We all know what a rhyme is, but do you know the difference between and end rhyme and an internal rhyme?
Poetry can be fun
Children become aware of rhymes early on in their educational development, as it appears in phonics and early readers. Primary school children are taught end rhymes from when they start school. Rhyming texts are often more fun for younger children to read. They find it catchy and notice the song-like character it can give to a piece of writing. A child’s understanding of rhyme and knowledge increases as they grow older.
Building a child’s understanding of language and how it functions is critically important and continues throughout their school life.
There are many types of rhyme: end rhymes, slant rhymes, internal rhymes, rich rhymes, eye rhymes and identical rhymes. There is a heavy focus on end rhymes, internal rhymes and slant rhymes (often called half-rhymes), but it is interesting to know about all the varieties.
Labelling Rhymes
As children reach secondary school, they learn more about the effect that rhyme can have on a reader and how it can alter pace. I tend to show older children the effect of rhyme by initially focusing on rap, as all forms of rhyme are prevalent in rap.
Secondary school children will learn how to label a rhyme scheme. They will begin to recognise more advanced rhymes and will learn internal rhymes as well as end rhymes. By KS3/GCSEs, they are able to name a specific scheme. For instance: alternate rhyme (ABAB), enclosed rhyme (ABBA) and rhyming couplets (AABB). This knowledge is critical when attempting to identify the form of a poem. For instance, a Petrarchan sonnet consists of 14 lines. It starts with an octave using enclosed rhyme (ABBACDDC) and is followed by a sestet of variable rhyme scheme. Often this is accompanied by a change in tone or resolution.
Recognising rhymes and building an understanding of how language is structured at an early age, can form the foundations for success in later years.
