Title – Rhyme Scheme Riddle

By – Darren Hotmire

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Grade Level – 4-6

Objective:

To review the nature and use of rhyme schemes with students.

Materials Needed:

Make a copy of the handout (page 2 of this document) and give to each student, or pair, or group of 3-4.

Background Information:

• The rhyme scheme of the first poem, “The Key,” is the alphabet (as there are 26 lines with no rhyme, the scheme is a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h,. . . ).
• In the second poem, the student is to apply the rhyme scheme as found in the first poem. When this is done, the rhyme scheme turns out to be a message that reads, “I love you.”

Procedure:

1. Hand out the sheet; read the introduction comment on the sheet with the students.
   
2. Challenge students to try to figure out the key on their own, and to apply it to the second poem.
   
3. Let students know you will be circulating to see how they are doing and to see if they can figure out the code and the secret message! Let the students work on it a few minutes, then begin to circulate – offering help to any who need it.
   
4. When students begin to finish deciphering “The Swallow,” instruct them to “take the challenge” now by writing their own poem with a secret code rhyme scheme, and to pass it on!

Directions:

The following combination of two poems is a riddle. The directions are found in the first poem. Apply what you find in it to the second poem to find a secret message, which was written by a husband to his wife on their anniversary. See if you can figure it out!

Take The Challenge:

Now you try it! When you have finished deciphering the code, write your own message based on “The Key” and pass it on to another person or group to decipher!

E-Mail

Darren Hotmire

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