Year 3 English · Reading poetry and plays · Lesson 8.4

Year 3 English: Forms of poetry: rhyming, free verse and narrative poems

Part of the Year 3 English reading poetry and plays chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

8.4

Forms of poetry: rhyming, free verse and narrative poems

Year 3
Recognise some different forms of poetry: free verse and narrative poetry, Compare two forms of poetry

Story. Ella's class has two poems on the table. One has rhymes, and the other tells a story. How are they different?

Poets choose different forms of poetry. Three common forms are these.

A rhyming poem has lines that rhyme, often with a regular beat pattern. The Garden at Night, in section 8.1, is a rhyming poem.

Free verse has no fixed rhyme or beat pattern. The poet chooses where each line breaks. Rain on the Window, in section 8.3, is free verse.

A narrative poem tells a story. It has characters, a setting and events in order. It may rhyme, or it may not.

Read these two poems. Then answer the questions in exercise 8D.

The Lost Mitten

1One frosty morning, Ella ran
2to catch the bus across the town.
3A woolly mitten slipped and fell
4and landed in the snow, face down.

5She reached the bus, then turned around
6and saw her mitten in the snow.
7She knelt and brushed the flakes aside
8and felt a warm and happy glow.

Rain on the Window

1Rain taps on the glass
2like someone who wants to come in.
3Each drop runs down slowly,
4joins another,
5and makes a silver path
6that wobbles all the way to the sill.

Three forms of poetry: a rhyming poem, free verse and a narrative poem.

Key ideas

A rhyming poem has lines that rhyme, and often a beat pattern.
Free verse has no fixed rhyme or beat pattern.
A narrative poem tells a story, with characters, a setting and events in order.
A narrative poem can rhyme, or it can be free verse.
Ask yourself: does it rhyme? Is there a beat pattern? Does it tell a story?

Worked example 8.4.1

Is Rain on the Window a rhyming poem? Explain.

Method. Check the endings of the lines.

Find the last word of each line. Line 1 ends with glass. Line 2 ends with in.
glass / in
Compare the endings in the spelling. The endings -ass and -in are different.
-ass and -in
Write the answer.
No.

Check. The endings are different, and so the poem is not a rhyming poem. ✓

Worked example 8.4.2

Is The Lost Mitten a narrative poem? Explain.

Method. Look for a character, a setting and events in order.

Find a character and a setting. Ella is the character, and the setting is one frosty morning, across the town.
Ella; one frosty morning, across the town
Find events in order. A mitten falls, Ella turns back, and she brushes the snow aside.
falls, turns back, brushes aside
Write the answer.
Yes. It tells a story with a character, a setting and events in order.

Check. A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. ✓

Watch out. Free verse can have events too, but a narrative poem tells a clear story.

Worked example 8.4.3

Does The Lost Mitten have a rhyme scheme? Name it.

Method. Write the last word of each line, and give each new ending its own letter.

Write the last word of each line. These are the words at the ends of the lines.
ran / town / fell / down
Give each new ending its own letter. Lines whose endings match get the same letter. The first new ending is A, then B.
ran: A town: B fell: C down: B
Write the answer.
ABCB

Check. Lines 2 and 4 rhyme (town and down). A narrative poem can rhyme. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: a poem with lines and stanzas is not always a rhyming poem. Free verse has no fixed rhyme, and a narrative poem may or may not rhyme.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask your child whether each poem rhymes, and whether it tells a story. Ask them to explain why they think so, using words from the poem.