Ms. Shannon’s 4th Grade English Class

FOOT AND METER IN POETRY

THE CHART OF FEET

Using the chart as a reference, take the “foot” quiz online. Take the quiz as many times as you need. If you have a

question, raise your hand.

The iamb is the most commonly used foot in English and American poetry. Read the following paragraph out loud and notice how it

flows differently than regular conversation does:

Today I went to see my friend Monique. We played with toys and rode our bikes to school. I hope I get to see her very soon. I’ve never

had a friend like her before.

You probably emphasized every other syllable, starting with the second one, splitting it into iambs, like this:

Today | I went |to see | my friend | Monique. | We played | with toys | and rode |our bikes |to school. | I hope | I get | to see | her ver | -y

soon. | I’ve ne |-ver had | a friend | like her | before.

IAMB

THE CHART OF METERS

Pentameter is the most common meter, and is typically paired with iambs to form iambic pentameter. A line is in

pentameter if it has only five feet. An iamb, as we discussed, is a foot. Therefore, a line of poetry containing

five iambs is written in iambic pentameter.

PENTAMETER

Today I went to see my friend Monique.We played with toys and rode our bikes to school.I hope I get to see her very soon.I’ve never had a friend like her before.

Today | I went |to see | my friend | Monique. |We played | with toys | and rode |our bikes |to school. |I hope | I get | to see | her ver | -y soon. |I’ve ne |-ver had | a friend | like her | before.

The technique that we are learning is called “scanning.” Let’s watch

these people scan a poem, so that we understand it a little better.

SCAN A POEM

Now that you’ve learned how to pair foot and meter together, take

the meter quiz online. You can use the chart as a reference. Take it as many times as you need to. This one just uses iambs, so

that you can focus on the meter.

Now listen to this poem and try to figure out what the foot and meter is. Hint: It’s

not iambic!

Answer: anapestic tetrameter

Now you can take the final quiz and see how well you understand foot and meter.

Again, you can use the charts as reference, and if you have any questions, raise your

hand.

THE FINAL QUIZ

You have two choices:

1) Write a poem of at least 4 lines in any foot and meter you wish.

2) Find a poem online that is written in clear foot and meter. Print it out. Add the curvy unstressed marks, the straight accent marks, and the lines

between feet, to show how you scanned the poem. Identify the foot and meter of the poem.

YOUR HOMEWORK