DIY Homeschooler

Here is a fun way to help students learn alliteration — a literary device where words in a sentence or phrase begin with the same beginning sound. Have your student write a pyramid poem!

A pyramid poem is a sound poem of four lines where the first line has one word, the second line two words, and so on. Each word in the poem must begin with the same sound.

For example:

Pepper

Pickled Pepper

Picked Pickled Pepper

Picked Pickled Pepper Pecks

Simple — and fun!

Suggestions

• First decide on a beginning sound. Brainstorm various parts of speech that begin with that sound. Then start forming the poem. You may find you need to change word endings and tenses to make the poem make sense.
• For a second try choose the subject first. Then brainstorm all of the words that begin with the same sound as your subject that describe it (such as “slithering snake”).
• Read a Mother Goose rhyme or two and point out alliterative phrases.
• For a special challenge, make an alliterative diamond poem.
• If you have several students working on this, you can make a pyramid poem for each letter of the alphabet and create an ABC book.

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Additional Resources

Alliteration
Explanation and examples at Enchanted Learning.

Pyramid Animal Poem
An 8-line poem used to describe an animal using different parts of speech. For an extra challenge, make the poem alliterative.

The Real Mother Goose {Free eBook}
Find the alliterative phrases.

Activity: Diamond Poem {Parts of Speech Practice}
Helps for making an alliterative diamond poem.

ABC Book Maker {Free}
Interactive to help make an alliterative ABC book.