PR-6216IRE Reading For Success - Book 1

Fluency
Reciting nursery rhymes – 1
Although most children beginning school are not yet reading, children this age have extraordinary
memories. Make use of their interest and ability to memorise by using nursery rhymes to model language
and fluency.
By teaching pupils nursery rhymes or other simple poems, children are exposed to the rhythms and
patterns of language. Nursery rhymes and poems also encourage correct phrasing and timing when
recited. Initially, adults can model the nursery rhymes and poems for pupils. Most pupils easily pick up
nursery rhymes. An additional benefit of using nursery rhymes and poetry is the ability to locate materials
and books easily.
Nursery rhymes are especially important for young children to learn. First, many children growing up today
are not familiar with traditional nursery rhymes. These rhymes are often referred to in other types of
literature. Familiarity with the traditional rhymes will encourage comprehension when the rhymes or
reference to rhymes are encountered in other contexts. Second, most nursery rhymes are short and easy
to remember, even if they are new to pupils. It does not take very many repetitions before pupils begin
chiming in to recite the rhymes as well. Third, nursery rhymes rhyme. This sounds obvious; however, the
rhymes assist with memorisation, as well as provide additional reinforcement to concepts such as rhyming
words and other concepts of print. Finally, due to the sing-song nature of nursery rhymes, pupils are
taught phrasing skills. To prove this point, take a nursery rhyme with which the pupils are familiar and try
to recite it with inappropriate phrasing. For example:
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet sat/
On a tuffet, eating her/
Curds and whey along/
Came a spider who sat down beside/
Her and frightened Miss Muffet away.
Viewing sample
Pupils who are familiar with the nursery rhyme will instantly know that the poem has not been recited with
the proper phrasing. Use this to teach pupils about proper phrasing when reading or reciting text. Other
simple poems that pupils can learn easily can be used for the same purpose of fluency instruction. There
are a wide variety of poetry books available with some excellent poems.
Traditional nursery rhymes can be used for fluency instruction. Some are provided on pages 91–102. Make
copies of a poem for each member of your class. See page 90 for additional ideas on how to use these
nursery rhymes for literacy and fluency instruction.
Reading for success 88 Prim-Ed Publishing – www.prim-ed.com