Poetry study...need imput

[Angela]

Would like to spend some time on poetry for my rising 1st & 2nd graders. I have picked out the books I would like to use:

Mother Goose (T. Tudor)
A Child's Garden of Verses
A Child's Own Book of Verses book 1 (Yesterday's Classics)
Favorite Poems Old & New (Helen Ferris)

Now what? Other than reading as many as we can & perhaps memorizing a few I thought that maybe they could make their own poetry book using copywork & illustrations. Digging deeper is my problem...is there anything like a list/outline of general poetry discussion topics? Maybe discussing "rhyme" with one poem & "setting" with another, etc. Hope this is making sense I'm just thinking out loud.

[plansrme]

This was getting buried, so I just want to say I think it's a great idea.

There also are some great poems in "Now We Are Six" by ...oh, my mind just went blank, but he's the author of the Winnie the Pooh books. We especially loved one about a badly-behaved girl and her rice pudding.

I used to read poetry to my kidlets right before bed, as a way to settle them down. We mostly read from Now We Are Six and Harp and Laurel Wreath. We all still, every time we see a puffin, quote the poem from H&LW about the puffin. Oh there once was a puffin, just the shape of a muffin....

Good luck getting some responses that might actually be useful.

Terri

[Linda...inOwasso]

I'm interested in this topic as well. Would love to know of a resource that discusses different types of poetry (including advice on how to write each). I met a woman in our co-op last year who told me she taught her children the historical significance of nursery rhymes -- which sounds fascinating to me.

[daisychics]

We have been using Harp and Laurel Wreath http://www.amazon.com/Harp-Laurel-Wreath-Dictation-Curriculum/dp/0898707161

Ds 6 (almost 7) and Dd 3 have been memorizing poems. That's all they do, for now. They really enjoy reciting poems and I'm a happy mama. Maybe in 2 years we'll dig deeper (ds). :001_smile:

[Angela]

Here is a very interesting site about the historical background of nursery rhymes... http://www.rhymes.org.uk/

(thanks for the idea!)

[jananc]

When my dc were young, I had them memorize a poem from Child's Garden of Verse each week.

Also, you could talk about meter. Start with some familiar poems or even children's songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb, and clap out the meter. As you read other poems, talk about the meter and try to clap out each one to find the pattern.
Have fun with it!

[allearia]

We are enjoying A Child's Introduction to Poetry. It starts out discussing nursery rhymes and then goes on to many other forms of poetry in the first part, then the second part has different poets. I think for $13.57 for a book with CD it is a good deal. We are using the poems for memorization too and my first grade son enjoys the poems.

http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Introduction-Poetry-Mountains-Battles/dp/1579122825

[ELaurie]

This year, my goal is simply to encourage them to enjoy poetry.

I read poems to them several times a week; sometimes I suggest poems for them to memorize and other times I let them memorize poems they love.

For us, reading poetry is a pleasant break from the 3R's; however, I think your idea is a great idea too :001_smile: