If you are anything like me, poetry may be a bit bewildering to you. After listening to or reading a poem, you may think to yourself, “Wow! That is beautiful.” It is also quite possible that the word, “What?” popped into your head amidst your confusion.
I have to admit that poetry has not always been my forte. In fact, it still is not. However, I have become much more comfortable with poetry as I have been reading it to my own children. There are many skills that children can learn from poetry. Here are just a few:
Even if you are not comfortable with poetry, as I am still not completely, do not let this awkwardness inhibit you from exposing your child to this beautiful art form. Look for children’s poetry books at the library or visit http://www.storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/index.htm for some wonderful “classics”.
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Written by Laura on November 7, 2011
When children clap in order to find the number of syllables in a word, there is an obvious beat which they create. The sound is methodical, and they often use a monotone voice to sound out the word. You can use this beat to help students practice finding the number of syllables in words in another way as well.
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Written by BRWI Staff on September 5, 2011
Syllables can be a tricky concept for young children to grasp. They are still learning to master one-to-one correspondence, and listening for something you are not able to touch can be very difficult. Here is a game that requires on chalk and an open space outside, and yet it helps children see, hear, and even move to the syllables in a word.
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Written by Laura on July 25, 2011
Once children are able to identify the number of syllables in a word, they can graduate from activities where they are given a word and they determine the number of syllables to a reverse in the steps. Try switching up a previous activity to make it more challenging.
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Written by Laura on July 6, 2011
Most adults can probably remember watching as a child a television program where characters in the show would slide letters of a word slowly together while saying the sounds each letter makes. As the letters slid closer together, the letter sounds were produced more quickly. When the letters were finally together, the word the letters made would be pronounced.
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Written by Laura on June 13, 2011
Most kids have played “I Spy” at some point even in their young lives. However, if your child hasn’t played this game, you may want to play the traditional version a few times before moving on to this slightly more challenging syllable version.
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Written by Laura on May 11, 2011
Breaking words into parts in a major part of learning to decode words once a child is beginning to read. One part of doing that is identifying syllables. Try this game with your child to help him practice identifying the number of syllables in a word.
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Written by BRWI Staff on April 1, 2011
When children first begin to read, they are usually presented with words that are only one syllable, such as “dog”, “cat”, “mom”, and “dad”. However, as their reading skills improve, they will quickly move on to longer, more challenging words. Having a firm understanding of how words can be divided into syllables will help a child break down a word
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Written by BRWI Staff on February 23, 2011
Although identifying syllables in a word is most commonly a listening skill, it can be developed and honed using physical activities as well. Many children may also benefit from being able to “see” the syllables in the word. Both of these concepts can be achieved using the following activity.
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Written by Laura on January 19, 2011
Most lessons with syllables focus on having the child identify what they hear when words are spoken. In this activity, using only a mirror, the child will learn to identify the number of syllables in a word by using their eyes to see how their mouths move.
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Written by BRWI Staff on December 20, 2010
Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence to teach your preschooler the joy of reading and writing.
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