An onomatopoeia is a word that mimics, resembles or in some way suggests the sound associated with a particular object or creature. We commonly use onomatopoeias in relation to animal sounds like moo, cluck-cluck, oink and woof. They are also used to describe sounds associated with other objects (e.g., splash, boom, sizzle, crack). Different languages use different onomatopoeias (e.g., the sound associated with a clock in English is ‘tick tock‘, in Spanish it is ‘tic tac’, in Mandarin it is ‘kachi kachi’ and in Hindi ‘tik-tik’.
‘Onomatopoeia’ comes from the Ancient Greek compound words ‘onoma’ meaning ‘name’ and ‘poiein’ meaning ‘making’. It is useful to use onomatopoeia in writing as it helps the reader visualise the scene being described.
A great activity for using onomatopoeias is to create onomatopoeia poems or cartoons.
Step 1:
Provide students with a list of subheadings and brainstorm a list of associated onomatopoeias. A few examples have been provided in the table below, but there are a lot more you could use. Often you will find that an onomatopoeia can be used in association with a variety of objects. For example, you can ‘crunch’ on an apple or corn chips, but you also make a ‘crunching’ sound when you walk on dried leaves.
Animals | Water | Building Sites | Food | Parties | Households |
quack | splash | roar | crunch | whoop | tick tock |
squeak | plop | bang | slurp | pop | beep |
sizzle | |||||
Lists of onomatopoeia words
http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au/?p=1407
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_onomatopoeias
https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/onomatopoeia-word-list/
Step 2:
Share some onomatopoeia poems and discuss the effect of using onomatopoeias.
https://www.classroompoems.com/onomatopoeia-poems.html
https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/examples-onomatopoeia-poems
Step 3:
Model creating an onomatopoeia poems:
- Think of a place (a building site, a school) an activity (cooking eggs, swimming) or a situation (a rainy day).
- Make a list of associated onomatopoeias using the brainstormed list as a guide.
- Expand each onomatopoeia into a relevant sentence or phrase.
- Read through the poem and edit.
Swish, swash, swish swash, the waves lapped gently on the sand.
‘Owww,” I screeched as I raced across the burning sand.
“Whoopee!” I yelled as I flung myself into the water.
Splosh, crash, plop, the ocean responded.
“Splutter, glub, glub,” I chocked as the waves spat me out.
Other Suggestions:
- Action cartoons often use onomatopoeia. Share some examples and have students create their own cartoon strip. Use a cartoon creator so the focus is on the language not on drawing:
https://www.canva.com/create/cartoons/
https://www.storyboardthat.com/ (use the try for free version)
- Write an advert using onomatopoeia to engage the audience. Share some examples like the ‘Snap! Crackle! Pop! advert for Rice Bubbles or the ‘Slip, slop, slap’ sun protection campaign.
Knock, knock come to the dance and rock.
Cupcakes to drool over.
Whoop it up at the fair.
Tick tock, tick tock, buy now .
- Create your own onomatopoeia. What sound would an angry chicken make? What sound would a cow mixed with a dog make?
- Older students can make a matching game for younger students consisting of an object/creature which needs to be matched with the correct onomatopoeia. This could be based on Bingo, Matching Cards, a reusable worksheet with pictures on the worksheet and each onomatopoeia on a separate card or a computer-based matching activity.