The Lovely Rhythm of Words
This afternoon, I had the opportunity to share with early childhood teachers and caregivers at a workshop. My presentation was called “Sing a Song of Childhood.” I presented an alphabetical listing of songs I used in my kindergarten classroom. We learned all of the songs and then the students could ‘Pick a Letter” to sing a favorite song.
The songs also were used by me for a variety of reasons. We sang at transition times, to lead into a new subject. We chose a song when we were waiting for the next activity, P.E. or Music, for instance. I could start a song and know that I would quickly pull the class together after cleanup time or in the morning.
The main intent of using the songs was to help the students learn the rhythm of words. The songs would rhyme or have specific patterns that would teach vocabulary. Think how many farm animals we learned through “Old McDonald’s Farm.” One of our favorite songs was “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” We would drop a word each time through, until we were only singing the three Rows: “Row, Row, Row,” “Row, Row,” “Row.” A fun way to teach them about words, something they heard but might not have grasped yet. Pre-reading skills that hopefully would lead them to be lifelong readers.
What have you shared with your children to help them learn the lovely rhythm of words?
