Bringing Nursery Rhymes to Life A Read to Succeed Professional Development Presented by Elandriel Lewis February 22 – 26, 2016

Today’s Goals: To understand why nursery rhymes are important. To explore new ways to teach nursery rhymes using movement. To develop new activities to teach nursery rhymes using movement. To have fun and connect with other members of the RTS team!

Brain Smart Start Unite Connect Disengage Commit

Think-Pair-Share Turn to a partner and share the following: Do you think nursery rhymes are important? Why or why not? How do you teach nursery rhymes in your classroom? Group discussion

Knowledge of nursery rhymes is one of the most important predictors of future literacy success.

In a survey of 12 studies of 5,000+ preschoolers nursery rhymes were found to have a strong relationship to both phonological and print-awareness success.

Introducing nursery rhymes to young children can influence later literacy-related abilities, especially among children with disabilities.

Some research has shown that if children know eight nursery rhymes by the time they are four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight.

Nursery Rhymes Build Literacy Skills Rhyming Alliteration Rhythm Word Order Grammar Combining Sounds to Make Words Nursery Rhymes… Are fun. Their repetition and silliness allow for easier memorization. Promote reading comprehension by developing listening comprehension Are often sung, which helps prepare a child’s ear, voice, and brain for language.

There is a problem… Few parents today engage their children in nursery rhyme activities because: They don’t view them as having educational value They view them as “old-fashioned” They are embarrassed to recite them to their children.

Only 50% of the youngest generation of parents know all the words to traditional nursery rhymes.

Early childhood educators play an important role in promoting: The use of nursery rhymes within their classrooms Parent understanding of the importance of nursery rhymes for their children’s emergent literacy skills.

Nursery rhyme activities are most effective when they are interesting and engaging to the child. The best advice is to actively engage the child in nursery rhyme activities that seem a part of routine play.

Adding Movement to Activities Builds… Finger Plays Clapping Games Full Body Drama Dramatic Play Transition Times Focus Fine Motor Skills Gross Motor Skills Literacy Skills Social-Emotional Skills

Let’s Explore!

Let’s Create! Break into groups of 2-3. Choose a nursery rhyme Create activities for your nursery rhyme Finger play Clapping game Full body drama Transition time Repeat with another nursery rhyme Group Share

Before we close… A Call for Read to Succeed Success Stories The 2016 Circle of Support Resource Guide for early childhood educators in Davidson County Can be found at http://itrails.org/circle-of-support/ Designed to be useful to MNPS and community early childhood educators in preparing students for entry into Metro Nashville Public Schools

In closing… Nursery rhymes are fun and effective ways to boost literacy success Reflection Forms Use nursery rhyme activity in the classroom and report back on the reflection form Reflection forms are due to ICs by Friday, March 11th What new ways can you find to teach nursery rhymes?

Resources Blythe, Sally Goddard. (2011). The Genius of Natural Childhood: The Secrets of Thriving Children. Early Years (Hawthorne House). Burns, Martha. (2010). The Speech and Language Connection: The Nursery Rhyme Effect (Part 1). http://www.scilearn.com/blog/speech-and-language-nursery-rhymes Burns, Martha. (2010). The Speech and Language Connection: The Nursery Rhyme Effect (Part 2). http://www.scilearn.com/blog/nursery-rhymes-as-a-teaching-tool-for-young-children Dunst, C. J., Meter, D., & Hamby, D. W. (2011). Relationship Between Young Children’s Nursery Rhyme Experiences and Knowledge of Phonological and Print-Related Abilities. CELL Reviews, Volume 4(1). http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/cellreviews/cellreviews_v4_n1.pdf.