Gilda Schindler Sf.Vasile School Ploiesti, Romania Songs and Rhymes in Primary School Classes Each human society is based on poetry and music elements. They can reveal many aspects of its culture: the faith, the relationship between us and our past and ancestors, the anxieties, the hopes and the view of the future. These elements have an immanent power- they can give energy or to change people’s mood. We know that music and poetry occur in all moments of our life, from birth to death. So they have an important role in the process of learning a foreign language, they contribute a lot in developing speaking and listening skills, pronunciation practice. The importance of using rhymes and songs in teaching English as a secondary language in the primary school is huge. Since English is a complicated language with exceptions seemingly to almost every rule of grammar, primary school pupils face a multitude of problems. Advantages of using songs, stories and nursery rhymes in our lessons Using these idioms in our lessons helps a lot. Traditional songs, stories and nursery rhymes in our classroom can create an excellent learning experience. They have a great cultural value and provide the occasion to deal with the cultural background of our lessons. Learnig this authentic material pupils get to know parts of a foreign culture. This can satisfy chindren’s natural curiosity and can increase the desire to learn something new. Being familiar with songs and rhymes in a foreign language, children feel closer to the foreign culture and its language. If they hear the same melody or a similar rhyme they can discover a parallel between their own culture and the foreign one, they won’t be frightenig but interested to study that language and its culture. This is an important contribution to the development of tolerance and open-mindedness. Children grow up with these songs and rhymes and develop their first language by them. They are the first experinced parts of communication in their mother tongue. They like to lisen and react to nursery rhymes. These materials offer an intimate feeling, a special connection with their human environment. The following characteristics also support foreign language acquisition: • Music, rhythm and rhymes produce a positive live feeling • They motivate to learn and be active • They reduce children’s inhibition, even if they don’t understand the words • Rhythm allows a fluent learning of vocabulary and structure All the teachers want high motivated pupils in learning. But their motivation depends on the teaching methods and the teacher’s personality. If we, as ESL (English as Secondary Language) teachers, often use these materials, our pupils become more relaxed, we can offer to our students different forms of organize our class, we provide by them fun and action. It is well known the fact that learning with fun increase the progress of our activity. Even shy or slow learning children are given encouragement by singing and speaking in choir and so they feel able to speak in a foreign folk music can be employed in the same way as children’s rhymes. Words in songs and rhymes are meaningful to the pupil. Later she/he begin to change other parts of the phrase. Macmillan. which influences the aquisition in a positive way. 2009) By using music in our classroom. This is very positive for language learning. use a variety of strategies to learn English. . as a upper stage. In general. stories and nursery rhymes provide the opportunity for students to internalize some linquistis structures. It is useful to observe when children begin to break down a phrase in this way as this is a sign of language development. These are sometimes called chunks of language because they are learnt and used in speech as whole phrases. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. Therefore songs. Songs.10 oct 2010) Children may not have been taught this chunk formally. twinkle. Later they may begin to break down these phrases and recombine the words in new way. I wonder what he is. boys and girls! (Big Bugs 1-Elisenda Papiol. stories and nursery rhymes stick in the child’s mind. boys! What that noise? Sit down. Twinkle. For example. Here. Ana Soberon. little star How I wonder what you are. . Many well-known rhymes make use of iambic parameter. Practising intonation through reciting rhymes and poems is mostly funny and effective. Shrewsbury. Nicole Sonnenberg. they will be more involved and this may increase their desire to continue. 2001). because if children want to continue with an activity for some time. they may be aware of changing the verb according to the subject: I wonder what I am. please! It’a dog! What that noise? Look. in the beginning a child may use only the phrase: I wonder what you are. I see what you are. it will give them more exposure to language input and more chance to practice the language. Singing songs can also help the pupils to learn vocabulary and gain fluency. little star.Simone Luck. Popular. Maria Toth. (British Children’s Songs. For exemple. For the example. I wonder who you are. 2. Carol Read. our pupils have the opportunity to practice their listening skills and increase their cultural knowledge. Nicole Sonnenberg. we can develop an entire activity based upon the chunks discovered in Twinkle.Simone Luck. there is a repetitive linquistic structure: Twinkle. Almost any song can be used in our classroom. Volker Geyer. Sometimes we can vary that boring pronunciation teaching and relpace it by rhythmic chants. They’ve got the ability to make use of ready-made phrases of English.language(Songs and Rhymes in Teaching English at Primary School. If the children enjoy the learning activities. but it helps them to communicate when they have very little language. girls! What is it? Come on. Volker Geyer. 2001). We can help to encourage this by using in our activities songs. Later she/he may begin to realise that this can be combined with other bits of language: Now I wonder what you are. Another advantage of using these kinds of materials in our lessons is the fact that provides support for phonetic development. stories and nursery rhymes. Then I wonder what you are. we use a lot of repetitions in caonversational language. eg I know what you are. Children. They will also develop more positive attitudes towards English as they will associate it with something enjoyable and pleasing. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. in their inner structure. the natural rhythm of the English language (Songs and Rhymes in Teaching English at Primary School. The animals’ chant: Come on. After a while. They give a feeling for the rhythm of the spoken language. Shrewsbury. My fair lady! (British Children’s Songs. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. This helps with listening comprehension. The words the teacher chooses to leave off the page may change depending on the lesson. tell stories. "Old MacDonald had a Farm" is an example of a song that repeats itself. as teachers. b) The children should be encouraged to learn and use English not only during the lessons. Falling down. a copy of the song or rhyme with words missing can be given to the students. Anyone learning the song should be able to memorize the lyrics very quickly. 