Alliteration Lesson Plans and Resources

Grade level: upper elem.

Goal: Students will identify and use alliteration.

SomeTwisters which also illustrate alliteration:

• Angela Abigail Applewhite ate anchovies and artichokes.
• Bertha Bartholomew blew big, blue bubbles.
• Clever Clifford Cutter clumisily closed the closet clasps.
• Dwayne Dwiddle drew a drawing of dreaded Dracula.
• Elmer Elwood eluded elven elderly elephants.
• Floyd Flingle flipped flat flapjacks.
• Greta Gruber grabbed a group of green grapes.
• Hattie Henderson hated happy healthy hippos.
• Ida Ivy identified the ivory iris.
• Julie Jackson juggled the juicy, jiggly jello.
• Karl Kessler kept the ketchup in the kitchen.
• Lila Ledbetter lugged a lot of little lemons.
• Milton Mallard mailed a mangled mango.
• Norris Newton never needed new noodles.
• Patsy planter plucked plump, purple, plastic plums.
• Quinella Quist quite quickly quelled the quarreling quartet.
• Randy Rathbone wrapped a rather rare red rabbit.
• Shelly Sherman shivered in a sheer, short, shirt.
• Trina Tweety tripped two twittering twins under a twiggy tree.
• Uri Udall usually used his unique, unusual unicycle.
• Vicky Vinc viewd a very valuable vase.
• Walter Whipple warily warned the weary warrior.
• Xerxes Xenon expected to xerox extra x-rays.
• Yolana Yvonne Yarger yodeled up yonder yesterday.
• Zigmund Zane zig-zagged through the zany zoo zone.

The Activities:

Use the above tongue twisters to introduce alliteration.

Students will:
1. Select ten twisters and illustrate them.
2. Extend ten twisters by adding more adjectives and adverbs.
3. Complete five twisters of your own.

1. Make up twisters about famous people with whom you are familiar.
2. Make up twisters about popular products you use.
3. Share these in class by reading aloud or passing papers.
4. Illustrate the twisters.

Assessment: Students completed their assignment.

Another Lesson Plan

Grade level: 7-12

Goal: Identifying alliteration

Procedure:
Pink Floyd's "Time" illustrates various poetic devices and significant sound effects which enhance the meaning.

Objectives:
The student will be able to:

1. recognize and discuss the theme and meaning of the song.
2. make connections between the song and his/her own life
3. identify the poetic devices of rhyme, alliteration, and metaphor;
4. explain how the music compliments the meaning of the lyrics;

Materials:
CD/tape player; music and lyrics for "Time."

Time Frame:
1-2 class periods depending on whether connections are made to other works of literature.

Procedures:
Preliminary discussion may be held on such questions as, "Are you ever bored?" or "Is there anything exciting happening around here?" Distribute the lyrics to each student. Advise students to listen carefully to the beginning of the song before playing it. Class discussion should focus on the following points:

1. The alarm clocks' ringing, the ticking of the clocks, and the ominous chords all contribute to a sense of urgency regarding the passage of time. The listener is immediately advised to "wake-up," and the ticking of the clock resembles a heartbeat (E.A. Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart").
2. The first two stanzas address those who hang around their hometown complaining that nothing is happening. The boredom and monotony of this lifestyle is emphasized by the repetition of sound through alliteration ("dull day") and the internal rhyme ("around...ground...town"). Contrasting images exist ("sunshine...rain," "life...kill").
3. The extended metaphor compares life to a race, where if "you missed the starting gun," no matter how fast "you run and you run," you will get lapped by the sun and be "shorter of breath and one day closer to death." (In Leo Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need," the main character loses a similar race, dying as the sun sets.)
4. The impact of the carpe diem theme is strengthened in the final stanza where the songwriter acknowledges his own mortality. Ironically, the plans that came to "half a page of scribbled lines" describes the extent of the lyrics, and on cue the song ends with the final line, "The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to day."

Evaluation:
Students should be able to make connections in written or oral form between the themes of "Time" and other works of literature they have studied. In addition, students can be asked to select other works of literature, art, film, music, etc. with similar themes.

Selected Recording:
"Time" by Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon/Capitol, 1973)

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