Halloween poems

www.teachit.co.uk 2011 14925 Page 1 of 2

Teachers notes

These Halloween poems provide a model for experimenting with rhyming at the beginning of lines.
The idea of beginning line rhymes can be extended to other themes/topics, for example animals.

In presenting the Halloween theme, it would be a good idea to use only one of the three poems as
a model, leaving more scope for students to develop their own ideas. In addition to the three
provided, there are the following possibilities, and you can add your own ideas.

Incubus Troll Changeling Ghoul Wizard

Encouraging some leniency in exact rhyme/sound will be useful! For example, ghoul/jewel is near
enough for jazz. Also, allowing rhyme in varying syllabic patterns gives more freedom, for example
black/attack.

Students should be encouraged to compile rhyme banks before launching into writing a complete
poem which they are usually keen to attempt! For example:

ghost host most toast roast


Example poems:



Vampire

With
Vampires it
Transpires that on a
Fang they
Hang small
Specks from torn
Necks where
Blood like a
Flood leaves
Dots as the
Spots of deaths
Pith


Witches

Try
Witches with evil
Twitches, always
Brooming for
Zooming, dressing
Black to
Smack you at
Night and suck
Fright from
Faces without
Traces in blank
Eyes


Ghosts

Take
Ghosts, theyre
Hosts to their own
Haunting,
Wanting
Attention for the
Retention of their
Myth, as
If they
Existed, these
Twisted
Fakes


Halloween poems
www.teachit.co.uk 2011 14925 Page 2 of 2

Halloween poems

You are going to write a Halloween poem with a twist. Instead of the rhyme being at the end of
the line, it will be at the beginning! Here is an example.


Witches

Try
Witches with evil
Twitches, always
Brooming for
Zooming, dressing
Black to
Smack you at
Night and suck
Fright from
Faces without
Traces in blank
Eyes


Task

1. Choose a subject for your poem that you could associate with Halloween.
2. Build a rhyme-bank of words linked to your chosen subject.

Here are some examples if you choose Ghost as your subject:


host most roast toast


3. Now its time to write your poem. Play with lines/sentences that put your rhyming words
at the beginning before trying to write your whole and complete poem. As you do this,
new rhymes and ideas will come to you.