Activity:
Couplet Poem
It’s fun to write a couplet poem, and also fun to read,
Using only just your mind, and the few supplies you’ll need!
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What You Need:
- Paper
- Pen or pencil
- Optional: Colored pencils, markers
What You Do:
- Describe the definition of a couplet poem to your child. A couplet poem is made up of groups of two lines that go together and often rhyme with one another. A famous example is the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer: I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree./A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair;/ … /Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.
- Describe the definition of couplet poetry to your child. Couplet poems are poems mmade up of pairs of lines that go together, and often rhyme with one another. A famous example is the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer:
- Describe the definition of couplet poetry to your child. Couplet poems are poems made up of pairs of lines that go together and usually rhyme with one another. The opening at the top of this activity is an example of a couplet stanza. Another example is the famous poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. Here are a few stanzas from that poem excerpted below:
- Point out to your child that the rhyme scheme above is “a,a, b,b, c,c.” Just two lines need to rhyme with each other, and then the next two lines rhyme with each other, and so on!
- Have your child think of a topic she might want to write a poem about. She could write about a flower, a garden, a bird, a cloud, or some other aspect of nature. She could also write about a friend, a favorite book or some other topic that inspires her.
- She may want to brainstorm some rhyming words that describe her topic, such as “kind” and “creative mind” for a friend, or “green” and “serene” to describe something in nature.
- Next she can write the couplet lines. Encourage her to invent as many stanzas as she can!
- She should practice reading her poem aloud, to see if the rhymes and rhythms work.
- She may wish to use colored pencils or markers to make an illustration to accompany the poem, though this is optional. The main point of the activity is writing, reading, and appreciating poetry!