2. The song can be played and the students can fill in the missing words. The difficulty of the lesson can be changed by the type of song or rhyme chosen and that words are omitted. Traditional songs can also be used in grammar. Old MacDonald had a farm.10 oct 2010) Ways of using songs. so we may encourage. If adjectives are the topic of a lesson. everywhere a moo moo Old Mac Donald had a farm. vocabulary. eee-yi-eee-yi-oh With a moo moo here and a moo moo there Here a moo. falling down. Shrewsbury. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. eee-yi-eee-yi-oh And on this farm he had a cow. the adjectives may be left out of the song or rhyme so a student can fill them in when it is played for the class. The type of animal and the sound each animal makes changes but the rest of the lyrics remain the same. For example.Middle Ages. In the early stages. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. and listening to various songs can help students become more familiar with popular music and make them more confident in their ability to listen and understand the world around them. . Some children shy away from the traditional popular music of a culture because it is difficult (often. This is a well-known traditional nursery rhymes which is found in different versions all over the world. Young learners' interest derives mostly from the pleasure given them by a particular activity. studying the vocabulary. the class to exchange news. and pronunciation exercises. writing. it is difficult to get the learners to use the language for their own needs. stories and nursery rhymes in our activities a) The repetitive nature of most children's songs and rhymes help students learn vocabulary and the rhythm of the language. London Bridge is falling down. London bridge is falling down give us the opportunity to discuss with our pupils some aspects related with a historical period from Great Britain. Practicing lyric reading. 2. compose little plays and imaginary conversations. even for the native speaker) for them to understand the words. London Bridge is falling down.The pronunciation and rhythm lessons are the same as for the children's songs and the lessons may help students become more interested in different types of music. eee-yi-eee-yi-oh (British Children’s Songs. reading and spelling. Songs can also be used to start cultural lessons about particular historical events or traditions in an area of the world. but also during the various activities. when the inhabitants decided to make some bridges over Thames.10 oct 2010) To make a lesson more challenging. there a moo. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. down. (British Children’s Songs. two by two/ The hippopotamus and the kangaroo. when we discuss about antonyms we can use The wise man and the foolish man song. d) Many rhymes and songs are elliptical and too condensed to be appreciated without some introduction. 2. For example.foolish.flat they have to perform something. It can be done at the blackboard or on a handout. The rhyme becomes a summary of a story that the learners understand and enjoy. g) We can use them in order to train the listening skills.My clothes: Now on put my troussers. For example. they can clap their hands. The simplest way of drawing the learners in is to tell the piece as a story first. In his/her introductory story. the teacher can pronounce. the illustrating pictures could be cut out and mixed. Even young learners can fairly quickly learn to write their own jingles. in a deliberately manner. they can stand up or sit down. Shrewsbury. firm. This is a creative way of using these materials and it surely increase the imaginative potential of our students. But something inside me keeps saying ″Not yet. Printha Ellis. The end of the lesson Are These Your Shoes? (Way Ahead 1. The pupils can change the text and to use terms from another theme. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. 2007) may be a good moment for us to use a traditional British song. compare the pictures and notice the differences. some wrong words. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. not yet!″ (British Children’s Songs. 2. After listening. not yet.up. Before playing or singing a song. When they hear it. After they listened to the whole story. leg by leg/ My beautiful scarf and my purple hat. we can relate the content of the song or the rhyme using familiar language and familiar experiences. we ask the pupils to listen for a certain word.10 oct 2010) The original lyrics were: Now in came the animals. we can use in the beginning of our activity one of the songs we’ve studied in a previous lesson: Noak’s Ark. they never get dirty The longer you wear them the stronger they get Sometimes I think I should wash them. A Foundation Course in English. In order to raise the difficulty level of the exercise. Each time they hear these pairs of antonyms wise. If that song or poem tells a story. not yet. They can try to tell the class what they have put in their pictures.Black Socks Black socks. they must raise their hands. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. Mary Bowen. Shrewsbury.c) The learners can also try to compose their own songs and rhymes.10 oct 2010) e) The children can draw or paint their own pictures to illustrate the story and show what they understood. stand/ fall. not yet. they can put the pictures in the right order. The students have to correct these mistakes. singing or reciting the student should find the mistakes or complete the pictures. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. Some of them are with gaps or mistakes. not yet. The wise man built his house upon a rock The wise man built his house upon a rock The wise man built his house upon a rock And the rain came tumbling down! The foolish man built his house upon the sand The foolish man built his house upon the sand The foolish man built his house upon the sand And the rain came tumbling down! . f) Another method to use these materials is to show the children pictures that illustrate the content of a song or rhyme. 2. M. Volker Geyer.10 oct 2010) Teaching English in primary school is always a difficult task. 2. Shrewsbury. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. Stories and Songs in the ESL Classroom-Joy L. Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes. The Internet TESL Journal Bugs 1-Elisenda Papiol.The rain came down and the foods came up The rain came down and the foods came up The rain came down and the foods came up The rain came down and the foods came up The rain came down and the foods came up The rain came down and the foods came up And the house on the rock stood firm! And the house on the sand fell flat! (British Children’s Songs. A Foundation Course in English.10 oct 2010 Songs and Rhymes in Teaching English at Primary School.Simone Luck. jmbrown [at] una. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare the lessons plans. Brown. Shrewsbury. 2009 Way Ahead 1. It’s a great challenge to succed to keep pupils’ attention.Printha Ellis. Carol Read. to give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves during these classes and to love English language. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. 2001 Rhymes.edu University of North Alabama (Florence. We can realise all these aims by using in our lessons songs and rhymes. . to organise the learning activities. Nicole Sonnenberg. Alabama). Macmillan. Mary Bowen. Bibliography: • • • • • British Children’s Songs. 2007 . to select the appropriate materials. Ana Soberon. Jackie Reilly-1 Week course for European Teachers of English at Primary Level. Maria Toth.
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