Monday, March 06, 2006
March is National Poetry Month…
Seems kind of appropriate with March 2nd being Dr Seuss’ birthday, that March should be National Poetry Month. I think Seuss was one of the greatest children’s poets, although when he couldn’t find a word to rhyme, he made one up… Some of my other favorite children’s poets include: Shel Silverstein, Ogden Nash, and of course the all-time favorite, Mother Goose.
Children enjoy the immediacy of hearing poems out loud. For them, poetry is part of the playground and preschool, found in jump-rope rhymes and chants, nursery rhymes and finger plays. With their young ears tuned to the sounds and music of language, they respond easily to the rhyme and rhythm of poetry. Poetry helps children move forward in their literacy development by introducing new vocabulary and figurative language, reinforcing phonemic awareness through sounds and rhymes. It is rich in imagery and sensory language and stimulating to the imagination. It is meant to be spoken and heard, and thus provides practice for oral language development, listening, and oral fluency. Author and literacy expert Mem Fox states, "Rhymers will be readers; it's that simple. Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they're four years old, they're usually among the best readers by the time they're eight."
Here are some resources to find poems to share with the children. You’ll probably enjoy them as much as they do…
Read the rest of “My Foot Fell Asleep”. Or how about “My Dog Does My Homework”My foot fell asleep
right inside of my shoe
from sitting around
having nothing to do.
It hadn't drank warm milk
nor tried to count sheep;
it just wasn't busy,
and fell right asleep…
My dog does my homework
at home every night.
He answers each question
and gets them all right.
There's only one problem
with homework by Rover.
I can't turn in work
that's been slobbered all over.
--Kenn Nesbitt
- Or Giggle Poetry by Bruce Lansky
- The Poetry Zone has some great ideas on how to include poetry in your curriculum as well as some great poems…
Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the bed
The little dog laughed
But not for long
Because the cow landed right on his head
- Poems for Children gives us more of the classic poems and nursery rhymes that children love.
- Funny Poems has some great poems by poet Robert Pottle.
- Fizzy Funny Fuzzy also has some great poetry for children.
But poems don’t all have to be funny. Look for some favorite poetry of your own by doing a Google Search and see what you can find.
Try using poetry with the kids, you may find that you are a poet and didn’t know it…..
