Sunday, May 30, 2010

Poetry for Children in Early Childhood Education

Trees

The Oak is called the king of trees,
The Aspen quivers in the breeze,
The Poplar grows up straight and tall,
The Peach tree spreads along the wall,
The Sycamore gives pleasant shade,
The Willow droops in watery glade,
The Fir tree useful in timber gives,
The Beech amid the forest lives.
~Sarah Coleridge

Poetry in early childhood settings has always worked for me to inspire the children in new ways of learning. They really like silly poems but some poetry can be quite education. If we can't make up a melody for it we will chant it out. For this circle time poem, the children love to stand in a tight circle and act out it out. I let them act out the movements to make it their own. At the end of the poem we all decided to squeeze together and say the last line.
That is, if the children can stop giggling...
We learn poems fairly quickly when we act them out....
What are your favorites?

2 comments:

Cheeseboy said...

I love teaching poetry to my first graders. Sometimes it is very foreign to them and it takes them awhile, but it is so rewarding and stretches them in so many ways. Kudos to you for this awesome post.

Barbra The Bloggess said...

Thanks Cheeseboy, I didn't start reading poetry until later in my life. When I did I found so many poems to incorporate into our preschool curriculum....
I'm glad to here it will carry on. :)