Nursery Rhymes invite movement and dramatic interpretation, allowing children to personalize meaning and build language concepts and vocabulary. Today my class is meeting an actress who plays Mother Goose. She performs for my students and provides them with opportunities to interact. I think it would be fairly easy to do a similar type presentation as the teacher. Someone could dress up and find a few props, say the rhymes and have the children act them out.
Boys and girls, we are going to have a special presentation today by a woman named Mother Goose. Raise your hand if you have heard of her. Who can tell me something that they know about Mother Goose? Mother Goose is famous for her nursery rhymes. Here is one that I learned when I was very young. Help me say it if you know the words. 1,2 Buckle my shoe. 3,4 Shut the door. 5,6 Pick up sticks. 7,8 Lay them straight. 9,10 A big, fat hen. Start to count all over again.
Later today, I will give you a copy of this rhyme to color and add to your poetry folders. Then you will be able to practice reading it to your families.
During this section, Mother Goose introduces herself and recites a few rhymes, using props to bring better meaning and extending the students' vocabulary. After a few more that she tells, Mother Goose calls a few students up to act out the parts. She coaches them through their actions before she asks the other children to say a rhyme with her.
Once the performance is over, I assign rhymes to each of my table groups. Together, we read each of the rhymes with the purpose of recognizing that Nursery Rhymes are a type of poetry. Some of the rhymes we acted out were "Hey Diddle Diddle", "Jack and Jill", "Jack Be Nimble"
Then, the children practice reading the nursery rhyme that has been assigned to them. Before they perform in front of the whole group, I have the children recite to me. This way I can listen to whether they have the words and phrasing correct and clearly stated.
Now that you have acted with Mother Goose, I am going to have you act out a nursery rhyme with your table buddies. I want to hear you say the rhyme first, before you say it to the whole class. That way I can be sure that you know the proper words.
When each group is ready, I call all children back to the rug area so that we can watcï»¿h the performances. We practice being a good audience and clap politely when each group has finished.
Boys and girls your performances were great! I really enjoyed our time listening to poetry. Since it is not very often that we have guests come to our classroom, it would be wonderful to share what we learned with Mother Goose. I will be giving you each a sheet of paper to write a thank you note to Mother Goose. In your note, you will include three things: 1. A few words of thanks. 2. What you learned from today's experience. 3. What you liked best about her visit or today's activities.
When you have done your best work and put extra effort into making a nice card, I will give them to Mother Goose. She should be able to read your writing and see a nice picture.