h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Did you ever recite and perform a poem when you were a child?

Which one? What happened? Any suggestion?

I want that 9 years old children learn by heart some poems in English.

I also want them to dramatize the poems, if possible.

Songs and short plays are also in my mind. I´m looking for them too.

I´m watching Michael Rosen in youtube to select some. The bear hunt is pretty funny.
http://youtu.be/ytc0U2WAz4s

I once wrote and recited a poem about the United Nations on United Nations Day. I listed all the countries, making them rhyme.

Hi Maria

The bear hunt is great isn't it

Can't be much help with teaching resources, I know one poem and it is a nonsense one, The Ning Nang Nong, which you can also sing.

London's burning popped into my mind. It is a song that many primary children learn here and it ties in to history lessons on the Great Fire of London.

It is not too difficult to learn on the recorder etc and is fun to try and sing in rounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbRB6agU_-I

What a charming song! Or, at least, more charming than its subject matter. The great Chicago fire produced "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight." There was a great Boston fire in the late 19th Century, but I don't know of any songs that came about as a result.

Thanks

Theres a vídeo of the Ning nang nong. It,s sung. It,s fun.

Here are some good poems for children:

"Daddy fell into the pond" Alfred Noyes

"Where go the boats" - Robert Louis Stevenson

"Windy Nights" - Robert Louis Stevenson

"Cats" - Eleanor Farjeon

"Halfway down the stairs" - A A Milne

Hi Paul, could have been more depressing like playground games, ring a ring of roses, is none to cheery and I find it a little bit spooky , we also have this clapping rhyme which is a barrel of laughs
My boyfriend gave me an apple,
My boyfriend gave me a pear,
My boyfriend gave me a kiss on the lips,
Then threw me down the stairs.
I gave him back the apple,
I gave him back the pear,
I gave him back the kiss on the lips,
Then pushed him down the stairs.
I kicked him over London,
I kicked him over France,
I kicked him over the USA
In just his underpants.

"A is for Alice, who fell down the stairs.
B is for Boris, assaulted by bears...."

From "The Gashleycrumb Tinies,: by Edward Gorey

I´m writing down your suggestions to check them later.

Muchas gracias!

I'm a brave, brave mouse

Chorus:
I'm a brave , brave mouse
I go marching round the house
And I'm not afraid of anything.
For danger I'm prepared,
And I'm never scared,
Never sacred?
No!
I'm not afraid of anything.

Verse 1
What about a cat?
A cat?
Yes a cat, a big fat cat,
Well except for a cat
I'm not afraid of anything!

Chorus: I'm a brave, brave mouse

Verse 2
What about a trap?
A trap?
A trap that goes flap!
Well except for a trap that goes flap!
Chorus

Verse 3
What about a man?
A man?
A man to kill a rat he can
Well, except for a man, a trap and a cat!

Verse 4
What about an owl?
An owl?
Yes, an owl on the prowl.

I'm a tiny, tiny mouse, I go hiding in my house...


There are numerous variations of this poem. The original seems to have been written by Betty Misheiker.
I have used this poem in class. It is good fun, you can dress up as mice, cats, etc. The "Chorus" would be spoken by the mice, the verses can be a dialoge between "questioners" and mice or teacher and pupils. You can all act it out, having the mouse/mice march around the class room, having gestures or even dance-like moves. Have fun with it.

Or even use it in Spanish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvQVJG8xP7U

The "Mighty Mouse" theme song is pretty awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X78i13q-atk

Lots of A A Milne's poems are good for this sort of thing. Isn't there one about a king who likes a nice bit of butter on his bread? I've seen that one acted out by a drama group.

'The Highwayman' is probably my favourite poem-by-heart and it's certainly very dramatic - possibly a bit too much for young children though. I have a book of poems to learn by heart somewhere, I'll try to dig it out.

T S Eliot's Macavity the mystery cat - Andrew Lloyd Webber managed to make a entire musical out of those poems, didn't he?

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear. And there was another one I used to read to my children, don't know who wrote it but it started 'Two little kittens, one stormy night, began to quarrel, and then to fight.'

Mol

All of those sound like good choices.