Curated OER
The Presidents Song
Remember learning to spell “encyclopedia” by singing along with Jiminy Cricket? How about using a singing exercise to learn the names of the presidents? “The Presidents Song,” includes the names, in order, from Washington to Coolidge....
Curated OER
Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza.
Curated OER
Annotating Poetry
Use text marking and highlighting to explore the structure of a poem. After listening to Allan Ahlberg read "Please Mrs. Butler," learners locate stanzas and patterns on their copy of the poem using the text marking technique. Class...
Curated OER
There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly
Here is an entertaining way to introduce your language learners to several significant grammatical structures. The children’s rhyme, There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, contains examples of noun and relative clauses for the class...
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Animal Noises
The Spanish song, Vengan a Ver Mi Granja, provides young language learners an opportunity to expand their vocabulary. After listening to the sounds, class members name the animals and their habitats, construct puppets of the animals, and...
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Arkansas State Anthem
Does your state have an anthem? Consider using it to launch a study of poetic imagery. Class members research the poet, the history of the song, the images presented, the format, and the tone. Conclude with a class sing-along.
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Using Creative Dramatics With the Teaching of Poetry
Launch your poetry unit in a very dramatic way. Divide your class into groups, and give each group a different poem. After discussing the poem, each group member selects a stanza to study. The group then develops a skit that represents...
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Poetry - Stanzas - I Am Poem
Reinforce the concept that many poems are organized into stanzas, each of which has the same number of lines. The provided instructional activity template asks young poets to craft three stanzas that all begin with the same line and...
Curated OER
Seven Jumps
Your young poets will jump at the chance to demonstrate their understanding of stanzas. Cue up “Seven Jumps,” a track on Michael Herman’s CD, International Folk Dances. Class members move to the music of each stanza and freeze when a...