Illustration of thumbs-up emoji
Shutterstock.com (All Images)
Poetry Kit,

Emoji Man

Listen to the poem, and finish each rhyme.

By Kenn Nesbitt
From the September 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will complete four lines in a poem using inference and rhyming skills.

Common Core Standards
  • RF.1.2 Phonological/phonemic awareness RF.1.3 Decoding RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text RL.1.10 Read poetry SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative discussions with peers and adults SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud
TEKS Standards
  • English Language Arts
    (2) Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking—beginning reading and writing. The student develops word structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts, phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode, and spell. The student is expected to: (A) demonstrate phonological awareness by: (i) producing a series of rhyming words. (9) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts—genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts. The student is expected to: (B) discuss rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and alliteration in a variety of poems.

Magazine View
See Student View

Emoji Man has grace and style.

You’ll know he’s happy by his ______.

But if he’s ever feeling down,

his face, instead, will have a ______.

At night he puts his PJs on.

He climbs in bed and gives a ______.

He says, “Good night,” and, counting sheep,

Emoji Man goes right to ______.

Answers: smile, frown, yawn, sleep

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus 

Phonemic awareness

Rhyming

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Whole group

Pairings and Text Connections

Suggested Reading Focus

Phonemic awareness/rhyming (15 minutes)

  • Before reading, work on rhyming skills. In this phonemic awareness routine, students will be instructed to listen to the stated words, repeat, and determine whether they are rhyming words. If the words rhyme, students should show a thumbs-up. If the words do not rhyme, students should show a thumbs-down.
    • man/can 
    • down/up
    • bed/led
    • night/light
    • on/off
  • Then discuss how poetry is organized in lines. Lead students through a think-pair-share to determine how many lines there are in “Emoji Man.”
  • Begin reading the poem. When you get to an emoji and blank line, have students say what the missing word should be. (smile, frown, yawn, sleep) Then have them fill in the word on the line. Be sure to restate each pair of rhyming lines in the poem. Point out to students how the last word in each line rhymes in sets of two.
  • When you are finished with the poem, have students say the rhyming words in each pair.

Text-to-Speech