Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization

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Poetry Memorization:Developing Linguistic Patterns Through Poetry Memorization (IEW)
by: Andrew Pudewa

Our Price: $65.00
(includes Spiral Bound Book, 5 CDs, 1 DVD)

March 18, 2016

Dear Fellow Writing Teacher, Homeschool Mom or Parent,

Memorized (or by heart) language was a mainstay of education for almost all of recorded history until about 60 years ago, when misguided educationists began to promulgate the idea that memorization, along with other types of rote learning, was harmful to children’s creativity, understanding, and enjoyment of learning. Sadly, as is obvious to any intelligent observer of our culture, children are lacking a consistent source of reliably correct and sophisticated language patterns. 

Excellence in Writing comes alongside to provide a tool to reintroduce you and your children to a vital but often neglected source of powerful and sophisticated linguistic patterning available to children: memorized language, especially memorized poetry.

Although memorizing and reciting daily so many poems may at first seem like a daunting project which will require large amounts of time, consider a few points:

1. Given the huge benefits of memorizing poetry, it may well be one of the best uses of your available school hours.
2. Recitation of memorized poems can easily be done away from a desk – perhaps in the car, while cooking or folding clothes, during a walk, etc.
3. Memorizing new poems gets easier in direct proportion to the number of poems already memorized; in other words the more you have learned, the faster you can learn more.
4. The Audio CD recordings will help you use repetition so that students can memorize poems more quickly and accurately; you don’t have to do it all yourself.

So, although it may seem like a huge undertaking, give this system a try, and read the introduction to this book as often as needed to be reminded of the importance of memorized poetry.

We recently ordered the poetry curriculum, which has been an answer to prayer for me. I grew up reading L.M. Montgomery’s books where the heroines always randomly quote lines of poetry suitable for whatever situation in which they find themselves. I have always held that up as a worthy goal for my boys and myself, but never having studied poetry myself, I didn’t even know where to start. I have made a few starts in the past, but it has always fizzled out. Your poetry curriculum is exactly what I wanted! You have chosen fabulous poems that I’ve never even heard of before (how could I select poems like these if I didn’t even know they exist?), and given us a goal, and (the creme de la creme!) an audio CD with all of the poems read by you!

We listen to virtually nothing else in the car now, and even my Kindergartener memorized the four stanza poem “After the Party” in about a week! (not to mastery level, but he’s got the gist of it) And as an added bonus, when they recite the poems to me, they often use your exact diction and emphases, so they are also being trained to use good expression and vocal modulation!

Your poetry curriculum is a perfect fit for our family, and I love-love-love it! After listening to the poems in the car, my mind feels elevated and refreshed, and my 4th grader often comes home and writes a poem of his own.

-Jamie

This new teaching tool includes:

•  A workbook containing over 96 complete poems with speech a soliloquy recommendations
•  All the poems read on CD for ease of memorization.
•  Instructions
•  Memory charts and certificates
•  Poet biographies
• Complimentary Student E-book
•  If you get the audio CDs, you will also receive a bonus DVD of Andrew Pudewa’s conference talk, “Nurturing Competent Communicators”

Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization provides a system to reintroduce you and your children to a vital but often neglected source of powerful and sophisticated linguistic patterning available to children: memorized language, especially memorized poetry.
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—perhaps in the car, while cooking or folding clothes, or during a walk. 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.”

Sample Poems

LEVEL ONE

The Ingenious Little Old Man 
by John Bennett

A little old man of the sea
Went out in a boat for a sail:
The water came in
Almost up to his chin
And he had nothing with which to bail.
But this little old man of the sea
Just drew out his jack-knife so stout,
And a hole with its blade
In the bottom he made,
So that all of the water ran out.

LEVEL TWO

The Duke of Plaza-Toro
by W.S. Gilbert

In enterprise of martial kind,
When there was any fighting,
He led his regiment from behind—
He found it less exciting.
But when away his regiment ran,
His place was at the fore, O—
That celebrated,
Cultivated,
Underrated
Nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

In the first and foremost flight, ha, ha!
You always found that knight, ha, ha!
That celebrated,
Cultivated,
Underrated
Nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!
When, to evade Destruction’s hand,
To hide they all proceeded,
No soldier in that gallant band
Hid half as well as he did.
He lay concealed throughout the war,
And so preserved his gore, O!
That unaffected,
Undetected,
Well-connected
Warrior,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

In every doughty deed, ha, ha!
He always took the lead, ha, ha!
That unaffected,
Undetected,
Well-connected
Warrior,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!

LEVEL THREE

The Pessimist
by Ben King

Nothing to do but work,
Nothing to eat but food;
Nothing to wear but clothes
To keep one from going nude.

Nothing to breathe but air,
Quick as a flash ‘tis gone;
Nowhere to fall but off,
Nowhere to stand but on.

Nothing to comb but hair,
Nowhere to sleep but in bed;
Nothing to weep but tears,
Nothing to bury but dead.

Nothing to sing but songs;
Ah, well, alas! alack!
Nowhere to go but out,
Nowhere to come but back.

Nothing to see but sights,
Nothing to quench but thirst;
Nothing to have but what we’ve got;
Thus thro’ life we are cursed.

Nothing to strike but a gait;
Everything moves that goes.
Nothing at all but common sense
Can ever withstand these woes.
LEVEL FOUR

The Choir Invisible
by George Eliot

O, may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence; live
In pulses stirred to generosity,
In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
Of miserable aims that end with self,
In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge men’s minds
To vaster issues….
May I reach
That purest heaven—be to other souls
The cup of strength in some great agony,
Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,
Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,
Be the sweet presence of good diffused,
And in diffusion ever more intense!
So shall I join the choir invisible,
Whose music is the gladness of the world.

LEVEL FIVE

Give Me Liberty
From a speech by Patrick Henry (1736–1799)
March 23, 1775

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, “Peace! Peace!”— but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

Still Need More Info?  Check out these samples:

LDP Teacher Book Sample.pdf

LDP Student Book Sample.pdf

LDP Poem/Speech List Sample.pdf

LDP Audio Sample.mp3