Year 1 English: Joining in with poems
Part of the Year 1 English poems and rhymes chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Joining in with poems
A poem is written in lines. A line is one row of words. Poems are made to be read aloud. When you join in, you say the words along with a grown-up. The last words of the lines are often the easiest to join in with, because they rhyme.
Read Park Day aloud together. Can you say the last word of each line?
Park DayLet’s go to the park today,
We run and jump and play.
We swing up high and see a bee,
We run back home for tea.
Key ideas
- A poem is made of lines. Each line is one row of words.
- Read a poem aloud, and join in with the rhyme words.
- Actions help you remember. Do the actions as you say the words.
- Read a poem more than once. Each time you will know more of it.
Method. Find the line that tells us where we go.
- Read each line. Look for a word that tells us a place.Line 1: Let’s go to the park today.
- Find the place. The word park tells us where we go.park
- Write the answer. Line 1
Check. Read line 1 aloud. It says we go to the park. ✓
Watch out. Look for the word that tells you where.
Method. Find the line that tells us what we do.
- Find line 2. It tells us what we do.We run and jump and play.
- Pick out the action words. Action words tell what we do: run, jump and play.run, jump, play
- Write the answer. We run, jump and play.
Check. Say the line with actions as you go. ✓
Watch out. Action words are doing words. Write them as they are in the line.
Method. Find the line that tells us where we go for tea.
- Find line 4. The last line tells us where we go next.We run back home for tea.
- Look for the place. The word home tells us where we go.home
- Write the answer. home
Check. Read the last line again. We go home for tea. ✓
Watch out. Tea is what we have. The place is home.
Watch out
Watch out: when you join in, say the words the poem uses. Do not change them, or the rhymes will not match.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Read the poem slowly, and let your child say the last word of each line. Ask them to do the actions as they join in: run on the spot, jump, swing. Read it again, and let your child lead.
Exercise 9B Joining in with a poem
Method. The last word of a line is the word at its very end, just before the full stop or comma.
- Find line 1. Count down the poem to that line.Line 1: Let’s go to the park today,
- Look at the very end of the line. The last word is the one before the full stop or comma.the end word is today
- Write the word. today
Check. Say the whole line aloud. It ends with today. ✓
Watch out. Do not write the full stop or the comma. Write only the word.
Method. The last word of a line is the word at its very end, just before the full stop or comma.
- Find line 3. Count down the poem to that line.Line 3: We swing up high and see a bee,
- Look at the very end of the line. The last word is the one before the full stop or comma.the end word is bee
- Write the word. bee
Check. Say the whole line aloud. It ends with bee. ✓
Watch out. Do not write the full stop or the comma. Write only the word.
Method. Find the rhyme word at the end of line 2 that sounds the same as the end of line 1.
- Find the end word of line 1. The end word is today.today
- Look at the end of line 2. The end word is play.play
- Compare the endings. Today and play both end with -ay.today → -ay play → -ay
- Write the answer. play
Check. Say today and play out loud. They rhyme. ✓
Watch out. Look at the end of each word, not the start.
Method. The last word of a line is the word at its very end, just before the full stop or comma.
- Find line 4. Count down the poem to that line.Line 4: We run back home for tea.
- Look at the very end of the line. The last word is the one before the full stop or comma.the end word is tea
- Write the word. tea
Check. Say the whole line aloud. It ends with tea. ✓
Watch out. Do not write the full stop or the comma. Write only the word.
Method. Count each row of words in the poem. Do not count the title.
- Start at the top line. Each row of words is one line.line 1
- Count down to the last line. Count each line once, even if its words repeat.1, 2, 3, 4
- Write the number. 4 lines
Check. Count them again from the bottom: 4 lines. ✓
Watch out. A repeated line is still a line, so count it too.
Method. Find the line with the words about the swing.
- Read each line. Look for the words about the swing.Line 3: We swing up high and see a bee,
- Find the line. Line 3 is the line with swing in it.swing = line 3
- Write the answer. Line 3
Check. Read line 3 aloud. It tells us we swing up high. ✓
Watch out. Count the lines from the top to check the number.
Method. Look for the word that tells us who goes to the park.
- Read the poem. Look for the word that tells who is going.Let’s go; We run and jump
- Find the word. Let’s means let us, so the group is we.we
- Write the answer. We
Check. Read line 2 aloud. We run and jump and play. ✓
Watch out. The word we is for the people in the poem, including the reader.
Method. Read line 3, then find the animal in it.
- Read line 3. The line tells us what we see.We swing up high and see a bee,
- Find the animal. The word bee is the animal we see.bee
- Write the answer. bee
Check. Read line 3 again. We see a bee. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole line before you pick the word.
Method. Read line 3 and find the words about the swing.
- Read line 3 aloud. Find the part that tells what we do on the swing.We swing up high and see a bee,
- Pick out the words about the swing. Swing up high tells what we do on the swing.swing up high
- Write the answer. swing up high
Check. Say line 3 with a grown-up and do the swinging action. ✓
Watch out. Pick the words that tell you what to do, not the words about the bee.
Method. Find the last word of line 3, then compare it with what Mia said.
- Read line 3 to the end. The last word is the one before the comma.bee
- Compare with what Mia said. Tree is not the last word of line 3.tree is not right
- Write the answer. No. The last word of line 3 is bee.
Check. Say line 3 with the last word bee. ✓
Watch out. Check the end of the line, not a word you have seen somewhere else.
Method. Think about what happens when you say a poem again and again.
- Think about saying the poem. When you say the poem again, you learn the words.say it again and again
- Think about the rhyme words. Rhyme words sound good together, so they are fun to say.rhymes sound good
- Give one reason. Saying it with someone makes it fun.Joining in helps you learn the words, and it is fun.
Check. Read the poem aloud once more, and join in with the last word of each line. ✓
Watch out. Give a reason, not just the word good.
Method. Read the first line and the last line, then decide what the poem is about.
- Read the first line. It tells us where we go.Let’s go to the park today.
- Read the last line. It tells us where we go next.We run back home for tea.
- Compare with what Ruby said. The poem is about the park, not a shop.park, not shop
- Write the answer. No. It is about a trip to the park.
Check. The word park is in line 1, and the word shop is not in the poem. ✓
Watch out. Check the words in the poem, not what you think it might be about.