A reader asked about the story boards - I read about this idea in the Summer 2011 issue of TOS in an article titled "17 Creative Ways to Connect with Literature" by Melissa Culver. This is also online here in PDF format. {Yeah for the internet.}
The latest round of memorized poetry at our house includes The Children's Hour by Longfellow (3rd grade), Christopher Columbus (4th), and The Jabberwocky (6th). All are selections from The Harp and Laurel Wreath. I try (and usually remember) to make an evening out of reciting the poems for Dad on a Friday night. Sometimes we get busy and forget, in which case I just video at The Teacher's Desk.
Do you believe an eight year old boy can memorize a ten stanza poem? Sure they can - bit by bit, copying one line a day, one stanza a week. {Yeah for the power of copy work.}
The next clip begs for a little preface.
Here's our Sunshine, entertaining the crowd atop her rock at age three on the occasion of her little brother's 2nd birthday.
This was our first inkling she God made her with a flair for the dramatic. Well, maybe not the first inkling - that came around the age of four months with her wide open smiles.
She has always been a ham. Anyway, enjoy her rendition. Her infectious enthusiasm only ripens as she ages.
And here is Carroll's famous nonsense poem, perfect poetic fare for a courageous and giggly 6th grader.
I just love that MODG incorporates poetry in the curriculum - on so many levels. Poetry infuses vocabulary, rhyme, alliteration, descriptive language, rhythm, meter, patterns, and proportion. By looking up the background of a poem a child also makes connections with culture, history, and geography.
Recitation fosters public speaking skills and confidence. Like music, poetry is a positive contribution even a child can offer to friends, family, or even to an audience of nursing home residents. I can't even begin to explain how we have found poetry memorization to go hand-in-hand with their Suzuki music education. I think Andrew Pudewa can explain this much better that I can do in one little blog post.
Most importantly, a poem (or scripture) memorized by heart is often kept in the heart. It's not like the math worksheets dropped daily into the recycling bin. Poems continue to work in their hearts and minds. They are easily retrieved when seeking comfort, entertainment, connection, or even distraction. Sharing poetry touches the hearts of others, as Sunshine learned when she recited The Village Blacksmith to a real life blacksmith at an art fair. I have never seen a big and burly man so touched (or shocked?) that a little nine year old girl knew that poem.
HE golden-rod
is yellow;
