A Kindergarten Teacher Turns Into A Poet

This teacher writes her own poems when she thinks a poem will do a better job of explaining a concept!

On the occasion of World Poetry Day, Reading Journey by MerryGoBooks talked to Mrs.Poonam Sethi, a kindergarten teacher, in Sophia High School and an after school volunteer in an after-school remedial program for Children With Learning Difficulties at Brindavan Education Trust, Bangalore, India. She becomes a poet, if the subject in hand requires it. While she prepares for her daily lessons, if she feels that a poem will make learning a particular concept easier, she simply writes a poem to suit the subject. She has written poems about libraries, banks, post office on so on…

Reading Journey By MerryGoBooks (RJ): You clearly believe in the magic of poetry in classroom. You don’t stop at using previously published poems, but you go ahead and write them to suit your class. Can you tell us a little more about your approach?

Mrs.Poonam Sethi (PS): Children learn in the order of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The first few years of a child’s learning is at home and it is in his mother tongue. The child is also involved at home with the mother, participating in the chores of daily routine. Involvement at home maximizes the learning and discovering the richness of the mother tongue thus ‘experience’ becomes the foundation for language spoken at home.

Once the child is exposed to school, he is faced with a challenge to learn English, which is the medium of instruction. During the foundation years, oral language plays an important role in expressing feelings, ideas and thoughts and thus he needs to gain fluency in speaking English.

During the foundation years, oral language plays an important role in expressing feelings, ideas and thoughts and thus he needs to gain fluency in speaking English.

Each poem has rhythm, which help the children remember the words it contains, ultimately learning the vocabulary and essential language skills. These poems reinforce the lesson taken in the classroom by way of step-by-step discussion followed by fun filled activities. The poems consist of easy to understand vocabulary and aid the children in remembering the words, and develop auditory and visual memory skills.

Each poem has rhythm, which help the children remember the words it contains, ultimately learning the vocabulary and essential language skills.

I also make sure that every poem is combined with activities which help in reenforcing the concept as well as give opportunities for the children to use the many new words that they have learnt in the poetry session.

RJ: What kind of activities do you come up to make the poetry session more engaging and informative?

Mrs.Poonam: It depends on the poem. For instance for the poem on library, I came up with the following list of points for discussion as well as activities which can be used as a guide by anyone.

• Tell them the importance of reading, to gain knowledge and discover the world.
• Tell the children about the importance of reading, to gain knowledge and discover the world.
• Library is the place where we find an organized collection of all kinds of books.
• Children can use the school library or join one close to the house where they can borrow books to read and return them later.
• Make the children aware that it is not possible to buy all the books that they would like to read.
• Tell the children about the librarian and her effort to get books of all kinds and for all age groups and organize them.
• Tell the children about the Library card and how important it is to have one to be a member of a library.

Activities

• Start a library in class.
• Every Monday, two children get a chance to talk about the book they have read. This may be done by picking lots.
• For younger children mothers can be involved in collecting the books and returning them.
• Take the children to the school library, pick a book and read them a story.
• Make Flash cards with words Library, Librarian, Books Knowledge and use these as sight words for children to read and vocabulary.
• Teach opposites with words that can easily be used in a library environment, like front, behind, up down, thick thin, big small.

Happy Reading!

On Saturdays I go with my mom to the library,

To get a good book to read with a bowl of strawberries.

The collection of books here is much more,

Than you would have ever seen in any big store.

The librarian at the desk has given me a card,

To get a good book that interests me is not hard.

The shelves are full of books of all kinds.

Books in front and books behind,

The children’s section is where I stand,

Here are books that I understand.

I find one in each row,

The information in it will help me grow.

I read about the world outside,

And in the library I love to hide.

The library has books that give you knowledge,

Whether you are a school girl or a boy from college.

RJ: You even did a session on banks for kindergarten children, for which you wrote a poem on your own for banks. Can you elaborate on that session?

Mrs.Poonam: The discussion agenda for this begins with talking about coins or rupee notes which the children would have seen their parents use. That kindles interest in them and then I follow up with the following points:-

• Explain how daddy works hard to earn money for them to go to good school wear good clothes, eat good food and have good toys to play with.
• Ask the children when they get pocket money and from grand parents and relatives, what do they do with it.
• Explain how important it is to save to buy what they want, instead of asking mom and dad for money.
• Tell them about bank where mom and dad save their money. They too can save money in their bank instead of collecting in a piggy bank. Many banks give good deals when children open an account with them, and not only can they save money but they can watch their money grow.
• Explain the meaning of withdrawal and deposit. Make them aware of passbook, chequebook and ATM card. Show them what they look like and how we use them.

The activities I came up for this concept are:

• Create a make shift bank in the classroom. Use cardboard to make notes of different denominations.
• Make one child as cashier. Give money to some children to deposit, some children can withdraw.
• Teacher can take them for a visit to the school bank or children to deposit where as the others can withdraw.
• The children can meet the bank manager to understand the importance of saving and the interest the bank gives if you save money in the bank.
• Vocabulary: Deposit, withdraw, saving, interest, chequebook, passbook.

Money Grows!

I collected money in my piggy bank,

Mom and Dad said “save it in the real bank”.

Dad comes to the bank to open an account for me,

He takes me to the bank manager straight, you see.

For kids he has attractive deals,

He can give me good interest rates he feels.

My thousand rupees will begin to grow,

At the end of the year, I will have a hundred more.

To know deposits and withdrawals, I get a passbook,

He makes an entry for me to have a look.

It is a must to keep money in the bank, he says,

Your family and you should have it for rainy days.

Now like a good child, from my pocket money I will save,

When I need to buy something, from my savings I will take.

Mrs. Poonam Sethi has graciously agreed to share her poems and the corresponding set of activities every week, starting today. These will be published every Thursday. She tells us more about the role of poetry and stories in the classroom in her articles- Role of Poetry In Enabling Children To Read For Pleasure and In Conversation with Mrs.Poonam Sethi.

If you are a teacher or a parent who uses poetry often to teach, Reading Journey by MerryGoBooks, would love to hear from you. Please write to lakshmi.mitter@yahoo.com.