Read and Write for Children
Senior 4 · English (Languages)
Read and Write for Children
Lesson 2 of 5
40 min
Let's begin
Long before children can read, they can clap. A rhyme reaches a child through the body first: its beat makes feet tap and hands clap, and its sounds make the mouth want to say them again. The same rhyme can make a child jump about or fall asleep, depending on its rhythm. In this lesson you listen for the rhythm and emotion in four rhymes, three of them more than a hundred years old and one written for this lesson, and then you use the same tools, your voice, pace and pauses, to retell "What Vusi's sister said" to a young audience.
Definition
Key terms
Important
Listening texts: for a teacher or classmate to read aloud
Read each rhyme twice. Listeners close their eyes the first time and tap the beat on the desk the second time.
A. Hickory, Dickory, Dock (traditional English nursery rhyme)
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock;
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
B. From "The Star", Jane Taylor, 1806
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
C. "The Swing", Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses, 1885
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
D. "Market Morning", written by Ganzaa for this lesson
Up with the sun, it's market day!
Mama and I are on our way.
Beans in the basket, salt in a sack,
Down the hill and up the track.Beep! goes a moto, quick as a fly.
Bump! goes a bus as it rumbles by.
Mangoes and avocados, piles of them all,
"Buy from me! Buy from me!" the sellers call.Home in the evening, slow, so slow,
Tired little feet and the sun sinking low.
Mama is singing, soft as the rain:
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, we'll go again."
| To make a child feel… | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| excited, playful | quick light syllables, short lines, exclamations, onomatopoeia | "Beep! goes a moto, quick as a fly." |
| calm, sleepy | slow tempo, long vowels, soft consonants (m, l, s), repetition | "Home in the evening, slow, so slow" |
| wonder | questions, open vowels, images of light and height | "How I wonder what you are!" |
| suspense, then relief | a build-up of short lines, then a release | "The clock struck one, / The mouse ran down" |
A retelling is not a recitation. You may change some words, but you must keep the pattern, the refrain and the ending, and bring them alive with your voice.
| Technique | How | In "What Vusi's sister said" |
|---|---|---|
| Pace | slow for important moments, quicker for journeys | Quicken on "Vusi continued on his journey"; slow down at the wedding. |
| Pause | stop before a surprise or a refrain | Pause before "The egg broke." |
| Volume | louder for alarm, softer for secrets and comfort | "What have you done?" loud; the sister's answer soft and warm. |
| Character voices | change pitch or manner, not into a cartoon | A slow, deep voice for the cow; a worried voice for Vusi. |
| Participation | invite the children to say the refrain | Raise your hand as a signal: "What will my sister…?" "SAY?" |
| Eye contact and gesture | look at every listener; act out small actions | Mime the egg flying at the tree; count the losses on your fingers. |
Worked example
A marked-up passage for performance
Key: / short pause, // long pause, CAPITALS = stress, ↑ voice rises, ↓ voice falls.
Along the way, / Vusi met a farmer / and a COW. // "What deLICious thatch," / said the cow, ↑ "can I have a NIBble?" // But the thatch was SO tasty / that the cow / ate it / ALL! ↓ // "What have you DONE?" cried Vusi.
Why these marks? The pause before "COW" sets up a funny character; the rising voice makes the cow's question sound innocent; the pauses in "ate it / ALL" stretch the moment so children can see the thatch disappearing; the long pause before the refrain lets them join in.
Tip
Let the children finish the line. After the second time through the refrain, stop before the last word and look at your audience. When they shout it back, they are no longer listening to the story: they are inside it.
Warning
Don't rush the ending. Nervous storytellers speed up when they see the finish. The sister's answer is the most important moment of the story; slow down, soften your voice and give it time to land.
"Jabari Jumps", written and illustrated by Gaia Cornwall, read by Sheryl Lee Ralph for Storyline Online (about 8 minutes, 2023). Listen to how she changes her pace and pauses as Jabari's courage rises and falls, and note two techniques you can use in your own retelling.
Prepare a two- or three-minute retelling of "What Vusi's sister said" for a class of P2 children (about seven years old). Mark up two passages as in the example, rehearse, then perform for a group of classmates acting as the children.
| Listener's checklist | Yes / Not yet |
|---|---|
| The pattern and the refrain were kept. | |
| Pace and pauses changed for important moments. | |
| Voices for characters were clear but not silly. | |
| The audience was invited to join in. | |
| The ending was slow and warm. |
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
Which line uses onomatopoeia?
