We also chatted about how sharing rhymes can be a fantastic way for children to learn English. One rhyme that caught our attention was the delightful "Pat-a-Cake." We practiced the hand movements together, turning learning into a playful experience. It was a wonderful way to blend literature genres with language fun!

We mentioned so many fields of this topic. Using rhymes to teach English to young children has several benefits. Rhymes help children explore the mechanics of the English language, become familiar with the relationship between sounds and letters, and decode the sounds that make up words. Rhymes also provide a motivating stepping stone for children who are learning English, especially in the early stages when progress may seem slow. Additionally, sharing rhymes with an encouraging adult can help shy children gain confidence in speaking English. To incorporate rhymes into your daily routine with your children, it has several activities:

 You can start by choosing a few rhymes that your children enjoy and repeating them regularly. You can also use rhymes to teach vocabulary and sentence structure, or to practice pronunciation and intonation.

Rhymes can be incorporated into everyday activities such as mealtime, bath time, or bedtime.

to make rhymes more engaging and memorable for children we should use props and actions.

This day Lilla and Dávid held the first micro teaching and it was about the I’m a little teapot. After the microteaching we sat back to our desks and learned a new song which was the Wheels on the bus. At first were talking about buses in towns ( for example their colors), what happens in buses usually and then we learned the song with movements from cards. For homework we had to make a craft about a red double decker bus and we had to do some research about what are Mother Goose Rhymes. Nursery rhymes verses are spoken or sung by adult to young children. The term of nursery rhyme seems to have been adopted in England in the first half of the  19th century. "Mother Goose" is like a storyteller from a long time ago. People don't know who she really was, but her name is associated with a collection of nursery rhymes and children's stories. The term "Mother Goose" gained popularity in English literature, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The collection known as "Mother Goose nursery rhymes" refers to a wide array of traditional rhymes and stories passed down orally through generations. These rhymes cover a range of themes, from simple counting and playful stories to moral lessons and whimsical tales. Some well-known examples include "Humpty Dumpty," "Jack and Jill," and "Hey Diddle Diddle."

 Then Danica and Vera and me and Taerim held a microteaching. Vera and Danica thaught us a clapping rhyme about “A salir went to sea, sea, sea and me and Taerim taught a nursery rhyme with animal puppets about Old McDonald song.

We took a look at some games for developing sound awareness for example rhyming puzzles, peg a rhyme matching game (you have to clip the peg the pictures at the bottom that rhyme with the one on top), unlock a rhyme (: only the key with the rhyming picture can open a lock), roll a rhyme (you have to roll the picture dice and match the rhyming pictures) and so on.

Kids really enjoy playing with words, especially when they say them over and over. It's like playing with new toys for them. Saying words again and again helps them remember and understand the words better. Rhyming words, like in nursery rhymes, is a special way that helps kids pay attention to how words sound. This is important for learning to read. So, when children repeat words, it's like having fun while learning about the sounds of language. Parents and teachers can make talking with kids more fun by using regular routines and saying rhyming verses together. This not only makes children feel comfortable but also helps them get used to the sounds and rhythms of words. Saying words again and again is like a game that helps kids remember and enjoy playing with language. Nursery rhymes, like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" or "Mary Had a Little Lamb," are great examples. These rhymes often use repetition, rhyme, and alliteration to create memorable and engaging language patterns for children. So, when adults include word play and repetition in everyday activities, it's like turning learning into a playful adventure for little ones.

The game ‘s rule:  

One player is Mr Wolf and Mr Wolf walks slowly. The players walk slowly towards Mr Wolf and shout  “What’s the time Mr Wolf?” Mr Wolf turns around quickly and shouts “One o’clock” Mr Wolf turns around and walks again. The players get nearer and nearer to Mr Wolf. They ask “What’s the time, Mr Wolf?” again. If Mr Wolf shouts “Dinner time!”, he runs after the players and tries to touch one o them,if Mr Wolf touches someone, they are Mr Wolf and the game starts again.

After this game we had two microteaching and we learned the If you’re happy … (it was an action rhyme) song and the One, one,one, one, little dog run (it was a counting and an action rhyme)

Then our professor held a presentation about the cultural and historial references behind raditional English nursery rhymes and we learned some of them (Ring o Roses). Then we took a look on our posters and the topic of poster was how can we want to inform parents in an attractive way about the role and place of nursery rhymes in the children's language development in our billingual kindergarten.

I would like desrcibe these games we had learned this class:

·         Oranges and Lemons

It is often played as a children's game and involves a singing rhyme accompanied by actions. The game is played by forming an arch with the players' arms, creating a tunnel for others to pass through. As the song is sung, the arch is raised and lowered to "catch" a player as they pass through during a specific part of the song. The game typically ends with the last line, where the child caught during the lowering of the arch takes on the role of the chopper for the next round.

The lyrics go like this:

Say the bells of St Clement’s.

You owe me five farthings.

Say the bells of St Martin’s.

When will you pay me?

Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,

Say the bells of Shoreditch.

When will that be?

Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,

Say the bells of Bow

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,

And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.

Chip chop, chip chop, the last man is dead.

·         Queenie, Queenie, Who’s got the ball?

children are standing in a circle. One child, designated as "Queenie," stands in the center with a ball. The other children pass the ball around while chanting, "Queenie, Queenie, who's got the ball?" Queenie responds by naming a person who doesn't actually have the ball. If the named person has the ball, they must quickly throw it to someone else before Queenie can catch them. If Queenie catches the ball, that person becomes the new Queenie.

