Ms. CC Lawhon's Classes 2023

Rhyme Scheme Review

Rhyming words are words that sound the same at their ends, such as cat/hat, or jumping/bumping.
When a poem has rhyming words at the ends of lines, these are called “end rhymes" like this: 

My cat is nice.

My cat likes mice.

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A “rhyme scheme” is a way of describing the pattern of end rhymes in a poem. Each new sound at the end of a line is given a letter, starting with “A,” then “B,” and so on. If an end sound repeats the end sound of an earlier line, it gets the same letter as the earlier line.

Here are three slightly different cat poems, each with a different rhyme scheme.

The first is AABB, the second is ABAB, and the third is ABCB:

1                                       2                                       3

My cat is nice.       A         My cat is nice.       A        My cat is gray.    A

My cat likes mice. A         My cat is fat.         B         My cat is fat.      B

My cat is fat.         B         My cat likes mice.  A        My cat is cute.    C

I like my cat.         B          I like my cat.          B         She likes to bat. B

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Now practice rhyme scheme (poems by Kenn Nesbitt).

Mr. Brown, the circus clown
puts his clothes on upside down.

He wears his hat upon his toes
and socks and shoes upon his nose.

Rhyme scheme: _____________

My penmanship is pretty bad.

My printing's plainly awful.
In truth, my writing looks so sad

it ought to be unlawful.

Rhyme scheme: _____________

source: http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/rhyme-schemes-lesson-plan/