TEACHERS' NOTES
Big Book of Verse For Aussie Kids

The book obviously is a major classroom resource which contains hundreds of poems suitable for researching, learning and reciting at all levels for pupils in primary and junior secondary classes. All ages and ability levels can find suitable verse to recite - from  simple four-line verses to longer ballads.

Other suggested ways to utilize this book for classroom activity include:

1 Acting out -

• There are several ways to do this. Poems can be learned and recited while being acted out by individuals or groups. However, it is often more practical to have some pupils recite or even read the poems while other pupils act them out, either speaking the characters' parts or miming.

• Many of the poems lend themselves to acting out - a few of the best are:

2 Reciting or Reading in parts -

• A further method of presenting the verse is by means of 'dramatic reading' where pupils take parts and become characters while a narrator carries the storyline. Alternatively, pupils can learn a stanza each and recite in turn.

This is an easy group activity and pupils can rehearse and then present the poems to the class. Some suitable poems are:

3 Writing Activities -

• Various types of poems can be used as templates for writing activities. This can be done by 'copying' the form OR the ideas.

• Counting the beats and analysing the rhyme scheme of the many LIMERICKS (there is a section containing only limericks) can lead to and easy introduction to using the rhyme scheme and scansion to write limericks in class.

• Using a section such as 'CRAZY CREATURES' pupils can be encouraged to 'invent' crazy creatures of their own or write poems where creatures have humans characteristics.

4 Scansion and Rhythm -

• Many of the poems have delightful and amusing rhyme schemes which can be used to teach both rhyme and rhythm - reading aloud is the best methos of demonstrating this.

• 'How We Drove The Trotter' p350 by W T Goodge is a clever poem which uses varied rhyme and rhythm to copy the various gaits of a horse.

• 'Tale of A Tooth' by Henry E Horne p172 has a every amusing rhyming scheme. Teachers can tell the class that, before dentists were common, the village blacksmith used to 'pull teeth' that ached.

5 Language and Spelling -

• The entire chapter called 'Fun With Word' leads itself to an examination of how words SOUND and how our English language EVOLVED from various languages to give such INCONSISTENT spellings and pronunciations.

• Teachers might like to explain the sources of English (Celtic German Saxon French etc) and pupils can research how those various languages would have been pronounced centuries ago ('ough' for example in Chaucer).

• Abbreviations can be discussed - many of the poems rely on HOW abbreviations are used for their humour.