Rhyming couplets

When the end of two consecutive lines rhyme eg cat and mat. Then there is a rhyming couplet.

Provide students with ten examples.  Half of them should be couplets, half not.  Ask students to sort them into two piles, those that rhyme and those that don't.  This is simply to check understanding.  For less able students you might want to use an onset and rime activity to enable them to recognise the sound pattern similarities.

Divide students into five different groups.  Allocate each group an act.  Groups should scan through their portion of the text to identify rhyming couplets. Again, for less able groups you may wish to identify a specific speech for the whole group to work on rather than addressing the whole text.  Each group should then apply 'language detective skills' to decide why Shakespeare uses couplets the way that he does- emphasis, pace and often at the end of a speech or a scene to show finality- so rather like a sign post.  You can provide prompt questions to help them to work out why Shakespeare uses rhyme.