Teach children English
through poems, songs
and games
四川省教育科学研究所
付春敏
2012. 9
体验活动1：听力练习
The Incy Wincy spider
Do you enjoy the game?
Do you listen carefully?
◆Poems, songs and games produce a
positive live feeling. This is a great
motivator.激发动机
◆ They present a wide range of
learning opportunities. 创造学习机会
◆ They are often rich in cultural
references. 富含文化信息
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韵律帮助学生练习发音，并认知拼读规则
有趣的角色，情节帮助学生理解词句
大量的语言重复帮助学生记忆
工整的语言帮助学生理解句子结构，学习
语法结构
Support for phonetic development
韵律帮助学生练习发音，
并认知拼读规则
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Poems, rhymes, chants and songs could be used
to give a feeling for the rhythm of the spoken
language. Many well-known rhymes make use of
the iambic pentameter, the natural rhythm of
the English language
A sailor went to sea,
To see what he could see.
But all that he could see,
Was the deep blue sea.
Coffee, coffee
coffee, coffee
chocolate cake and chocolate
biscuits
chocolate cake and chocolate
biscuits
Fish and chips
Fish and chips
Fish and chips
Soup!
Good night moon!
In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture ofThe cow jumping over the moon
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And there were three little bears
sitting on chairs
And two little kittens
and a pair of mittens
And a little toy house
And a young mouse
And a comb and brush
and a bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was whispering
“hush”
Match the rhyming words
bears
Balloon
room
chairs
kittens moon mittens
House mouse
Mush hush
brush
air
where
Goodnight moon
 Goodnight cow jumping over the ____
 Goodnight light
 And the red b_______
 Goodnight bears
 Goodnight c______
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Goodnight kittens
 And goodnight m_________
 Goodnight clocks
 And goodnight s________
 Goodnight little house
 And goodnight m________
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Goodnight comb
 And goodnight brush
 Goodnight nobody
 Goodnight m______
 And goodnight to the old lady
whispering “___”
 Goodnight stars, goodnight air
 Goodnight noises everywhere
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Provision of meaningful
vocabulary
＊Words in songs and rhymes are
meaningful to the learner, which
influences the acquisition in a positive
way.
＊interesting characters
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Jack Spratt
Jack Spratt could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean;
And so between the two of them,
They licked the platter clean.
Lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy Jane,
 She wants a drink of water,
 So she waits and waits and waits
 And waits for it rain.
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＊meaningful conflicts
Tiny Tim
There was a little turtle,
His name was Tiny Tim.
I put him in the bathtub to see if he
could swim.
He drank up all the water,
He ate up all the soap,
And now he is in the bathtub,
With a bubble in his throat.
Bubble, bubble, pop!
＊relate to the real world of the
students they are aimed at
 Rain,
rain, go away,
 Come again another day.
 Little Johnny wants to play.
 Rain, rain, go away.
The Incy Wincy spider
Went up the water spout,
Down came the rain and washed the
spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all
the rain
And the Incy Wincy spider
 Went up the spout again
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The Incy Wincy spider
Went up the tree,
Down came the snow and made the
spider freeze.
Out came the sun and melted all the
snow
And the Incy Wincy spider
 Had another go.
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＊Therefore poems and rhymes
stick in the learner's mind and
the words and expressions used
are memorized more easily.
＊surprise value
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty
had a great fall
All the king’s horses
and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty
back to its place again
One thing at a time
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Work while you work,
Play while you play.
This is the way
to be cheerful and gay.
One thing at a time,
And that done well,
Is a very good rule,
As many can tell.
体验活动2：
One potato, two potato,
 three potato, four.
 Five potato, six potato,
 seven potato, more.
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Five Little Ducks
5 little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mommy (daddy) duck called
quack quack quack,
But only 4 little ducks came back.
(but no little duck came
wondering back. )
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Ten little elephants are standing in a row.
Ten little trunks are waving “Hello!”
One elephant says “Time to go.”
