Learning English through sharing rhymes

 

Rhymes are a valuable way to introduce the sounds of a language and practise speaking in a fun and motivational way. Read this article to find out more about using rhymes at home with your children.

 

 

 

Using rhymes 

Simple rhymes are thought to be innate in most cultures. From the time young children begin to talk, many enjoy playing and experimenting with sounds by themselves – a precursor to later enjoyment of rhymes. Most seem to have skills and a built-in drive that enable them to imitate the sounds and pick up the language and special rhythms of rhymes.

By playing with the short texts of rhymes, children explore the mechanics of the English language. They find out how language works and become familiar with the relationship between the 44 sounds of English and the 26 alphabet letters – information which helps them when they begin reading to decode the sounds that make up words. The value of this type of language-play with rhymes in early learning is both underestimated and undervalued.

There is a difference between rhymes and simple poems for young children. Rhymes, in general, are short and depend on the melodic use of the voice to recite the text that includes rhyming words, and the repetition of sounds and words in attractive, easy-to-copy rhythms. The traditional and well-known rhymes are sometimes classified as Mother Goose rhymes or nursery rhymes.

Why rhymes?

Rhymes are portable playthings. Parents and children can say them at any time or in any place to change a mood or fill a bored moment with fun. Rhymes need no toy, equipment or even a book to set a scene; they depend on the sound of the voice reciting the language to stimulate play. Some may be accompanied by physical actions, which help to confirm understanding and act as an aid to memorisation.

Young children want to communicate immediately in English and are frustrated that they can’t say what they want. Rhymes give them the opportunity to feel that from the first sessions they can ‘say a lot of English and say it quickly just like adults’. Deep satisfaction that motivates does not come from having fun playing games in English, but from persisting until a defined task, like knowing a rhyme, is successfully completed.

Selecting rhymes

It is important to build up a collection of rhymes (a rhyme bank). To do this, parents should be prepared to introduce one or two new rhymes each week, depending on their length and children’s interests and readiness to learn. Some days children are more receptive to new material and it is important to adjust to these moods.

Rhymes can be found in:

• story rhyme picture books – one rhyme to a complete picture book such as In the Dark, Dark Wood by Jessica Souhami, published by Frances Lincoln
• rhyme anthologies – books with a selection of rhymes and possibly fewer illustrations to support the text such as Number Rhymes to Say and Play! by Opal Dunn and Adriano Gon, published by Frances Lincoln/Mother Goose Sterling Publishers
• traditional rhymes – There are many books of traditional rhymes and nursery rhymes, such as The Ladybird Book of Nursery Rhymes, published by Ladybird

Family members – it is a good idea to learn rhymes already known to family members as it extends sharing and also motivates children to join in.
When collecting rhymes parents need to select those they themselves enjoy, bearing in mind:

• children’s increasing level of English
• children’s developing interests and gender needs – many children enjoy the physical action in:
  Jeremiah, blow the fire,
  Puff, puff, puff.
  First you blow it gently...
  Then you blow it rough. 

• the need to transfer useful language to daily conversation
• the need to include, if possible, some rhymes known to the extended family
• the need to include rhymes with names that can be personalised by changing to family names:
  Diddle, diddle dumpling,
  My son John,
  Went to bed
  With his trousers on.
• the need to include some rhymes that can be extended into family activities or routines:
  I scream,
  You scream
  We all scream for ice-cream!
  What would you like?
  Chocolate, lemon, vanilla or ....
  One is for you/And one’s for me.

There is a wide selection of rhymes to meet most needs:

• Hello or goodbye rhymes

Hi Mary!
How are you?
Fine, thanks.
What about you?

• Action rhymes and finger play rhymes

10 fingers,
10 toes,
2 eyes
And a round nose.

• Rhyme games

Acker Backer, Soda Cracker, Acker Backer Boo!
Acker Backer, Soda Cracker
Out goes YOU!
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four,
Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes, more?
One banana, two bananas, three bananas, four…

• Themed rhymes

Two big apples
Under a tree.
One is for you
And one’s for me.
Rain, rain, go away!
All the children want to play.
Rain, rain, go away!
Come again another day

• Traditional rhymes

Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are.

LearnEnglish Kids | British Council. (2017). Learning English through sharing rhymes. [online] Available at: https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/helping-your-child/learning-english-through-sharing-rhymes [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].