Year 3 English: Rhyme and rhythm
Part of the Year 3 English reading poetry and plays chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Rhyme and rhythm
A rhyme is when two or more lines end with words that match. In this book, rhymes are checked by spelling: the endings must match on the page. For example, hill and still both end in -ill.
Rhythm is a pattern of strong beats that repeats. In this book, the strong beats are shown in bold, so you can count them on the page. In The Garden at Night, every line has four bold beats.
A rhyme scheme labels the lines of a stanza with letters. Lines that rhyme share a letter. Read the table.
| Scheme | What it means | Example from this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| AABB | lines 1 and 2 rhyme; lines 3 and 4 rhyme | hill and still; tree and free |
| ABAB | lines 1 and 3 rhyme; lines 2 and 4 rhyme | bay and day; past and last |
| ABCB | only lines 2 and 4 rhyme | town and down (The Lost Mitten) |
Look at the strong beats in line 1 of The Garden at Night. Then read both poems.
The Garden at Night
1The moon climbs slowly over the hill,
2and silver light falls soft and still.
3The garden sleeps beneath the tree,
4with shadows dancing soft and free.
5A fox trots past the old stone wall,
6and owls hoot their haunting call.
7The flowers lean and whisper low,
8until the tiny stars begin to glow.
The Harbour at Dusk
1The sun sinks low above the bay,
2and fishing boats sail slowly past.
3The gulls grow quiet, and the day
4folds up its gold, and fades at last.
5Each lamp becomes a golden star
6that shimmers on the water deep.
7The harbour bell rings soft and far,
8and all the boats are fast asleep.
Key ideas
- A rhyme is when lines end with words that match in spelling, such as hill and still.
- In this book, rhymes are checked by spelling, so the endings must match on the page.
- Rhythm is a pattern of strong beats. In this book, the strong beats are in bold.
- A rhyme scheme uses letters: AABB, ABAB and ABCB are common patterns.
- Lines with the same ending pattern share a letter.
Method. Find the last word of each line, then compare the endings.
- Find the last word of each line. Line 3 ends with tree. Line 4 ends with free.tree / free
- Compare the endings in the spelling. Both words end in the same letters, so they rhyme.-ee and -ee
- Write the answer. tree and free
Check. Both end in -ee, so they rhyme.
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.wall / call / low / glow
- Give each new ending its own letter. Lines whose endings match get the same letter. The first new ending is A, then B.wall: A call: A low: B glow: B
- Write the answer. AABB
Check. Lines 5 and 6 share a letter, and lines 7 and 8 share another. ✓
Method. Find the bold words, then count them.
- Find the bold words in the line. In this book, the bold words are the strong beats.owls, hoot, haunting, call
- Count the bold words. There are 4 bold words, so there are 4 beats.4
- Write the answer. 4
Check. The bold words are owls, hoot, haunting and call. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: rhyme is about the spelling of the endings on the page. Words such as bread and said may sound similar, but their endings are spelt differently, so they do not show a rhyme here. Also count only the bold beats.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Read one stanza aloud with your child. Then ask them to point to the words at the ends of the lines, and to tell you which words end in the same letters.
Exercise 8B Practice: rhyme and rhythm
Method. Compare the endings of each word with -ight.
- Look at the ending of night. Night ends in -ight.night: -ight
- Check each word. cat ends in -at, dog ends in -og, and bright ends in -ight.bright: -ight
- Write the answer. bright
Check. Bright and night both end in -ight. ✓
Watch out. Look at the letters, not only the sound.
Method. Find a word whose ending matches -ee.
- Look at the ending of tree. Tree ends in -ee.tree: -ee
- Find a word with the same ending. See ends in -ee, so it rhymes with tree.see: -ee
- Write the answer. Accept any word that ends in -ee, for example: see, free, bee, me.
Check. Each of these words ends in the same letters. ✓
Watch out. The rhyme must show in the spelling, so -ea would not match.
Method. Find the end words of lines 1 and 2, then compare them.
- Find the last word of each line. Line 1 ends with hill. Line 2 ends with still.hill / still
- Compare the endings in the spelling. Both words end in the same letters, so they rhyme.-ill and -ill
- Write the answer. Yes. Hill and still both end in -ill.
Check. Both end in -ill. ✓
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.star / deep / far / asleep
- Give each new ending its own letter. Lines whose endings match get the same letter. The first new ending is A, then B.star: A deep: B far: A asleep: B
- Write the answer. ABAB
Check. Lines 5 and 7 (star and far) share a letter. Lines 6 and 8 (deep and asleep) share another. ✓
Method. Find the bold words in line 1, then count them.
- Find the bold words in the line. In this book, the bold words are the strong beats.moon, slowly, over, hill
- Count the bold words. There are 4 bold words, so there are 4 beats.4
- Write the answer. 4
Check. Moon, slowly, over and hill: four beats. ✓
Method. Look for the word low at the end of a line.
- Read stanza 2. Low is at the end of the third line of stanza 2.The flowers lean and whisper low,
- Count the line number. Stanza 2 starts at line 5, so the third line is line 7.line 7
- Write the answer. line 7
Check. Line 5, then line 6, then line 7 ends with low. ✓
Watch out. Also accept: 7.
Method. Find the end word of line 1, then look for the same ending.
- Find the last word of each line. Line 1 ends with bay. Line 3 ends with day.bay / day
- Compare the endings in the spelling. Both words end in the same letters, so they rhyme.-ay and -ay
- Write the answer. line 3
Check. Bay and day both end in -ay. ✓
Watch out. Also accept: line 3 (day).
Method. Look at the endings of the four words.
- Find the endings of sun, run and fun. All three end in -un.sun, run, fun: -un
- Check cat. Cat ends in -at, so it is the odd one out.cat: -at
- Write the answer. cat
Check. Three words end in -un, and only cat ends in -at. ✓
Watch out. The odd word is the one with a different ending.
Method. Find a word that ends in the same letters as cat.
- Look at the ending of cat. Cat ends in -at.cat: -at
- Find a word that ends in -at and fits the sentence. Mat fits the sentence and ends in -at.mat: -at
- Write the answer. mat
Check. Cat and mat both end in -at. ✓
Watch out. Also accept: hat, flat, rat. The word must end in -at.
Method. Compare the endings of the two words, not the number of letters.
- Look at the end of hill. Hill ends in -ill.hill: -ill
- Look at the end of hall. Hall ends in -all, so the endings do not match.hall: -all
- Write the answer. No. Hill ends in -ill and hall ends in -all, so the endings do not match.
Check. The endings differ, so the words do not rhyme. ✓
Watch out. Two of the same letter in a word does not make a rhyme.
Method. Choose two end words with the same ending, then build the beats.
- Choose the end words. Rain and again both end in -ain, so they rhyme.rain / again
- Add the beats. Line 1 has four bold beats: dog, home, cold and rain. Line 2 has four: sat, right, door and again.4 beats and 4 beats
- Write the answer. Accept any two lines that rhyme and each have four bold beats, for example: The dog ran home in the cold rain, / and sat right by the door again. (rain and again rhyme.)
Check. Both lines have four bold beats, and the endings rain and again match. ✓
Watch out. Also accept any other lines that meet both rules.