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    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
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nursery rhymes old and new: listening, learning and comparing

home / early literacy / rhyming / nursery rhymes old and new: listening, learning and comparing
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nursery rhyme old and newWe’re on a crazy nursery rhyme kick over here.

But instead of sticking to our more modern nursery rhyme poems and calling it a day, we branched out a bit from our nursery rhymes 2.0, the Mary Had a Little Jam, by the amazing Bruce Lansky.ย ย  We upped the fun factor and added a little piece of comparison.

We looked at traditional nursery rhymes–the not always happy and cheerful and sometimes actually a little nutty nursery rhymes–from books I had when I was a child.

Old school nursery rhymes which might not sound like a big deal to you but when your kids are raised on mostly Mary Had a Little Jam and you give them the no-frills nursery rhymes, straight-up The Real Mother Goose, you’re in for a little shifting.

Wide-eyed, Maddy, Owen, and Cora listened to the sounds, learned a bit, and compared these powerful little poems.

And though yes, a little shell-shocked, it was a really worthwhile look at nursery rhymes old and new.

Here’s the skinny. . .

  • Nursery Rhymes Old and New– Listening, Learning, and Comparing: Like I said before, we had been on a real Nursery Rhyme kick.

So when I added two books to the mix, Mother Goose Rhymes by Platt & Monk and The Real Mother Goose, by Blanche F. Wright, the kids were naturally curious.

I didn’t say much.

In fact, all I did was color coordinate sticky notes between books, and I left them in a pile.

I put hot pink sticky notes on “There Was an Old Woman” in both books, I included as many colors as I could, matched up poems, and I let them go.

nursery rhyme old and new

nursery rhyme old and new

The O-man checking out the old–and new–nursery rhymes.

And after bath, when I noticed Owen reading the old nursery rhyme book, I said, Oh Owen, did you match up the sticky notes? I linked the poems by color–find the hot pink ones in each book and let me know what you think.

He opened the books and searched for the poems.ย  He looked at the page and then looked up at me.ย  Mom, why’d this old woman whip her kids? What’d they do?ย  I mean, was she trying to hurt them? Or were they bad?

nursery rhyme old and new

I said, Owen, I’m not sure. Let’s read it again.ย  We read it together. And we talked about what broth is and how even though it’s not true–it’s just a story–that it’s still not a pretty picture of hungry kids and a nasty old woman.ย  And then we read the ‘new’ nursery rhyme.

I like this one a whole lot better–it’s funny. And nicer,ย  he said.

I know–I have to agree, I said. This is the book of rhymes I had when I was little, and though some are funny, a lot are kind of . . . not so funny. And I wondered the same thing when I was your age.ย  When Aunt Mary found this book for us, the new one, I was like so happy I think I danced around the house.

nursery rhyme mice

nursery rhyme old and new

Let’s look at some other ones.

By this time, Maddy and Cora had joined us. We read a bunch of them:

  • Three Blind Mice
  • Mary Had a Little Lamb
  • Humpty Dumpty
  • Peter Peter
  • Little Bo Peep
  • London Bridge
  • Yankee Doodle

nursery rhyme old and new

The kids were speed-flipping through the pages of the book in order to find the poem’s ‘match’.

We laughed, re-read, and listened to the sounds in each poem.

We talked about the similarities–and differences we heard in each.ย  And we talked about how and why the authors made the decisions they did.

  • Was the old poem trying to teach a lesson?
  • Which illustrations did we prefer–and why?
  • How many years ago was each poem written? (We used the copyright for each book.)
  • Was the poem funny? Memorable? Silly?
  • What did we like–or dislike–about each poem?

nursery rhyme old and new -

 

Not for every one, mind you, but a few here and there. And we had fun with it–which is why, I’m sure, for the next few nights the kids argued over who got to read the nursery rhyme books before bed.

So cool, if I do say so myself.

And it only took a teeny, tiny amount of effort in matching up the poems, riding the wave of something the kids were already interested in: nursery rhymes.

Who knew that a 9, 7, and 6 year old would enjoy them so much?ย  I may bring out a few more oldies but goodies in the next few days. . .

I just finished reading “Let Me Tell You a Secret: Kindergartners Can Write!” by Amanda R. VanNess, Timothy J. Murnen, and Cynthia D. Bertelson in this month’s issue of The Reading Teacher. ย I learned a ton from their article and case study, and what it made me realize is that even young children, emerging readers, can do well with confident, supportive teachers.

Cora, though only in Kindergarten, was holding her own in our little nursery rhyme right-bef0re-bed-analysis, listening to Owen and Maddy and adding her own insight to our discussion. It’s exciting. And amazing.

Moral of the story? Let’s bring it on–even for our little guys. They may be ready–but we’re just not always letting them have it.

 

fyi: Huge thanks to the following books for coming in handy for the last few days: Mary Had a Little Jam by Bruce Lansky;ย  Mother Goose Rhymes by Platt & Monk; and The Real Mother Goose, by Blanche F. Wright.

Affiliate links are used in this post.

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

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For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

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(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

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Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

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So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
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How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
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Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
View
Open
Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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