Saturday 7 June 2008

Rhyming Text


I am hoping to spend some time this summer including more children's books on this site as a way of recommending to others and also to catalog more of my favorites. I have such a wide range of interests. I hope some of you with kids can find some good picks. Feel free to post some of your favorites in the reply and I will make this accessible to you too. I am going to try to do some book reviews when I feel the need. But, mostly I want to give people some title ideas to pick up at the library and the bookstore.

I can not believe the amount of research that supports reading rhyming text to very young children. Those children who listen to nursery rhymes have a much greater likelihood of becoming successful readers. Let them memorize that text. Even though they are memorizing it, they are still learning how to read. Don't worry if they are not able to decode words in isolation. Even though memorizing high frequency words is important in first and second grade, don't think it will make your child a more successful reader with the drill and kill. Just listening to their favorite rhymes in a sing song rhythmic way will help them develop an ear for rich language. Let the teachers do the teaching. You, as a parent get to have the pleasure of enjoying reading to your child. And remember, don't stop reading to your child when he learns to read. I still read to my 11 year old every night!

Lemons are Not Red (Pattern Picture Book with cut outs)
Llama, Llama, red pajama
Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama
Here's A Little Poem: A First Book of Poetry Collected by Jane Yolen Illustrated by Polly Dunbar

Try some of these out and let me know what you think. I would love it if you could post some of your children's comments too!

2 comments:

Katie Dicesare said...

Sarah-
I love this book and just read it with my 5 year old. We also read Llama Llama mad at Mama which is second in this series. My school students also love it!! thanks for reminding us of the importance of rhyming text!

mama ritchie said...

Llama llama red pajama is one of our faves. Charlie knows it by heart! I wasn't aware there was a second in the series - off to the bookstore!