Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization [Teacher's Manual & CDs]

Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization provides a system to reintroduce you and your students to a vital but often neglected source of powerful and sophisticated linguistic patterning available to children: memorized language, especially memorized poetry.

This teaching tool includes a book with ninety-six poems and speeches as well as all the poems and speeches read on CD (also comes with MP3 downloads) for ease of memorization. Instructions, memory charts, certificates, and poet biographies are included, as well as a complementary Student Book as an e-book download. You will also receive a bonus DVD of Andrew Pudewa's conference talk Nurturing Competent Communicators.

Given the linguistic and cultural benefits of memorizing poetry, this resource may be one of the best uses of your available school hours. Recitation of memorized poems can easily be done away from a desk—classroom teachers can encourage students to practice at recess, in the car, and with their parents and siblings at home; teaching parents can play the CD during meals, car trips, or chore time. Memorizing new poems gets easier in direct proportion to the number of poems already learned; in other words, the more you have learned, the faster you can learn more.

The audio CD recordings included with the packet will facilitate learning through repetition so that students can master poems quickly and accurately. Be sure to read the introduction to this book frequently to be reminded of the importance of poetry memorization for the linguistic development of children. "Memorization is not only natural for young children, it is culturally powerful and educationally essential."