The Sound of Words: An Introduction to Poetry

Overview

Anyone who has ever read the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll aloud cannot help but smile. The smile does not necessarily come from the story of the poem, which is actually quite gruesome. The smile comes from the silliness of the words. The pure nonsensical joy of the poem comes alive somehow when it is heard. The silent reading of the poem may have its charms too, I suppose, but only in the full grandeur of its oral expression does "Jabberwocky" encompass all the things I love about poetry for young children; it includes wonderful sound; intriguing, silly, nonsensical words; remarkable rhymes; and inescapable rhythm.

Here, as beautifully illustrated in the first two stanzas, you will see what I mean:

    "Twas brillig and the slithy toves
    Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    And the mome raths outgrabe.
    Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
    The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
    Beware the Jubjub bird and shun
    The frumious Bandersnatch!"1
  

I ask you to disregard the advice of Lewis Carroll in his brilliant poem; rather than succumbing to the urgency of his caveat to "shun the frumious Bandersnatch"² I ask that you suspend your sensibilities, embrace him, and explore the sounds, rhymes, and pure nonsensical joy of poetry for young children.

This unit is designed to introduce poetry, in its various forms, to first graders. The students in my classroom are between the ages of five and eight years old. They begin the school year with varying degrees of emergent literacy skills, with the majority on the pre-primer level or lower. My school is culturally diverse, with an approximate demographic of 76% African American, 20% Hispanic, and 4% Other. It is also a Title I school where 93% of the total enrollment receives free or reduced lunches. Many of the children have limited access or exposure to literature in any form, other than when they are in school. Although this unit focuses primarily on first grade, many of the ideas and activities, as well as the poems and books on the reading list, could be easily adapted for both older and younger children.

To increase the adaptability of the unit, I have provided an annotated reading list of both teacher resources and books of poetry which I have used in developing the unit activities. The poems and books are so engaging, I can think of many ways that older students could use them - either in a "stand-alone" activity in their own classroom or in partnership with a primary class.