MARCH MARCHES
Ah the month of March! I love March. March was named after the ancient Roman god Mars. The ancient Romans lived a long time ago (about 2000 years at least) but we still remember them in lots of ways. One way is the names of the months – and also the planets.
Mars was the Roman god of soldiers. Another meaning of the word “march” is something soldiers do a lot. That’s right, walking together in a group, all stepping at the same time - QUICK MARCH!
You need to use RHYTHM when you march. A kind of a beat. I always think that marching is like making a poem or a song - with your legs. In poems and songs you need RHYTHM and sometimes RHYMES as well, to keep the beat. So this MARCH let’s write a poem with a lot of rhythm and rhyme.
This is the beginning of a poem I’ve written:
HERE’S A CAT AND HERE’S A DOG
THERE’S A BEAR AND THERE’S A FROG
HERE’S A PIE AND HERE’S A PEACH
THERE’S A MOUSE AND THERE’S A BEACH
It’s a marching poem, so it doesn’t need to make much sense! It’s for the happy feeling that rhythm and the rhyme give you.
Now it’s your turn.
Follow this pattern and put your own words in the blank spaces. The first word can be anything you like, but to make a really good marching song the blank spaces at the ends of the lines should rhyme with each other. I’ve put some pairs of rhyming words below here to help you with that. But I bet you will be able to think of plenty yourselves.
Here’s a _____________ and here’s a ______________
There’s a ____________ and there’s a ______________
CAR/STAR CAT/BAT PILL/HILL RAKE/CAKE FAN/MAN
SPOON/MOON KEY/BEE NET/JET SOCK/LOCK
TIP: The words in the blanks for this poem should be nouns – that means words for things or people. And if you use words of just one beat (one syllable), you will keep the rhythm really strong! Once your poem is finished, you could get up and say it (SHOUT IT) out loud while you are marching along!
LEFT! LEFT! LEFT RIGHT LEFT!
See you next month,
Ursula