How to Teach for Mother Goose Day

Mother Goose rhymes are rhyming poems that have been written by many different authors and passed down over the years. Writer John Newberry was strongly associated with Mother Goose rhymes when his book "Mother Goose Melody or Sonnets from the Cradle" was published in 1765. Mother Goose Day occurs annually on May 1 and is a chance to teach children about nursery rhymes and the importance of rhyming words. Rhyming reinforces new vocabulary and builds writing and listening skills.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Pencils
• Paper
• Colored pencils or crayons

Instructions

1. Read some Mother Goose rhymes aloud to the children from a book such as "My Very First Mother Goose" by Iona Opie or "Mother Goose Remembers" by May Beaton. You can also access rhymes online (see Resources). Choose "Little Boy Blue," "Pat a Cake," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "The Cat and the Fiddle," "To Market to Market" and others that seem interesting and appropriate. Give the children a chance to read the rhymes aloud too.

2. Go to the Mother Goose Site for Kids (see Resources). Click on the Sing Along link. Have the children listen and sing along to the songs listed ("Three Blind Mice," "The Farmer in the Dell," "Humpty Dumpty," and "Oh Where or Where Has My Little Dog Gone"). Tell them to pay attention to the pattern or way the words rhyme.

3. Go to the Mother Goose Express site (see Resources). Click on and read "The Old Woman and the Shoe," "Little Boy Blue," "Old Mother Hubbard," "Little Miss Muffet," "Humpty Dumpty" and "Hickory Dickory Dock."

4. Ask the children to write a four- to eight-line nursery rhyme based on one of the poems you have read. For example, they may write a poem about Humpty Dumpty falling off a roof or an old woman in the shoe living in a closet or one small room. The poems should use couplets, tercets or quatrains (see Resources). Trying different patterns gives the children practice with vocabulary and writing.

5. Check the children's work for spelling and make corrections. Give suggestions for improvement. Have them rewrite the poem on another piece of paper and illustrate it. Share the finished poems with the class by reading them aloud and looking at the illustrations or drawings.

Resources

• The Real Mother Goose
• Mother Goose for Kids
• Mother Goose Express
• Poetry Forms