Nine little elephants are satanding in a row.
……
One little elephant is standing in alone.
One little trunk is waving “Hello!”
This elephant says “Time to go.”
No more elephant is satanding in a row.
2. How to apply
poems and chants in
English teaching
Keep moving
多维度感官参与认知活动
动作、手指操
绘图、填色
手偶表演、角色扮演
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Songs and rhymes stimulate the hemispherical
interaction. Busy with songs and rhymes the
left hemisphere (vocabulary, structure of the
language) and the right hemisphere (rhythm,
feelings, mimic, gesture, senso-motoric etc.)
work together and make learning more
effective.
体验活动2：歌曲与手指操
The Incy Wincy spider
The Incy Wincy spider
Went up the water spout,
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the Incy Wincy spider
Went up the spout again
＊action
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
 turn around.
 Teddy bear, teddy bear,
 touch the ground,
 Teddy bear, teddy bear,
 go upstairs.
 Teddy bear, teddy bear,
 say your prayers.
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Two little black birds sitting on a hill
One named Jack, the other named Jill.
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill.
Come back Jack, come back Jill.
Finger play
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Here is the kitchen, and here is the door.
Open the door, and see them all.
Close the door, and hear them play.
Open he door, an they all run away.
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------ from English This Way, Book 7
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Ten Little Fishes
Ten little fishes were swimming in a school,
Preschoolers hold up ten fingers and then make
swimming motions with their hands. For the rest of the
lines, wiggle each finger in turn.
This one said, "Let's swim where it is cool."
This one said, "It's a very warm day."
This one said, "Come on, let's play."
This one said, "I'm as hungry as can be."
This one said, "There's a worm for me."
This one said, "Wait, we'd better look."
This one said, "Yes, it's on a hook."
This one said, "Can't we get it anyway?"
This one said, "Perhaps we may."
This one, so very brave, grabbed a bite and
swam away.
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Yellow
Yellow is a lemon
Yellow is a star
Yellow is the sun
In the sky so far
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Red
Red is an apple
Red is a rose
Red is the color of
My frozen, icy nose!
 Purple
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Purple is a grape
Purple is a plum
Purple is my favorite juice
Shall I get you some?
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Guessing game:
Betty, betty, look at me.
How many fingers do you see?
＊ Songs and rhymes provide many
possibilities for constant repetition
and revising as important
mechanisms of the language
acquisition.
Four little elephants are standing in a
row,
Four little trunks are waving “Hello”.
One elephant said “time to go”,
Three little elephants are standing in
a row.
A was an apple pie
A was an Apple pie;
B bit it;
C cut it;
D dealt it;
E ate it;
F fought for it;
G got it;
H had it;
J joined it;
K kept it;
L longed for it;
M mourned for it;
N nodded at it;
O opened it;
P peeped in it;
Q quartered it;
R ran for it;
S stole it;
T took it;
V viewed it;
W wanted it;
X, Y, Z, and all wish'd for a piece in hand.
1.2.3 Teach grammar through poems
and chants
Grammar chants use repetition to
engage the right side of the brain's
'musical' intelligence. The use of
multiple intelligences can go a long
way to helping students speak
English 'automatically'.
SOME TEDDY BEARS
Some teddy bears are tiny,
Some teddy bears are tall,
Some teddy bears are big and round,
And some teddy bears are small.
Some teddy bears are woolly,
Some teddy bears are rough,
Some teddy bears have shaggy fur,
And some are balls of fluff.
Going to St. Ives
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits,
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
In a dark, dark wood,
 there is a dark, dark house.
 In the dark, dark house,
 there is a dark, dark room.
 In the dark, dark room,
 there is a dark, dark case.
 In the dark, dark case, there is
a ……
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1.3 Poems, chants and songs are
often rich in cultural references.
Songs and Poems are important elements of
each culture. Learning this authentic material
pupils get to know parts of a foreign culture.
