Onomatopoeia Teaching Resources

Get your students excited about poetry with the fun world of onomatopoeia through our printable worksheets, interactive activities and more teaching resources created by teachers, for teachers!

This curriculum-aligned collection of resources for your poetry analysis lesson plans has been thoroughly reviewed and carefully curated by the expert ELA teachers on the Teach Starter team. That means every printable and digital resource is ready to use in your classroom!

Want to learn more about getting third-, fourth- and fifth-graders hooked on poetry with these fun — and often funny — words? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!

What Is Onomatopoeia? A Kid-Friendly Definition

Onomatopoeia is a very big word for little people. So how do you explain what it means to your third-graders? Try this kid-friendly definition!

Onomatopoeia is a fancy word that describes when a word sounds like the thing it is describing.

This type of figurative language makes writing more interesting, and it helps the writer set the scene for the reader. It's often used in poetry and comic books.

Onomatopoeia Examples

OK, so that may make sense to some of your learners, but other kids need some more. Onomatopoeia examples, coming right up!

Have you ever noticed that "buzz" sounds like the noise a bee makes? That's onomatopoeia! How about the word "stomp"? Does it sound just like the noise a shoe makes when it hits the floor? That's another example of onomatopoeia!

Here are some more fun onomatopoeia examples, broken out by theme. Why not add them to a word wall in the classroom?:

Sounds From Nature

• Splash
• Buzz
• Tweet
• Chirp
• Croak
• Boom

Sounds That Animals Make

• meow
• woof
• moo
• oink
• quack
• baa

Sounds That Humans Make

• Yawn
• Hiccup
• Sneeze
• Snore
• Burp

Onomatopoeia Pronunciation

With a long word like this, your students may find their tongues tripping over the letters. So how is it pronounced?

Onomatopoeia is pronounced as "ah-nuh-muh-tuh-PEE-uh." It's a bit of a mouthful, so don't worry if it takes a few tries to get it right!

Singing the Onomatopoeia Song

When all else fails, there's always the onomatopoeia song to help jog your memory!

Here's just a sample to get your class singing!

Boom boom clap, boom boom clap

The thunder makes a boom boom sound

Sizzle sizzle, pop pop

The bacon in the pan goes round and round

Onomatopoeia, Onomatopoeia

It's such a cool word to say

Onomatopoeia, Onomatopoeia

It sounds like what it's trying to convey

Tick tock, tick tock

The clock on the wall goes round and round

Snap snap, crackle pop

The fire makes a crackling sound

Onomatopoeia, Onomatopoeia

It's such a cool word to say

Onomatopoeia, Onomatopoeia

It sounds like what it's trying to convey

How to Spell Onomatopoeia

It's not just a tough one to say. This example of figurative language can be a tough one to spell — and not just for our students!

One trick is to break it down into smaller parts.

The first part of the word "onoma" means name in Greek, and "poiein" means to make.

So, onomatopoeia is a word that "makes a name" for something by mimicking the sound it makes.

You can remember the spelling by thinking of it as "onoma" + "to" + "poeia".