core_ecdl4_us7403_activity 4 poetry for young children

8/8/2019 CORE_ECDL4_US7403_Activity 4 Poetry for Young Children

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National Certificate in ECD (Level 4): Facilitating Learning through Stories, Songs & Rhymes 16 Western Cape Education Department

Activity

4

PoetryFor

Young

Children

Specific Outcome 1: Use arepertoire of stories, songs andrhymes in the language of the childto promote listening skills.

Specific Outcome 5: Use

stories, rhymes and songs topromote holistic learning anddevelopment.

The learner will be able to:9. Appreciate the value of poetry in the playschool playroom10. Identify a range of different kinds of poems suitable for young children11. Make a poetry file with different topic headings, and build up a repertoire of

poems to share with the children

Get prepared

Time: Can be conducted over several sessions

Complete the activity

Part 1: Read an article

Read the following article by an American kindergarten teacher:

Poetry: tool of the playroom magician

Getting 50 fidgety 5-year-olds to settle down could be viewed as a major task. But an

experienced kindergarten teacher that I observed in this situation many years ago

merely began to recite a poem in a soft, expressive voice.

The Secret

We have a secret, just we three,

The robin, and I, and the sweet cherry-tree;

The bird told the tree, and the tree told me,

And nobody knows it but just us three.

But of course the robin knows it best,

Because he built the I shant tell the rest;

And laid the four little something in it

Im afraid I shall tell it every minute.


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But if the tree and the robin dont peep,

Ill try my best the secret to keep;

Though I know when the little birds fly about

Then the whole secret will be out.

(poet unknown)

Within a few seconds every child in the playroom was sitting quietly, listening intently to

the poem, under the spell of the rhythms and rhymes, timbres and tones. It was like

magic! I made a mental note to develop a repertoire of these tools of the playroom

magician poems.

Part 2: Build a poetry collection

In this activity, you will begin to build your own repertoire of poems to share with childrenin the playroom.

Create a poetry file. A box with cards about A5 size in a box, like a recipe box, is ideal; aring file would also do.

Within the file, create sections for different kinds of poems. Study the poems in PoetryCollections 1 & 2 after this activity. These pages give suggestions for headings you maywant to use, and a poem for each one to get you started. Feel free to add any categoriesthat you like.

Part 3: Strengthen your poetry collection

Find some anthologies of poems for young people in the library. The followinganthologies are highly recommended:

A World of Poetry selected by Michael Rosen The Puffin Book of Verse The Kingfisher Book of Comic Verse

Look through the poetry, speak it aloud, and make selections to add to your poetry file.Keep in mind this expert advice from Literature and the Child:

Poetry with clear-cut rhymes or rhythm is well liked (by small children); poetry thatdepends heavily on imagery is not.

Write out the poems you like and that you think would appeal to the children; try andinclude at least one new poem for every section in your file.


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Poetry Collection 1

Poems that play withthe sounds of words:

A swamp romp

Clomp ThumpSwamp LumpPlodding in the OozeBelly ShiverJelly QuiverSquelching in my shoes.

Clomp ThumpRomp JumpMulching all the Mud,Boot TrudgeFoot SludgeThud! Thud! Thud!

Doug Macleod

Poems about feelings

By myself

When Im by myselfAnd I close my eyesIm a twinIm a dimple in a chinIm a room full of toysIm a squeaky noiseIm a gospel songIm a gongIm a leaf turning redIm a loaf of brown breadIm a whatever I want to be

And when I open my eyesWhat I care to beIs me

Eloise Greenfield

Poems about the wonders of

nature

Maytime Magic

A little seedFor me to sow...

A little earthTo make it grow...

A little hole,A little patA little wish,And that is that

A little sun,A little showerA little while,And then -- a flower!

Mabel Watts

Poems with strong rhythms

that children can learn to recite

The Little TurtleThere was a little turtle,He lived in a box.He swam in a puddle.He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito.He snapped at a flea.He snapped at a minnow.

And he snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito.He caught the flea.He caught the minnow.But he didnt catch me.

Vachel Lindsay


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Poetry Collection 2

Weather poems

Haiku

Winter downpour Even the monkeyNeeds a raincoat.

Basho

Free verse(poems that dont rhyme)

WrestlingI like wrestling with Herbie becausehes my best friend.We poke each(but not very hard)and punch each other(but not very hard)and roll on the grassand pretend to have fights

just to make our sisters scream.But sometimes if he hits me too muchand it hurts,I get madand I punch him backas hard as I canand then we both are cryingand going into our housesand slamming our back doors on each other.But the next day, if its sunny,we come out into our yardsand grin at each other,and sometimes he gives me an apple

or I give him a cookie andthen we start wrestling again.

Kathleen Fraser

Poems by children

Freedom

When I am old I would like to haveA wife and two childrenA boy and a girl and a big houseAnd two dogs and freedomMy friends and I would like to meet together

Moagi (8 year old South African)

Action poems

Touch Your Ears

Touch your ears.Touch your nose.

Now bend down and touch your toes.Wiggle your finger.Turn around.Now bend down and touch the ground.Clap your hand 1,2,3Now see how quiet you can be.

Janice Hayes Andrews

Funny poems

The Animal Fair

I went to the animal fair,The birds and the beasts were there.

The big baboon, by the light of the moon,Was combing his auburn hair.The monkey, he got drunk,

And sat on the elephants trunk.The elephant sneezed and feel on his knees

And what became of the monk, the monk?

Unknown

core_ecdl4_us7403_activity 4 poetry for young children

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