·         Please Mr. Crocodile:

In this game, children form a line behind a designated player called "Mr. Crocodile." The rest of the children stand some distance away. The children in the line take turns asking, "Please, Mr. Crocodile, may we cross the golden river?" Mr. Crocodile responds with, "Only if you have the magic word." The child then responds with a word, and if Mr. Crocodile approves, they can cross. However, at any point, Mr. Crocodile can say, "Snap!" and try to catch one of the children as they run across the river. The caught child becomes the new Mr. Crocodile.

·         Ladybug, Ladybug…

Children form a circle, and one child is chosen to be the "Ladybug." The Ladybug stands in the center of the circle while the other children walk or skip around the Ladybug. As they move, the children chant the rhyme:

Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home,

Your house is on fire, your children all roam,

All except one, and that's little Ann,

For she crept under the frying pan.

When the rhyme is finished, the Ladybug tries to tag one of the children. The child tagged becomes the new Ladybug, and the game continues.

·         Poison

Children stand in a circle, and one person is chosen to be the leader or "It." The leader points to different participants one by one, saying "1, 2, 3, 4, 5," and so on, until they reach a number they've secretly chosen. For example, they might say "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, poison!" when pointing to a participant. The child who was chosen as "poison" must quickly run away from the circle while everyone else runs away too. The leader tries to tag the child who is running away. If the leader succeeds, the tagged child becomes the new leader. If the tagged child manages to reach the leader's spot without getting tagged, the leader continues for another round.

Cheater, cheater, Pumpin eater

Children form a circle, and one person is chosen to be the leader or "It." The leader points to different participants in the circle one by one while saying the rhyme:

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater,

Had a wife and couldn't keep her.

Put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well.

After saying the rhyme, the leader tries to tag the participant they pointed to before that person can run away. After saying the rhyme, the leader tries to tag the participant they pointed to before that person can run away.

The collection includes poems suitable for kindergarten-age children in a bilingual setting, as well as others meant for your enjoyment and amusement.

I discovered that the rhythmic nature of rhymes helps in developing a child's auditory discrimination skills. Nursery rhymes serve as a cultural bridge, introducing children to the beauty of the English language in a rhythmic and engaging manner. The course highlighted the connection between rhyme, rhythm, and the development of early literacy skills. I learned how rhymes create a foundation for phonemic awareness, a crucial skill for reading readiness. Nursery rhymes are fun and help us enjoy learning language, making us feel good about reading and writing. Learning about their history and culture made me like them even more because they've been loved for a long time.

I gained insights into how nursery rhymes provide a rich source of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions for young language learners. The course emphasized the role of nursery rhymes in promoting social interaction and cooperation among children. I learned how the repetitive nature of rhymes aids in language fluency and comprehension. The course materials and discussions showcased the adaptability of nursery rhymes for diverse teaching contexts. Practical activities, like creating finger puppets for rhymes, made the learning experience hands-on and enjoyable. I understood how nursery rhymes contribute to a child's overall cognitive and emotional development

I also got to know how topic-centered learning is structured. Children will learn most of their subjects by focusing on specific topics. This is good for a few reasons. First, it helps them understand where their learning fits into their own experiences. In language learning, this is super important. Just learning a word by itself doesn't make much sense, and sentences need a context to be clear. Traditional language exercises that don't connect to anything else might have confused students.

The second important thing is meaning. If the topic is interesting and relevant to the children, learning becomes more meaningful. Kids naturally want to find meaning in what they're learning. By focusing on the topic together, they can dive deeper into it, facing more interesting challenges than just doing simple language exercises.

So, topics give children interesting content, a shared context, and a focus on meaning. This gives them a real reason to learn language and to learn in general. They're not just learning language for its own sake but to expand their knowledge in a broader way. Language becomes their tool for discovering, learning more, and understanding the world around them.

This approach has been used in regular primary education for a while. But, in language teaching, sometimes the focus has been more on teaching specific structures or functions without thinking much about how well the children are really learning. Activities often isolate language features, teaching them just for the sake of learning. For most children, language isn't interesting on its own – it's a tool for doing things. They want to use language to communicate, find information, and solve problems.

In short, topic-centered learning is great because it gives a clear context, making learning more meaningful, and it gives children a real purpose for using language in class.

All in all in the Children's Literature course, I learned to love nursery rhymes even more and understand how important they are for a child's language development.

The lyrics:

Hush little baby, don’t say a word,

Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird,

And if that mockingbird don’t sing,

Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring,

 If that diamond ring turns brass,

Mama’s gonna buy you a looking- grass,

If that looking-glass gets broke,

Mama’s gonna buy you cart and bull,

If that cart and bull falls over,

Mama’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover,

If that dog named Rover won’t bark,

Mama’s gonna buy you a horse and cart,

If that horse and cart falls down,

You’ll still be the prettiest little baby in town.

https://youtu.be/f7SbfKBMI9A?si=cKQhwUJKXjUZKV-s

The Weaves:

https://youtu.be/t-f4rAJ8U7k?si=ZhkVRwLVeyYYOWoj

Joan Baez:

https://youtu.be/0_KGYp6Q0e0?si=ROH84XcG5jU6uk6m