5 Quick Ways To Incorporate Alliteration Into Your Language Lessons

“Tempted to type meaningless twaddle all the time on Twitter…with alliteration, no less!”- E.A. Bucchianeri

I love alliteration! I love how the words roll off the tip of my tongue. In fact, just saying the word is fun: al-LIT-eration, AL-literation, alliter-A-tion, Allitera-TION.   Children love alliteration too. They love tongue twisters. (To me, tongue twisters are alliteration on steroids. 🙂 )

Alliteration is an essential literary element for any age. (we’ll discover all the literary elements in later posts) Little children enjoy tongue twisters such as Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers… (Tongue twisters are a great way to introduce beginning sounds, initial consonants, to beginning readers, but they also illustrate alliteration.) Have fun with the following ideas and resources and try not to get your tongue tied. 🙂

What is the purpose of alliteration?

 

Alliteration is a literary device that uses the repetition of the sounds, usually the beginning sounds, of words. Tongue twisters use alliteration, as does a phrase like “wide and wonderful world.” Alliteration creates a mood and shows how an author wants to emphasize certain words and concepts.- k12reader.comallitpeter

Recognizing Alliteration

  1. Poem: “Birches” by Robert Frost

Example: When I see birches bend from left and right… / I like to think some boy’s been swinging them. (1,3)

Analysis: The repetition of the b sound in lines one and three emphasize both the dominant image and the dominant theme of the poem. Frost chooses the image of a bent birch tree to wax nostalgic on the wonders of youth. – brighthubeducation.com

  1. Use these these tongue twisters to recognize alliteration. Print them. Use a highlighter pen to highlight the beginning sounds clearly showing alliteration. Click here to get tongue twisters: http://www.indianchild.com/tongue_twisters.htm

tonguetwisters

Using Alliteration

  1. Create your own silly tongue twisters after reading several from the list above- children (and adults) of all ages enjoy doing this. Say them; then, write them.

  1. Find alliteration in the books you read. Make sure to point it out to your children. alliteration-seuss

  1. Take a picture- create an alliteration caption like I did for this post. (See the caption that goes with the sunset photos.)

  1. Click here for some really well done, free alliteration worksheets for grades 2nd- 8th: http://www.k12reader.com/subject/figurative-language-worksheets/alliteration/

  1. Have your children search for alliteration in the newspaper headlines or in magazines. Create an alliteration collage by cutting them out and gluing them onto a larger paper. (This is good to do, because it links alliteration to reading the newspaper which is a life skill.  It makes learning alliteration applicable to life.)

alliteration headline

When I taught small children, they loved alliteration through tongue twisters, Dr. Seuss, and poetry. They enjoyed creating their own. Now, I teach a high school composition class, and alliteration is a wonderful tool to incorporate into their novels and essays.

Alliteration is an amazing literary device for every age. literary element

How do you teach it? What works for you?

Have fanatic fun with my favorite literary device, alliteration.

♥Pamela

This is a great resource for grades 6-8th to compose a poem using alliteration headlines:  http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/alliteration-headline-poems-81.html

Photo Credit:  1.  My own  2.  pinterest.com  3.  pinterest.com    4. shopitoff.co.uk  5.  pinterest.com