DIRECTIONS. PRINT OUT, DO THE ACTIVITIES, PRACTICE WRITING SOME OF THE WORD FAMILY WORDS. LOOK AT THE PATTERNS IN THE POEM

THE SILENT SNAKE

1st stanza:
The birds go fluttering in the air,
The rabbits run and skip,
Brown squirrels race along the bough,
The May-flies rise and dip;
But while these creatures play and leap,
The silent snake goes creepy-creep!

2nd stanza:
The birdies sing and whistle loud,
The busy insects hum,
The squirrels chat, the frog says “Crook!”
But the snake is always dumb.
With not a sound through grasses deep
The silent snake goes creepy-creep!

- Anon.

Activities:
Illustrate the poem. Write a story about a snake. Write a story about some of the other animals mentioned in the poem.

Rhyming words:
*Numbers stand for stanzas.*1. skip, dip (lines 2 & 4); leap,
creep (lines 5 & 6). *2. hum, dumb (lines 2 & 4); deep, creep (lines 5 & 6).

Word families:
*Numbers stand for stanzas.
• *1. -ip (skip, dip; lines 2 & 4). Other -ip words: chip, clip, drip, equip, flip, hip, lip, nip, quip, rip, ship, sip, slip, snip, strip, tip, trip, whip, yip, zip.
• *2. -eep (deep, creep; lines 5 & 6). Other -eep words: asleep, beep, cheep, jeep, keep, peep, seep, sheep, sleep, steep, sweep, weep.

Patterns:
• There are 2 rhyming open couplets and 2 rhyming closed couplets in the poem, 1 rhyming open couplet and 1 rhyming closed couplet within each stanza; lines 2 & 4 rhyme, and lines 5 & 6 rhyme within each stanza.
• Line 6 in each stanza is the same.
• Other animals are compared to the snake. (Birds, rabbits, squirrels, may- flies, insects, frog; compared to the snake)
• Many words beginning with or containing the letter “r.”
- 1st stanza: birds, fluttering, air (line 1); rabbits run (line 2); brown, squirrels, race (line 3); rise (line 4); creatures (line 5); creepy- creep (line 6).
- 2nd stanza: birdies (line 1); squirrels, frog, crook (line 3); through, grasses (line 5); creepy-creep (line 6).
• Many words beginning with or containing the letter “s,” or making the sound of the letter “s.”
- 1st stanza: birds (line 1); rabbits, skip (line 2); squirrels, race (line 3); may-flies, rise (line 4); these, creatures (line 5); silent, snake, goes (line 6).
- 2nd stanza: birdies, sing, whistle (line 1); busy, insects (line 2); squirrels, says (line 3); snake, always (line 4); sound, grasses (line 5); silent, snake, goes (line 6).

Questions:
1st stanza.
• What do the rabbits do? (Read line 2, 1st stanza; run and skip.)
• What do the May-flies do? (Read line 4, 1st stanza; rise and dip.)
1st & 2nd stanzas.
• What do the birds do? (Read line 1, 1st & 2nd stanzas; flutter in the air and sing and whistle loud.)
• What do the squirrels do? (Read line 3, 1st & 2nd stanzas; race along the bough and chat.)
• What does the snake do? (Read lines 5 & 6, 1st stanza; and lines 4, 5, & 6, 2nd stanza; it creeps silently.)

2nd stanza.
• What do the insects do? (Read line 2, 2nd stanza; hum.)
• What does the frog say? (Read line 3, 2nd stanza; “Croak.”)
Other Questions:
• Why are other animals compared to the snake? (Birds, rabbits, squirrels, may-flies and insects, frog.)
• Is “The Silent Snake” a good title for this poem? Why?