(HINT: It is very enjoyable for the students if the teacher can find a popular song to tap out. Finally, have the class tap out a poem together. Then, ask students, one at a time, to play, tap or clap out the poem. Ask students to read the poems through silently, first. Supplies needed for the quiz are limited to percussion instruments however, they are not necessary, as students can tap or clap the meter of the poems.Ī test handout with various stanzas of poems showing different metrical feet is attached here. In addition, it is fun and challenging for students. Interactive, and Fun!Ĭreating an interactive poetry meter quiz is actually easier than it seems. The “long” and “short” referred to in the poem are the same as the stressed and unstressed syllables mentioned above. With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng.(Anapests = -/)
Iambics march from short to long.(Iambic = -/) (Spondee = //)Įver to keep up with Dactyl’s trisyllable. Slow Spondee stalks, strong foot!, yea ill-able. The writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge actually wrote a mnemonic poem to help students remember the various types of metric feet in poetry. The word, mnemonic, actually has its roots in the name of the Greek goddess of memory, Mnemosyne. The ability to remember poetry comes from the use of mnemonic devices, such as the rhythm or meter of a poem. Often you will find the feet of poems represented by dashes and slashes. The “da” is unstressed and the “DAH” is stressed.
You can feel the “da-DAH, da-DAH, da-DAH, da-DAH” as you read. (iambic trimeter or three feet to the line) Mary had a little lamb, (iambic tetrameter or four feet to the line)
Say the following lines, tapping out the meter as your read: For instance, most nursery rhymes are written in iambic metric feet. The feet are how the syllables or stresses of the poem are arranged. Like a song, each poem has its own meter, which can be felt by the reader or speaker as they recite the poem. When teaching kids poetry, it is important to discuss the rhythm in poetry, which is called meter.