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

2. 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!

3. Brain Smart Start
Unite
Connect
Disengage
Commit

4. 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

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

6. 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.

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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. Let’s Explore!

16. 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

17. 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
Designed to be useful to MNPS and community early childhood educators in preparing students for entry into Metro Nashville Public Schools

18. 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?

19. 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).
Burns, Martha. (2010). The Speech and Language Connection: The Nursery Rhyme Effect (Part 2).
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).