020

What is a Rhyming Couplet?

Rhyming Couplet

Rhyming Words are words that have the same ending sound!

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CAT and SAT

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SLEEPING and SWEEPING

A couplet is 2 (two) lines (remember - a line doesn’t have to be a complete sentence!)

Roses are red, pigs can be pink

This is a rhyming couplet, I think

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Rhyming Couplets

• Rhyming couplets must rhyme at the end of the line
• The lines should be about the same number of syllables
• A rhyming couplet can be a poem all by itself, or you can write a bunch of rhyming couplets to make a longer poem!

Examples of Rhyming Couplets

Double, double, toil and trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

-William Shakespeare (from Macbeth)

Examples of Rhyming Couplets

I have the measles and the mumps.

A gash, a rash, and purple bumps.

-Shel Silverstein (from “Sick”)

Examples of Rhyming Couplets

I do not like Green Eggs and Ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.

-Dr. Seuss (from Green Eggs and Ham)

Examples of Rhyming Couplets

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

-Nursery Rhyme

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A

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B

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B

Now it’s time to write YOUR OWN

rhyming couplet!

First, let’s practice together

Here is the first line of a rhyming couplet. See if you can finish it:

The pretty fish is red.

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Practicing Together

The pretty fish is red.

He blew some bubbles on my head.

Let’s try another one!

I saw two dogs and one big cat.

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Practicing Together

I saw two dogs and one big cat.

Can you even imagine that?

How to write your own rhyming couplet

1. First, think of some words that rhyme.

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cat/sat

frog/log

sky/try

tree/bee

*If you’re having trouble thinking of rhyming words, visit Rhymezone!

How to write your own rhyming couplet

2. Next, try to write some lines that use your rhyming words!

I think one day that I will try

To climb a tree and touch the sky!

There was a bee

That lived in a tree

How to write your own rhyming couplet

3. Choose your favorite couplet, write it neatly on paper, and illustrate it!

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4. If you want to, write more couplets! Or, write a longer poem using rhyming couplets!

I think one day that I will try

To climb a tree and touch the sky!

Submit your poem!

When you think you’ve got a great couplet, submit it to Ms. Asrat! (hasrat@musd.org)

Take a picture of your illustrated poem or share it with Ms. Asrat on Google Documents. Make sure your name is on the poem!

Submit your poem by NOON on Friday, April 10. Ms. Asrat will choose one poem from each grade level to share with the Burnett community!

I hope you have a good time

Finding silly words that rhyme!