Poetry
Syllables, Stress, & Rhyming
Trash Day
Today is trash day. I forgot to put it out. Big piles of garbage.
Snail
Snail, my little man, Slowly--ah, very slowly--
Clap your Hands!
How many syllables does each of these words have? Which syllables are stressed?
instrument
commercial
hurricane
calendar
vanilla
appetite
curious
Yesterday it snowed, And the wind did swiftly blow, Keeping me inside.
5 syllables 7 syllables 5 syllables
Exercise II
• Work in pairs to create a haiku:
– 1st line 5 syllables? – 2nd line 7 syllables? – 3rd line 5 syllables?
• Can you suggest any improvements?
Where’s the stress?
• How can you tell where to put the stress on unfamiliar words?
develop
பைடு நூலகம்
crocodile
sentiment
astonish
congregate
document
opponent
favorite
1st Syllable
2nd Syllable
1st + Minor 3rd
Guideline #2: In 3-syllable words, major stress is often on the first or second syllable. If the major stress in on the first syllable, then the third often gets minor stress.
PROduce REcord PREsent CONflict PROject
proDUCE reCORD preSENT conFLICT proJECT
Guideline #1: In 2-Syllable words, nouns are stressed on the first syllable (90%), for verbs the stress is on the second syllable. (60%)
• There’s no rule that applies all the time… but there are some patterns we can pay attention to
Streeeetch it Out!
What’s the difference in meaning between the following words?
Exercise 1
Syllable Practice
Haiku
• a poem or verse form consisting of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively.
Trash Day
Today is trash day. I forgot to put it out. Big piles of garbage.
Guideline #3: In Compound words, the first word receives major stress, and the second word receives minor stress.
Climb up Mount Fuji!
It Snowed
Yesterday it snowed, And the wind did swiftly blow,
Keeping me inside.
Syllable
• a word or part of a word pronounced as a unit, usually consisting of a vowel alone or a vowel with one or more consonants.
Nod your Head!
Where is the stress? What else do all these words have in common?
airplane armchair backache bookstore classroom
bedtime birthplace
haircut hair-style gold mine
5 syllables 7 syllables 5 syllables
Snail
Snail, my little man, Slowly--ah, very slowly-Climb up Mount Fuji!
5 syllables 7 syllables 5 syllables
It Snowed
– make sure it’s 5, 7, 5. – Make sure you don’t have any mistakes.
• Afterwards, you will share your poem with the whole class.
Sharing Time
• Does the poem have three lines?
America
A-mer-i-ca
Alabama
Al-a-bam-a
Stretch
“Stretch”
Bottle
Bott-le
This
“This”
China
Chi-na
Teacher
Teach-er
Beautiful
Beau-ti-ful
Intellectual
In-te-llect-u-al