Poems and Rhymes

Dr. Mary Thomas

Head, Dept. of English
Dr. M.G.R Educational and
Research Institute
At first the poem should be read aloud in
the class

 The students listen to the reading of the poem and try to keep to the rhythym and tone.
 For example if you read the poem by Maya Angelou in the class the students listen first
 Then they comprehend the theme and after they discern the theme they start looking for
words which impress them and learn by rote
 They chart their own thoughts into words that reflect their own aspirations and dreams
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
BY MAYA ANGELOU

 Now lets explore what as english

 A free bird leaps on the back
grammar teachers we can teach
 Of the wind and floats downstream
 First of all tenses, next parts of speech
 Till the current ends and dips his wing
 What tense can we teach from this poem
 In the orange suns rays
 Definitely the present tense
 And dares to claim the skies
 Nouns, adjectives and verbs and adverbs
Language through literature

 From time imemmorial human beings

have tried to express themselves using
language
 These expressive notions of mankind has
been recorded down the centuries as
literature.
 Literature is the expression and language
is the tool of that expression
 Either cannot exist without the other.
 To understand and comprehend
language as it should be understood
students should be able to read literature
 They can start by reading small texts in
newspapers and journalistic writing
OLD KING COLE
 English can be taught in a fun way to
students using rhymes and poems
 Students should be encouraged to recite
poems and rhymes in class
 They should then find out the rhymes
schemes and meanings of words from the
context
 For example if the Rhyme Old King Cole
is recited in class by a group of students
with expression and gusto
 The teacher can ask them for the rhyme
scheme and parts of speech
 The lexical meaning can also be elicited
from the student from the context
TO TEACH THE ESL LEARNER TO IMBIBE A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE

 Old King Cole was a merry old soul and a  THE STUDENTS ENJOY LEARNING THESES
very old soul was he; RHYMES AND UNCONSCIOUSLY MASTER
 He called for his pipe and he called for his THE LANGUAGE EHICH WAS TO THEM A
drum and he called for his fiddlers three VERY FOREIGN TILL THEN