Go Rhyme Yourself!

A Was Once an Apple Pie

written by Edward Lear, illustrated by Suse MacDonald

Choose an animal that begins with the same letter as your given name or nickname. For Patty I could use penguin, parrot, pangolin, porcupine, pig, possum, etc. Write a short poem using the general form of the verses of this book.

P was once a porcupine
Porky, dorky, forky, storky
Prickly, pokey porcupine.

Students might want to use letters instead of animals or alter the form of the verse somewhat. This might work better for writers with multi-syllable names or those having difficulty with animal name rhymes. Encourage nonsense words; they are especially good to stress the importance of rhythm and rhyming.

Patty Ann begins with P
Batty, Hatty, Chatty, Ratty,
Curly-haired Patty begins with P

Little Patty begins with a P
Peedy, beady, deedy, feedy,
Jeedy, meedy, little P.

A was once little Ann
Annie, canny, fanny, nanny,
Awful spanny, little Ann.