How to Teach Poems

Pat a Cake Poem

Research shows a strong correlation between early knowledge of nursery rhymes, songs, and finger plays and a child's success in reading and spelling.  These poems also help children with rhyme, fine motor skills, and rhythm.  Because of their teaching potential, poems are included in each of the 1-5 Year Preschool Curriculum.


Teaching Tips

  • Take the nursery rhymes, finger plays, and songs very slowly at first and wait for the child to do the action before moving on.  This is crucial for the child to learn the poems.

  • Make actions simple.  The younger the child the less actions needed.

  • Make activities interesting - sing or talk in big and little voice, faster and slower, softer and louder, add instruments.

  • Stop songs in the middle to repeat a hard line or action, talk about the meaning, or for whatever reason necessary to help the child learn it.

  • Stop on rhyming words and have the child fill in word.

  • Count the number of times a word is in a song, rhyme, or finger play.

  • Sing throughout the day - just because the child is not singing out loud with you does not mean they are not singing in their head

  • Make sure the child uses his or her pretty voice to sing - yelling is not singing

  • Say the poem or rhyme using different voices - high, low, big, small, etc.

 

4 Year Rhyme Cards

 

Pre-Reading Packets

Give your child or students a head start on pre-reading skills with age-appropriate poems and rhymes that the child will enjoy. 

Learn More

 

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