Wyoming Grade 2 English

How Repeated Lines Shape a Poem

Read this original Grade 2 poem aloud to explore repetition and rhyme. Compare its two animal responses before looking at the explanation, then change a repeated line and listen again. A teacher can follow this short task with a longer poem or song suited to the student’s reading needs.

Curriculum reference: Wyoming-linked 2012 English language arts standards, from the Wyoming content-area standards directory.

Wyoming Grade 2 references for this activity

Wyoming’s current content-area directory links the 2012 English language arts standards. The linked PDF includes Wyoming’s earlier 2011 explanatory material and the Common Core grade-specific standards; the directory’s edition label and the introductory historical label should not be confused with a new adoption. Standards state learning expectations, while schools and teachers choose a curriculum, texts, and instructional approaches. The selected Grade 2 reference identifies the focus of this original reading activity. Read the complete document and ask the teacher how the school sequences reading, writing, language, speaking, listening, and foundational skills where applicable. One short response does not establish complete curriculum coverage or grade-level proficiency.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the correct grade and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete standards selected by the school and its learning sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

The same invitation gets a different response

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Tap, tap, come and play.

A snail keeps to its slow, slow way.

Tap, tap, come and play.

A puppy bounds across the day.

Try the activity

Read the poem aloud. Identify a repeated line and explain how the repetition helps you notice the two animals’ different responses.

Follow the reasoning

“Tap, tap, come and play” returns before each animal’s response. Its repeated words make a familiar invitation that a reader can hear again. “Play,” “way,” and “day” rhyme at the line endings, while the two occurrences of “tap” create a small repeated beat. The snail keeps moving slowly, but the puppy bounds, so the same invitation leads into contrasting actions. The repeated line gives the poem a pattern without making the animals behave alike. A useful explanation names both a sound feature and what the words help the reader understand.

Notice what needs more practice

This short original poem does not prescribe a single reading speed or a strict metrical analysis. Children can try more than one expressive reading and listen for the repeated words. The poem personifies an invitation to animals; it is not a scientific claim that either animal understands human speech.

Use the next session to build independence

1. Read the passage and restate the question in your own words.
2. Connect the answer to a particular sentence, line, or detail.
3. Try the changed detail, then choose a longer classroom text that calls for the same kind of reading.

Replace the third line with “Wait, wait, not today.” Read the revised poem aloud. Explain how the changed invitation affects the meaning of the puppy’s response, even though the end rhyme remains. Find a repeated line in a teacher-selected poem or song.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 2 English Online Center.

Wyoming Grade 2 English: useful planning questions

Is naming the rhyme enough to explain the poem?

Naming a rhyme is a useful start. Add what the repeated invitation does: it creates a recurring sound pattern and makes the animals’ different actions easier to compare. Try the changed invitation to hear how sound and meaning can change separately.

Which standards does the school use?

Wyoming’s current content-area directory links the 2012 English language arts standards. The linked PDF includes Wyoming’s earlier 2011 explanatory material and the Common Core grade-specific standards; the directory’s edition label and the introductory historical label should not be confused with a new adoption. Standards state learning expectations, while schools and teachers choose a curriculum, texts, and instructional approaches. The selected Grade 2 reference identifies the focus of this original reading activity. Read the complete document and ask the teacher how the school sequences reading, writing, language, speaking, listening, and foundational skills where applicable. One short response does not establish complete curriculum coverage or grade-level proficiency. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.