Recitation for Ages 5-7 (a posting from Lisa Cadora)

Hello! Here is the selection for 5-7s for recitation.

This is a perfect selection for this age because of it's repetitive structure ("to buy him" and "But when she came back"), the meter (duh DUH duh duh DUH duh duh DUH duh duh DUH), and the rhyming last words of the 2nd and 4th lines of each stanza.  All of these, in addition to the rather ridiculous images (a dog riding a goat?!), make it easy to memorize and fun to recite.

Read the entire poem aloud, with expression. Repeat the opening stanza and ask them to listen carefully. What do they imagine when they hear the words? What pictures do they get in their heads? Read it again and stop short of the last words on the 2nd and 5th lines. Can they fill those in? Repeat the stanza again, this time stopping short of the last words on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th lines, waiting on them to supply these words. Finally, read the stanza again and stop short of all last words of each line, waiting for them to supply.

At the end, ask them what they remember of the poem.  Then, read the entire poem again.

OLD MOTHER HUBBARD

Old Mother Hubbard,
Went to the cupboard,
To get her poor dog a bone;
But when she got there,
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

She went to the baker's
To buy him some bread,
But when she came back,
The poor dog was dead.

She went to the fruiterer's
To buy him some fruit,
But when she came back,
He was playing the flute.

She went to th fishmonger's
To buy him some fish,
But when she came back
He was licking the dish.

She went to the barber's
To buy him a wig,
But when she came back,
He was dancing a jig.

She went to the cobbler's
To buy him some shoes,
But when she came back,
He was reading the news.

She went to the tailor's
To buy him a coat,
But when she came back,
He was riding a goat.

The dame made a curtsey,
The dog made a bow;
The dame said, "Your servant,"
The dog said, "Bow-wow."