Friday, November 21, 2014

Forget-Me-Nots Poems to Learn by Heart


Poetry anthologies are a great way to introduce students to a wide variety of poems and poets, and Forget-Me-Nots Poems to Learn by Heart selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Michael Emberley is one of my favorites.

This collection gathers a wide swath of both well-known and new poems, with a focus on poems that would work well for memorization. The book even includes an overview about poetry and poetry memorization, along with some useful tips and advice.

This is a book I turn to every April for National Poetry Month. In addition to Poem in a Pocket Day (April 30 for 2015), I also have students choose and memorize a favorite poem during that month. Kids love the challenge of memorizing a poem and enjoy hearing others share and perform.


I also love that this anthology includes some poems to support poetry memorization. I often use the poem above to introduce the idea to students (another great one is "Keep a Poem in Your Pocket" by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers from Pocket Poems). It's amazing the thoughts and ideas that they have to contribute when you start a conversation about poetry and the benefits of memorizing poems.

Do you memorize poems?

I still remember a performance of Lewis Carroll's "The Jabborwocky" by my sixth grade teachers that inspired me to memorize that poem way back when. And I still have it with me!

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is being curated by Becky at Tapestry of Words. See the whole list of hosts at Poetry Friday by Kitlitosphere.

2 comments:

  1. Memorizing poetry is a wonderful way for kids to experience the richness of language. I will have to get a copy of this anthology to use in my April poetry presentations (I already use Pocket Poems!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Becky. I share both of the Pocket Poems books with the kids too, but I love this anthology for including so many "classics" along with newer poems as well.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...