Flour of England
Flour of England, plum of Spain,
Met together in a shower of rain.
Put in a bag and tied with a string,
If you tell me this riddle,
I’ll give you a ring.
(a plum pudding)
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Where have you been?
I’ve been to London town to
visit the queen.
What did you do there?
I’ve frightened the mouse
under her chair.
2.1 Using poems to develop
receptive skills
＊Active listening is crucial for students to
be able to get a feel for the rhythm and
sounds of a poem - more so than for most
pieces of prose.
2.1.1 Active listening
＊Listening with visual
aids
 pictures
 Teacher’s gestures
Jack and Jill
Went up to the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling
after.
2.1.1 Active listening
＊Check
 discussions
 quiz
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E.g.
Underline the words
with the sound /ɑī/
ocean eye sky fly eagle
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Blue
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Blue is the ocean
Blue are my eyes
Blue is the sky where
The lonely eagle flies.
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2.1.2 Active reading
＊Don't get stuck in literary analysis
＊ Draw attention to useful syntax, grammar and
vocabulary
＊ beware of common poetic conventions like
inverted word order
＊ feed in ideas and vocabulary if necessary
＊ give brief feedback on language used
FOR WANT OF A NAIL
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost:
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a nail.
2.2 Using poems to develop
productive skills
2.2.1 Keep learners speaking
＊Show some pictures to introduce the topic,
and then get students to think about their
personal knowledge or experience which
relates to this topic.
＊ Predict endings to verses
2.2.2
Help learners speaking
＊The echo principle
It means that the students as a group imagine they
are an echo in a mountain wood, a valley etc. The
teacher shouts a sequence and the students repeat
the teachers sequence. It is expedient to build up a
longer structure from its end.
＊ The snowball principle
The snowball principle means that the teacher
says a sequence. The students repeat that
sequence and the former ones in chorus.
2.2.3 Writing activities
A poem can spark off some wonderful
creative writing. Students can add more
lines or stanzas individually or in pairs or
groups.
＊the disappearing text
This is the alligator
He sits on a log.
Down in the pool
He sees a frog.
In goes the alligator
Round goes the log.
Splash! Goes the water
Away swims the frog.
This is the _____
He sits on a ____.
Down in the pool
He sees a _____.
In goes the _______
Round goes the _____.
Splash! Goes the water
Away swims the ____.
This is the _____
He ____ ___ a ____.
Down in the pool
He _____ a _____.
In _____ the _______
Round ____ the _____.
Splash! _____ the water
Away _____ the ____.
This is the _____
He ____ ___ a ____.
_____ in the _____
He _____ a _____.
In _____ the _______
____ ____ the _____.
Splash! _____ the _____
_____ _____ the ____.
I’ve been working on the railroad
all the living long day
I’ve been working on the railroad
just to pass the time away
Can’t you hear the whistle blowing
Rise up so early in the morn
Can’t you hear the captain shouting,
“Dinah, blow your horn”.
Dinah, won’t you blow your horn?
I’ve been studying in the classroom
All the live long day
I’ve been studying in the classroom
Just to pass the time away
Can’t you hear the teacher shouting,
“Jackie, stop dreaming”
Jackie, stop dreaming
Jackie won’t you stop day dreaming…
Down by the Bay
Down by the bay
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say
"Did you ever see a bear
Combing his hair
Down by the bay?"
Down by the bay
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say
“Did you ever see a fly
Wearing a tie
Down by the bay?”
Down by the bay
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say
"Did you ever see a whale
With a polka-dot tail
Down by the bay?"
Have the students generate a new list
of animals.
seal
bat
tiger
fish
bird
camel
Find some words that have the same
sounds.
seal
meal
bat
hat
tiger
letter
fish
dish
bird
word
camel
apple
Find some words that have the same
sounds.
Did you ever see a
seal cooking a meal
bat
in a leather hat
tiger writing a letter
fish washing a dish
bird speaking of a word
camel eating an apple
The end.
Have a nice day.