• Hunting in the Alps

    Adalbert Waagen, Hunting in the Alps. Oil on canvas, 52 x 41 1/2 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

Jack and Jill, Rhythm and Rhyme

English Language Arts

Kindergarten

1: A Colorful Time with Rhythm and Rhyme

1 30-minute lesson

main idea


How does rhyme affect the way that we hear and read poetry?


I can identify a character in a story or rhyme.
I can locate details in an artwork/illustration.
I can talk about details in a picture.
I can identify a setting in a story, rhyme, or artwork.

Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Lesson Plan

Introduce the rhyme “Jack and Jill:”

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

“This rhyme tells a story. Who is the story about? Jack and Jill are the characters. A character can be a person or an animal that a story or rhyme is mostly about.”

  • “Where are Jack and Jill? This is called the setting—where a story or rhyme takes place. The setting for this rhyme is outdoors.”

Model reading left to right paying attention to each word as you read.

Read the rhyme once for enjoyment. Read again putting emphasis on the words that rhyme.

  • “Why do you think I said the words Jill and hill with a louder voice? What do you notice about the two words? The ending parts are the same and that is what makes them rhyme.
  • Similarly emphasize down and crown.

Re-read Jack and Jill. Review the characters and setting. Then, introduce the painting Hunting in the Alps, by Adalbert Waagen. Discuss the image as a group.

  • What’s going on in this picture?
  • What do you see that makes you say that?
  • What more can we find?

Paraphrase students’ responses neutrally and point to areas of the image that are mentioned.

  • What is the setting in this painting?
  • How is the setting of Jack and Jill similar to this painting?
  • Does this painting have characters? Where are they?
  • What are they doing? What do you see that makes you say that?

Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the settings or the characters from the rhyme and the painting.

Extension and Centers

  • Read around the room: Children can use a pointer to read the rhyme on the wall
  • Poetry: Children can cut out and glue the rhyme and illustrate it in their poetry books
  • Writing: Put their name and a friend’s name in the poem
  • Word Work: Rhyming words
  • Pocket Chart: Matching sight words in poem with their match on another color card

Mentor Texts for Teaching Setting

  • When the Fireflies Come by Johnathan London
  • The Secret Short Cut by Mark Teague
  • Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
  • Platypus Lost by Janet Stevens

Assessment

Formative assessment:

  • Students will identify rhyming words and non-rhyming words.
  • Students will use details to identify characters and setting in Jack and Jill and the painting Hunting in the Alps.
  • Students will create an illustration of Jack and Jill that includes details, such as a hill and two figures.

Materials Needed

pocket chart, sentence strips, children’s names

Vocabulary

setting, characters, details

Artwork in this Lesson

  • Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
    • Adalbert Waagen | Hunting in the Alps

      Adalbert Waagen, German, Hunting in the Alps, 1865. Oil on canvas, 52 x 41 1/2 inches (132.1 x 105.4 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Museum purchase, 2002.16.2. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.