Reading: Poetry
Rhyming: Jack Dumps
Jill For (Your Name Here)
Today's Snack: Since the topic is poetry, have a snack that rhymes.
How about a loaded baked POTATO washed down with the juice of a TOMATO?
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Supplies:
6 third-sheets of scrap paper per
student | colored markers
Rhyming dictionary | blackboard and
chalk
Oral
language experiences are a great way to instill phonemic awareness in young
students. The thought processes that go into creating a poem are excellent
training.
The
more children practice manipulating words into meaning, fitting syllables into
set patterns, practicing their editing by rejecting words and syllables that
don't fit, and noticing the sounds that the alphabet letters make, the better
set up they will be for decoding text - which we call "reading" -- and
"encoding" their own ideas - in other words, writing!
Plus,
reading aloud in rhythm and rhyme is just a whole lot of fun. And that's an
important "gateway" for young kids' learning progress.
Here's a fun activity involving a familiar nursery rhyme
that is easy to adapt for one child or a classroom. It may help you a lot to
have a rhyming dictionary on hand for this:
Jack Dumps Jill For (Your
Name Here)
1.
Cut blank sheets of paper in thirds. Give each child six of these
third-sheets.
2.
Let each child write his or her first name on one sheet with colored
markers. Children should keep the markers and blank sheets on hand.
3.
As a group, recite the beloved nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill." If
students don't know it by heart, you can write it on the blackboard:
Jack and Jill
Went up a hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
4.
Now, as a group, for each student, rewrite "Jack and Jill," replacing
"Jill" with the first name of each of the children. You will have to change the
storyline of the poem, and come up with new rhyming words, but that's the fun
part!
5.
Let's say you start with a boy named "Jake." He comes to the front with
his sheets and a marker. The whole class recites:
Jack and Jake . . . (on cue, Jake lifts up the paper with his name)
6.
Now, on the blackboard, list as a group the words that rhyme with
"Jake." It's easy to follow alphabet order to come up with this list: ache,
bake, cake, fake . . . etc.
7.
Let Jake try first to come up with a second line of the poem with the
right number of syllables to fit the rhythm and a last word that rhymes with
"Jake." If he can't think of anything in a few seconds, open it up to the whole
class. This process shouldn't be difficult or stressful - poetry is supposed to
be a little bit of work and a lot of fun!
8.
Remind the students to keep the rhythm the same - don't add an extra
syllable or "beat," or you'll destroy the rhythm.
9.
Suppose the agreed-upon second line turns out to be "They baked a cake."
Now Jake writes the word "cake" on a blank sheet of paper and plans to hold it
up on cue.
10.
The class recites:
Jack and Jake
They baked a cake. . . .
11.
Now it's time for the third line of the poem. The children can use their
imagination for what's going to happen with this cake or how it is all going to
be tied together in just three more lines. Instruct them that it's a good idea
to come up with a third line that is somewhat easy to rhyme, to leave their
options open for the last line.
12.
Let's say they want the third line to be:
And spread some frosting on it. . . .
13.
Jake should write "on it" on a blank sheet of paper, and should lift
that sheet up on cue. So now the class recites:
Jack and Jake
They baked a cake
And spread some frosting on it. . . .
14.
Now for the fourth line: students should be thinking of how they are
going to wrap up this short poem in just three more lines. Now is the time to
list words or phrases that rhyme with "on it" - not many here:
bonnet, sonnet
15.
A "bonnet" is a visually humorous item, especially in the context of a
boy named Jake. So a little gentle humor might be in order, if Jake is the kind
of student who can laugh at himself. Ask him if he could think of a way to link
a bonnet to this poem. The next two lines have to set up the last one. The next
two lines rhyme with each other, while the last line should rhyme with "on it."
So maybe something like this:
'Twas Jake's birthday
And so, to play,
He wore a baby bonnet!
16.
Note the contraction of "It was" into "'Twas" - with a single apostrophe
representing the missing "I" in "It" -- a helpful shortcut for light verse, to
keep the rhythm in sync.
17.
Again, Jake would write the word "day" on a sheet of paper (not the
whole word, "birthday," since only the last syllable is involved in this
rhyme), and hold it up on cue, and then write the word "play" for the
second-to-the-last line. Finally, he would write "bonnet" on the last scrap.
18.
Now the whole class recites the finished poem, and Jake holds up the
rhyming words on cue:
Jack and Jake
They baked a cake
And spread some frosting on it.
'Twas Jake's birthday
And so, to play,
He wore a baby bonnet!
19.
This is a fun "icebreaker" or daily creativity exercise, if you don't
have time to do a short poem for each student all at the same time.
20.
Note that some students have unique names that are very difficult to
rhyme. If so, let the student select another name - perhaps their middle name
or an easy-to-rhyme name that they like - so that they can participate and have
the poetry spotlight during their turn.
