LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Lesson Title: Identifying Rhyming Pairs within a Poem

Name
Rosaleen
Faggiano

Date
October 24th

Grade /Age
Grade 6
Age ~11

Number
4 students

Length
30 minutes

Context
This group of four students is comprised of four 6th grade students who are approximately 11
years old. There are two girls and two boys in this group. They are all literate native Spanish
speakers, and they are also at a WIDA level 4 in English.
- The main purpose of this lesson is for students to read through the poem with the teacher and
on the second read through to identify the rhyming pairs in the poem and the part of the word
that makes them rhyme. Students will first hear the teacher read the poems, Tortillitas para
mama and Tortillitas for Mommy, From Pio Peep (Ada, Campoy, and Schertle, 2000) out loud
while they read along. The students will then pick out the words that they think create pairs by
circling the words and connecting a line. After all students show they understand what the pairs
of the poem are they will write the pairs in categories on a separate piece of paper. These
students are adolescent learners in the Level 4 expanding stage according to the WIDA (2012)
proficiency standards. Before this lesson the students were taught what a rhyme is and the
different parts of words that make rhyming pairs. Students should be able to identify when two
words rhyme based on the sounds of the words. Knowing that two words can rhyme and that a
rhyme means the words sound similar will prepare the students to identify these rhymes in
writing. It will also prepare them to learn more about the genre of poetry.
Rationale
Why did you choose this content/language foci? Why is it important? How does it relate to
students or communitys needs and assets, the programs/schools mission? What research
supports your choice of content/language foci?
Because the students are from Spanish speaking countries it is important for them to see a new
genre in both their primary language and then again in English. Ivey & Broaddus talk about
using Spanish texts in their materials to help make sure that students comprehend the type of text
(2007). All four students are fluent in Spanish and are literate enough in Spanish to comprehend
the text of the poem they are being given. This is why we thought to first introduce the structure
of a poem that was in Spanish so that the students could learn the format with a text that they
were more comfortable with. Another important quality is the poem has a good rhythm because
it establishes a musical quality to the English Language and is easier for the students to decode
and comprehend the text. (Vardell, Hadaway, and Young, 2006, p. 739). Opening up the idea of
using rhyming words helps students to learn how to read texts fluidly and not have to take
pauses. It also helps students to predict words and phrases that will appear in the text (p. 738).

The activity introduces new vocabulary in a way that helps students relate other words in the
sentence and comprehend that whole sentence together rather than each word separately. This
particular lesson is good for students whom meet the WIDA level four standard because it
introduces a new type of literature and word structure at a slow pace and incorporates the
students first language so they have an easier understanding.

Standards
List the standards your lesson targets (e.g., MA Curriculum Framework, WIDA, etc.) and
explain how your activities address them. Two examples are provided.
Standard
Activity
Determine the meaning of words and phrases
In this lesson students will read two poems.
as they are used in a text, including figurative
One in Spanish and one in English from the
and connotative meanings, analyze the impact
book Pio Peep (Ada, Campoy, and Schertle,
of a specific word choice on meaning and tone 2000). These poems will introduce students to
(MA Curriculum Frameworks (2011): English the structure of a poem and the certain types of
Language Arts and Literacy Reading Standards language, such as rhyming words, that will
for Literature 6-12)
help students to better understand the
framework of a poem for future identification.
English language learners communicate for
social and instructional purposes within the
school setting. (WIDA ELD Standard 1)

To meet this standard, students will be

communicating with each other and the
instructor throughout the entire lesson. The
students will orally give answers when the
group is trying to find the rhyming pairs in the
text. The students can help each other circle the
correct rhyming words and connect them. The
students will also be instructed to ask any
questions to the teacher at anytime during the
lesson. This includes a word in the text that
they dont understand or if they do not
understand why certain words pair up. Students
may also translate for each other when they
dont understand the teachers instructions.
Although all students are at WIDA level four
they may not be used to some English terms
and are encouraged to support one another
throughout the lesson. This encouragement
will help students to strengthen their Spanish
and English skills and to also learn the social
skills of helping out your peers to all reach the
same goal.

The language of Language Arts: English

language learners communicate information,
ideas, and concepts necessary for academic
success in the content area of language arts.
(WIDA ELD Standard 2)

In this lesson, students will use the language of

Language Arts to identify rhyming words
within the two poems they are given. They will
then pair the words that they found and identity
the parts of the word that make the words
rhyming pairs. Students should be able to at
least identify this figurative language and
know what kind of text they are reading by its
format and specific language. As they work
through the lesson their will be continuous
formative assessments that measure the
students understanding of what rhyming pairs
are and where they can be found in a poem.
They will be assessed while reading through
the poem and also after the poem has been read
when they put the rhyming words into separate
categories.

Prior knowledge and new learning

These students are adolescent learners in the Level 4 expanding stage according to the WIDA
(2012) proficiency standards. Before this lesson the students were taught what a rhyme is and the
different parts of words that make rhyming pairs. Students should be able to identify when two
words rhyme based on the sounds of the words and the written parts of the word. To assess this
during the lesson the poem will be read aloud to the students while they read along on their own
separate handouts. Knowing that two words can rhyme and that a rhyme means the words sound
similar will prepare the students to identify these rhymes in writing. It will also prepare them to
learn more about the genre of poetry.
Students will first hear the teacher read the poems, Tortillitas para mama and Tortillitas for
Mommy, From Pio Peep (Ada, Campoy, and Schertle, 2000) out loud while they read along. The
students will then spend time trying to pick out the words that they think create pairs together.
Students will then practice the skills taught in the previous lesson of the parts of rhyming words
and why these words match each other. After all students show they understand what the pairs of
the poem are each student will take out a separate piece of paper and write the pairs into separate
categories. This sheet will be used in the next lesson and by doing this chart before it will help
the two lessons flow together and start the second lesson off with students prior knowledge from
the class before.

Understandings
What are the broad learning outcomes you expect? What do you want students to understand
and/or be able to do at the end of this lesson?
By the end of the first lesson the students are expected to be able to identify rhyming pairs based
off the part of the word and where the pairs are in the lines of the poem. Students should be able
to write these pairs into separate categories. Students should understand the message of both the
poems although that is not the main goal of the lesson. The two poems have very simple
vocabulary for a specific reason, so the students dont get caught up with trying to read through
the poem and struggle to understand, but instead look for and identify the rhyming pairs.
Objectives
Content Objectives
- Students will be able to read through the poem along with the teacher and then if asked
on their own.
- Students will orally be able to identify the type of text compared to other texts such as
letters books and news articles.
- Students can identify where in the text they find the rhyming words and why the word is
there by circling the rhyming pairs in the two poems given and explain next to the pairs
that the word is either in the beginning of the line or the end because of the sentence
structure.
Language Objectives
-

Students will be able to identify the rhyming words from both the Spanish and English
poems by circling the words and underlying the part of the word that gives it the rhyming
quality to its rhyming pair.
Students will be able to categorize the rhyming pairs based off the part of the word that
causes the rhyme.
These things will help students to better understand a part of what can make up a poem
and understand a new type of word structure that later in the year can be used to other
types of literary texts such as songs or poems found in books. It can also help when
introducing affixes in a later lesson.

Materials
- One Spanish Poem from Pio Peep. Tortillas para Mama The point of this poem is for students
to see the structure of a poem in their native language. This is to strengthen their native language
and literary skills and understand the similarities between Spanish and English Poems
- One English Poem from Pio Peep Tortillas for Mommy The point of the English Poem is to
learn a new type of literary text in English and also be able to identify the parts of an English
word that can be used to make rhyming pairs.
Ada, A., Campoy, F., & Schertle, A. (2003). Pio Peep Spanish Nursery Rhymes. US :
Harper Collins Publishers.

- Highlighters for underlining and circling rhyming words and parts of words.
- Loose leaf to take notes on the different words that we highlight and make rhyme pair
categories.

Procedure (The How)

Opening
The Teacher will take 2 minutes to hand out copies of the two poems to each student. The first is
in Spanish their native Language and the Second is in English
-All students will highlight the titles of the two poems and as they are waiting for the
teacher to begin a read a loud the students will make a prediction of what they think the
poem will be about.
-The point of this to help with more fluent reading and better comprehension because
they are tapping into their prior knowledge.
The teacher will spend 8 minutes to read both poems out loud as the students silently follow
along on their own handouts.
-The Teacher will just read through the text and not stop as he/she is reading, but will
orally emphasize the word as he/she reads through the two poems. The point is to not to
understand all the parts that make up a poem, but to read through the poem so the students see
and hear where rhyming words are in the text.
Development
The Teacher will spend 15 minutes to read both poems out loud a second time
- While reading the teacher will stop throughout the stanza every time a pair of
rhyming words has been made
- The Teacher and students will circle the rhyming words and draw a line
connecting the rhyming pairs in the poem.
- After this all students should have all the rhyming pairs in the two poems
circled and underlined.
- Rhyming Pair in Spanish Poem
Mama and Papa
Calentitas and Docaditas
- Rhyming Pair in English Poem
Tummy and Yummy
Closing
The students will spend the last five minutes of class writing the rhyme pairs in separate
categories on a piece of paper with the part of the word that rhymes underlined.
-This will be used for the next class where the students will be given a word list of
alternate words that they will then organize into the separate categories already created.
- This does not have to be explained to the class.
- If there is not enough time to complete this task on the first day the first five minutes of
the next class will be spent making this chart.

Assessment
There are multiple formative assessments throughout the first lesson. The first assessment is
while we are reading the two poems the second time are we will ask the student to circle the
rhyming words on the text itself and connect the pairs with a line. For example, in the poem
Tortillitas para mama the students will circle mama and papa and draw a line connecting the
two words.
At the closing of the lesson we will have the second formative assessment. Students will be
given a sheet of paper and will be asked to write down the rhyming words. Students should be
able to write down two rhyming pairs in the Spanish poem (calentitas/docaditas, mama/papa) and
one rhyming pair from the English poem (yummy/tummy).

Extensions
Students can look through the text on their own to identify another poem that interests them.
They can use what they have learned in the past two classes to identify the rhymes in the poem,
and write them down as examples for the group. This would be helpful especially since the next
lesson will be looking at different rhyming pairs that were not in the poem read in class.

This growing list of rhyming words that the students will learn in the next class and talk about
with each other can be used as a foundation for eventually writing their own poetry. The larger
repertoire of rhyming words that the students have collected and the examples they have on their
charts can help ease some of the stress of composing their own poem, which will be the final
assessment at the end of the unit.

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Lesson Title: Rhyming Pair Categories
Name
Rosaleen
Faggiano

Date
October 24th

Grade /Age
Grade 6
Age ~11

Number
4 students

Length
40 minutes

Context
This group of four students is comprised of four 6th grade students who are approximately 11
years old. There are two girls and two boys in this group. They are all literate native Spanish
speakers, and they are also at a WIDA level 4 in English.
The main purpose of this lesson is for students to reach the goal of understanding the parts of a
rhyming word that can be used to make rhyming pairs. By the end of the lesson they should be
able to pick out words from a word list and fill them into a category where that part of the
rhyming word is present. Before this step happens the students will learn about the most common
rhyming pairs in English and add them to the chart that they began at either the beginning of this
lesson or the prior lesson. After all students add these pairs to their charts and show that they
understand why they will be given the word list of different words which will assess their ability
to categorize based off a part of a word. These students are adolescent learners in the Level 4
expanding stage according to the WIDA (2012) proficiency standards. Before this lesson the
students were taught what a rhyme is and the different parts of words that make rhyming pairs.
Students should be able to identify when two words rhyme based on the sounds of the words.
Knowing that two words can rhyme and that a rhyme means the words sound similar will prepare
the students to identify these rhymes in writing. It will also prepare them to learn more about the
genre of poetry.
Rationale
An important quality of rhyming pairs is that it gives poems a good rhythm. Learning
rhymes establish a musical quality to the English Language and are easier for the students to
decode and comprehend the text. (Vardell, Hadaway, and Young, 2006, p. 739). Opening up the
idea of using rhyming words helps students to learn how to read texts fluidly and not have to take
pauses. It also helps students to predict words and phrases that will appear in the text (p. 738).
The activity will help improve students fluency and expose them to a new genre that they can
use to connect to writing and reading in school as well as connecting with their culture. The
original lesson was to use both Spanish and English to learn about identifying rhyming words in
poems. This lesson grows from that lesson to establish categories of rhyming words that students
will be able to use in later lessons when reading other poems and writing their own. Learning
different rhyming pairs in English will help students read through different types of literary text
and comprehends harder texts that the students will be exposed to in other classes.

Standards
List the standards your lesson targets (e.g., MA Curriculum Framework, WIDA, etc.) and
explain how your activities address them. Two examples are provided.
Standard
Activity
Determine the meaning of words and phrases
Students will be working with different types
as they are used in a text, including figurative
of rhyming pairs for the specific purpose of
and connotative meanings, analyze the impact
understanding how to recognize them and
of a specific word choice on meaning and tone understand them in the context of a poem. As I
(MA Curriculum Frameworks (2011): English introduce each pair I will use an example of
Language Arts and Literacy Reading Standards how the rhymes could be used in the stanza of
for Literature 6-12)
a poem. This gives the students and
opportunity to hear it the pairs used in context
and have a deeper understanding for the words
meanings in both a literal and possibly
figurative sense.
English language learners communicate for
The students and I will spend a good amount of
social and instructional purposes within the
time during the lesson talking about all the
school setting. (WIDA ELD Standard 1)
rhyming pairs from both the previous day and
the ones being introduced in this lesson. The
point of this is to make sure that students are
comfortable with the new terms and understand
why certain words are being grouped together.
Giving the students multiple opportunities to
voice their concerns gives me multiple
opportunities to make sure my goals for the
students are being met and it is ok to move on
to the next pair of words.

The language of Language Arts: English

language learners communicate information,
ideas, and concepts necessary for academic
success in the content area of language arts.
(WIDA ELD Standard 2)

Learning these types of pairs and then other

words that fall under the different types of
pairs will help the students in many ways. The
first is that now when introduced to harder
poems they can use these pairs for decoding
and comprehension. Second it will help them
read more fluently and at a better pace. Lastly
having a list of rhyming pairs can help when
they have to write their own poem and arent
sure on how to create the flow of the lines and
stanzas. Rather than thinking of new words
they can look on the reference sheet that they
made themselves.

Prior knowledge and new learning

- These students are adolescent learners in the Level 4 expanding stage according to the WIDA
(2012) proficiency standards. Students have learned how to identify rhyming pairs in both a
poem and. Students are beginning to learn the different parts of the words that make them
become rhymes. The students learned to find rhymes within both Spanish text and English text.
Students want to continue to grow on these skills by learning different rhyming pairs and words
that fit into these categories. They will be taught the five most popular rhyme pairs and then will
be given a word list where they can sort these words into the correct category.
The new learning for this lesson focuses on students learning the most common rhyming pairs
and how to categorize the words. This will happen by the teacher introducing each of these five
pairs and underlining the parts of the word that make up the rhyming pairs. The students will be
given an example of the pair used together on the board and then will discuss what the teacher
was saying and one student will come up and circle where in the example the two rhyming pairs
were used. Students will then add these pairs. After all five pairs are discussed and the teacher is
confident that the students understand the pairs the teacher will give the students a word list and
ask the students to put these words into the correct categories.
Understandings
The broad learning outcomes are that the students learn 5 new learning pairs and terms that fall
under these pairs. Also that each student feels comfortable identifying each pair in a text. I want
students to be able to identify the part of random words that show they can belong to a certain
category. I want students to be confident enough that if I asked them to write two lines of a poem
they would be comfortable enough to do so.

Objectives
Content Objectives
Content objectives are statements that describe what you intend for the learners to know and be
able to do as a result of your instruction. Content objectives should be specific and measurable.
They should guide your planning for instruction and assessment within the lesson.
- Students understand where rhymes are in poems and how rhymes contribute to the flow
of writing. Which can be shown when students read through the poems on the first day or
reading the examples written on the white board when the new pairs are introduced.
- Students are able to pick out words from a word list and correctly categorize them based
off the pair of words they rhyme with
- Students have successfully taken the first steps to understanding English poetry and have
successfully created the first tool that will help them when they are writing their own
poems.
Language Objectives
-

Students understand the parts of the word that make words rhyme and how different pairs
go together, but others dont.
Students will be able to categorize the rhyming pairs based off the part of the word that
causes the rhyme.
Students can read through the poem with a poem like pace showing they understand the
point of rhymes in poems.
Students can underline the part of the word that makes a rhyme in all of the examples.
9

Materials
List all materials needed in each lesson. Give bibliographic information on books, films, kits,
etc., to be used during the lesson.
1. A blackboard where the teacher will draw her chart and write the sentences that introduce
the new topics
2. Chalk or markers for the teacher to write with
3. Each student will need a loose leaf of paper to make their chart and a pen or pencil to
write down all of the terms and sentences
Encourage students to use different colors when circling and underlining the words.
This will make them stand out more and draw their attention when they look back on it
Procedure (The How)
Opening
1.The first 3 minutes should be dedicated to the students either starting the chart with the pair
found in the poem yesterday or silently rereading the poems that were introduced yesterday as
the teacher creates a similar looking chart on the board.
A. The teacher will write two lines on the board in the second category of the chart.
B. The teacher will read the sentence aloud to the class and the students will repeat the
sentence after her
C. As the teacher reads the lines there should be emphasis on the rhyming words.
2. The teacher will take 3 minutes to explain to the class the procedure of the day and write an
A. AIM on the board that states: Students will learn five new rhyming pairs and will be
able to find them in an poem example.
Development
1. The teacher will take 1 minute to then have the students write down the lines into the next
category of the chart that they began making at the beginning of class.
2. The class will spend 2 minutes circling the rhyming words in the lines on their paper as the
teacher does on the board.
A. The teacher and students will also underline the part of the word that is the same in both
writing words.
3. The students will then spend 2 minutes writing the rhyming words onto their sheet in the same
category as the lines. Almost making a list (Look at end of lesson plan for model).
4. The next 10 minutes will be spent repeating the process with every new rhyming pair.
*Expect that at the last two pairs two students will come up and circle the words that they think
rhyme and underline the part of the word that is the same.
A. This is a great way to make sure the students are understanding the point of the lesson
B. Its also a great way to scaffold so that they begin learning with you becoming the
facilitator.
Closing
1. The last 10 minutes of class will be broken up into the students doing individual work.
A. The students will each be given a word list handout that has words that belong to one of
the 6 categories created in class.
B. The students can either work by themselves or with a partner to figure out which word
goes in which category.
10

C. I will check in with the class every few minutes to make sure that they are correctly
putting all the words into the right word list.
D. By then end of the ten minutes all of the students should have been able to sort the rest
of the words.
E. They should also be able to orally explain why they put a word in a specific category,
and if asked hopefully they could write part of a stanza that included those rhymes
Assessment
There are formative assessments throughout the lesson.
1. The first is the students being able to copy the sentences and correctly writing and filling
out their rhyming reference chart
2. Students will also prove that they can find rhyming pairs in sentences when they come up
to the board and circle the words in the example that make a rhyming pair and underline
the part of the words that are the same.
3. The students will prove their oral understanding when they work together to go through
the wordlist and can correctly categorize all of them.
4. The students will also orally explain that they understand rhyming pairs when they can
answer my questions during my check ins in the last 10 minutes of class.
5. During this process the students are also proving that literacy wise they understand the
information because they have spelled the words correctly and are able to write the words
in the right categories

Extensions
After the lesson the students will take home the charts that they created and try to either find 2
poems where some of these rhyme pairs are used or write a stanza of a poem for each rhyme
pairs. This is an important homework assignment because it is leading to the students writing
their own poems at the end of the unit. Although they havent yet learned about the other parts
that make up a poem this practice will open up the next lesson to those other parts of the poem
and whether or not they understood everything from the past two lessons and could apply it. Also
it if some of the students are able to create stanzas and use the rhymes correctly they may be able
to build off that Stanza when they write their own poems. Lastly the students that find poems can
orally explain the rhyming pairs and I can use these poems to teach the other components of the
poem and they feel like they are building the lesson along with the teacher.
For the next lesson I plan start learning more about the structure of the poem. Students will work
on the fluency of reading the poems introduced the previous day. The teacher will be explicitly
explaining the different expressive parts of a poem, including pauses, word emphasis, and stanza
breaks. The goal of this lesson is for students to read through the text and understand what the
components of the poem are so that they can apply it to their own learning. The students may not
be able to learn all of these skills in the next lesson, but this is the next step in getting to our goal
of the students being able to write a poem. The homework assignment will be the final formative
assessment for the rhyming section of the poem and will let me know that it is ok to move on to
these next parts of poetry.

11

Yummy/Tummy
steaming hot and
yummy.
Make them
round and nicely
browned
for Daddys
hungry tummy.
List of Other
Words:

Hot/ Pot

Cat/Fat

Cool/Fool

Fight/Right

List of Other
Words:

List of Other
Words:

List of Other
Words:

List of Other
Words:

12