I am a firm believer in children memorizing poetry. It is not only a gift of language and learning, but also of BEAUTY. And the best thing about memorizing poetry? It is one of the most simple things you can do with children!
As a child, I memorized My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson. This simple poem has remained with me my entire life. Maybe you have a similar poem that stayed with you, too.
Through my children’s homeschool years, I was sure to include poetry memorization in their education. The easiest time to practice anything we were memorizing was Morning Time. Perhaps the favorite poem that stuck with us was Teddy Bear by AA Milne.
Now that my children have graduated, I still enjoy reading poetry. I especially enjoy children’s poetry, probably because of memories of my mother sharing poetry with me as a child and the memories I made sharing poetry with my own children.
As it turns out, I’m in good company with my belief that children should memorize poetry. According to Susan Wise Bauer,
…memorization builds into children’s minds an ability to use complex English syntax and stocks the language store with a whole new set of language patterns.
Beautiful poems are such simple gifts we can give our children! I’d like to suggest three poems that your children can easily memorize - and these can be used with ANY age of child (or adult!).
Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize
Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
“Dust of Snow” was published in the Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of poetry New Hampshire. Frost uses a conventional ABAB rhyme scheme and omits adjectives or adverbs in the poem. This style elucidates the simplicity of the everyday occurrence: a crow taking flight from a tree branch; but, most importantly, Frost shows how such an innocuous action has gravity for the narrator, giving him “a change of mood.” Frost’s uncanny ability to elicit deep-meaning with colloquial and basic language is in full display in this poem.” (source)
I love the ABAB rhyming pattern and the lack of adverbs and adjectives. Kids might enjoy trying to write their own poem in the same manner.
The North Wind Doth Blow by Tasha Tudor (Traditional Mother Goose)
Tasha Tudor’s books have long occupied a place in my heart. I vividly remember this poem from my childhood (see what a gift poetry is?).
The poem is a very simple Mother Goose nursery rhyme which Tasha Tudor included in a 1944 collection. I have included the first “verse”, but there are actually five in case you want to memorize all of them.
Snowflakes by Linda A. Copp
This contemporary poem presents such beautiful imagery of snowflakes.
If I were still teaching music in elementary school, I would set out triangles, shakers, sand blocks, and a host of xylophones and metallophones to help children develop an accompaniment for this poem.
How to Memorize a Short Poem with Children
We always kept it simple when memorizing poetry:
Display the printed poem (If you memorize many poems during the year, consider hanging them all in one place. You’ll be amazed at how accomplished children will feel, challenging themself to memorize the poems on the wall, fridge, door, etc…! )
Read the poem together several times each day.
Use the poem as copy work. (Maybe you want to make more of a lesson out of the poem, too - but I believe a beautiful poem can stand by itself, so don’t put pressure on yourself to turn it into a big lesson!)
Eventually, your children will begin reciting the poem from memory.
Keep track of the poems you memorize and periodically review them so your children don’t forget them!
Download the Winter Poems PDF printable, which includes all three poems.
I’d love to know if you memorize poetry with your children. Or, maybe you have a favorite poem from childhood. Share it with me in the comments below!
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