Video - Rhyming Couplet Poetry Helps to Reinforce the Knowledge of English Orthographic Patterns

The ability to hear rhyme in English is an important part of phonological development. It enables a student to make important connections between reading and spelling. A group of Year 4-6 ESOL students were challenged to use rhyming couplets to describe a rainbow. Because of limitations with vocabulary, it took twice as long for this group to write in rhyming couplets as did the group writing in free verse. The movie includes artwork to support each student's poem and some photos of the students during the writing process. The end result was that all students began to utilise spelling patterns more effectively in their writing. They also noticed that words might sound the same but have different spelling patterns.