English lesson plan · 2nd grade (Year 3 in England) · 60 minutes
Poems: rhyme, rhythm and repeated lines
Reading Comprehension
CCSS RL.2.4England: Y2 Reading (poetry)England: KS1 SATs Reading
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Poems: rhyme, rhythm and repeated lines.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Rhyming words
Leads to: Poem, play or prose? Spot the features
Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 6 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Rhyming words). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Which word rhymes with "tap"? (cap / hat / pat / rat) → capPrompt: Rhyming words sound the same at the end.
- Three of these words rhyme: sun, hug, run, fun. Which word does NOT rhyme? (sun / hug / run / fun) → hugPrompt: Say each word and listen to how it ends.
- Write a word that rhymes with "led". Change only the first letter. → fedPrompt: Keep the ending "-ed".
Hook · 6 min
- Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
- Share the objective: Poems: rhyme, rhythm and repeated lines. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 12 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Down in the garden, under a stone, Lives a little beetle all alone. He has no sister, he has no brother, Just a tiny shiny beetle mother. Which word rhymes with 'stone'?
- Step 1: Poets use rhyme, rhythm and repeated words to make poems fun to read aloud.
- Step 2: So the answer is: alone
- Answer: alone
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 12 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Leaves are falling, red and brown, Twirling, swirling, floating down. I will catch one in my hand Before it lands upon the land. Which word rhymes with 'brown'? (red / falling / down / leaves) → downPrompt: Rhyming words have the same sound at the end: cat, hat.
- Read the question. What is the beat you can clap along to in a poem? (title / rhythm / full stop / rhyme) → rhythmPrompt: Think about poems and songs you know.
You do: independent practice · 17 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 7 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Read the question. Why might a poet repeat a line? (to make it memorable and fun to say / to give facts / to make it shorter / because they forgot) → to make it memorable and fun to sayPrompt: Think about poems and songs you know.
- Splish, splash, into the bath! Splish, splash, hear me laugh! Bubbles here and bubbles there, Bubbles floating in the air. Which words are repeated at the start of two lines? (hear me laugh / Splish, splash / into the bath / Bubbles here) → Splish, splashPrompt: Rhyming words have the same sound at the end: cat, hat.
Watch out for
- Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
- Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Rhyming words.
- Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Poem, play or prose? Spot the features.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-2.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder