The Phonology of Poetry Unit

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I collaborated with my father in order to teach rhyme scheme in poetry. After several conversations about poetry, rhyme, and phonology, we realized that unless my seventh and eighth grade students were able to identify the stressed and unstressed syllables of polysyllabic words and to locate the primary stress in a word, they would not fully appreciate the principle behind rhyme scheme. When it came to writing rhyming poetry, they would be at a disadvantage as well.

The unit of rhyme scheme had some unintended benefits. One was that this lesson reached all students including struggling readers whose biggest challenge was to read polysyllabic words. For example, even if students were able to decode polysyllabic words correctly, the words continued to elude them unless they were able to locate the primary stressed syllable as well.

It also helped to heighten their awareness of how stressed syllables and word meanings are closely related. For example, when they hear the word cónduct with the primary stress on the first syllable, it means something completely different than condúct with the primary stress on the second syllable. This kind of word awareness helps students tremendously when they approach new words in their reading.

Here is how the lesson is taught. The first thing I teach my students is to hear stressed syllables in polysyllabic words. Students have trouble at first counting syllables and deciding which syllable should be stressed. They have not looked at this in a deliberate and explicit way since perhaps 3rd or 4th grade, when they are still learning to read. We revisit dictionary lessons and look at the way the pronunciation key can help them with new words.

The students become familiar enough with locating primary stressed syllables in polysyllabic words that we are able to move on to the next step. That is to see how rhyme and stressed syllables works in poetry. I use “Ad-dressing of Cats,” by T.S. Elliot. This entertaining poem helps students hear the rhyme clearly since the rhyme scheme is so very regular. I teach them how to represent the rhyme scheme of the poem (AABB), that is, its couplets. There is one couplet, however, that is not a perfect rhyme. That works well as a contrast to the rest. Students really need to tune into the sound of words to hear the difference.

Students then listen to two other poems with more complex rhyme schemes: “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” and “Paul Revere’s Ride.” These poems are recited in a podcast made by my father. The students represent the rhyme scheme in several stanzas for both. They work more closely on “Paul Revere’s Ride” since it is closer to their reading level. They listen for the stressed syllables and mark the rhyme scheme.
Once these preliminary lessons are in place, my father teaches his lesson through a web-cam and Skype. He begins by focusing on the exception in “Ad-dressing of Cats” and talks about how this is not a perfect rhyme. This opens the door to teaching different types of rhyme like perfect rhyme, near rhyme, end rhyme, internal rhyme, etc.

He then rereads four or five stanzas from “Paul Revere’s Ride” and asks students what it sounds like to them. The rhyme scheme is seemingly irregular in this piece, but by bringing back the phonological element of rhyme and rhyme scheme in poetry, students are able to hear that the rhyme sounds like horses hooves beating on the road. They would not have been able to hear this if they had not understood that rhyming poetry is as much sound as it is orthography. Their understanding of reading and interpreting poetry grew in depth by recognizing the way in which form enhances meaning. The closing lesson was to ask the students to paraphrase and summarize each stanza to ensure they really did understand the poem. Without breathing life into this poem phonologically, the closing exercise would not be as successful. As a final project for this unit, students write thank you limericks to my father who responds with his own limericks to each of them.

The experience has been enriching at many levels. First, it has deepened my knowledge of phonology and learning. Second, it has brought a linguist into the classroom to interact with students about language at a level they have not experienced before. Third, students have learned more than how to represent a poem’s rhyme scheme. Poetry has become the vehicle, a beautifully creative one I might add, to teach students how important phonology is to language enrichment. Finally, it has reached students at many academic levels. Struggling readers and advanced readers now have another strategy to approach unfamiliar words.