Favorite poems for memorization?

[creekmom]

I'm working on memory boxes for the year and would love to hear some of your favorite poems for kids to memorize. I pasted some of my favorites for little boys below-and yes, they're all about bugs, dinosaurs and monsters! :001_smile:

 

The Sea-Monster’s Snack

Deep down upon his sandy bed

the monster turned his slimy head,

grinned and licked his salty lips

and ate another bag of ships.

 

Charles Thomson

 

Who’s There?

 

If you hear a dinosaur

Knocking loudly on your door,

Through the keyhole firmly say,

“Nobody is home today.â€

If the bell should start to ring,

Tell the beast, “No visiting.â€

If you see there’s more than one,

Turn around and start to run.

 

Max Fatchen

 

Hey, Bug!

 

Hey, bug, stay!

Don’t run away.

I know a game that we can play.

I’ll hold my fingers very still

and you can climb a finger-hill.

No, no.

Don’t go.

Here’s a wall – a tower, too,

a tiny bug town, just for you.

I’ve a cookie. You have some.

Take this oatmeal cookie crumb.

Hey, bug, stay!

Hey, bug!

Hey!

 

Lilian Moore

 

The Lizard

 

The lizard is a timid thing

That cannot dance or fly or sing;

He hunts for bugs beneath the floor

And longs to be a dinosaur.

 

John Gardner

 

The Toaster

 

A silver-scaled Dragon with jaws flaming red

Sits at my elbow and toasts my bread.

I hand him fat slices, and then, one by one,

He hands them back when he sees they are done.

 

William Jay Smith

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

My favorite is "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.

 

Twas brillig and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe,

All mimsy were the borogroves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jub Jub bird

And shun the frumious bandersnatch!

 

He took his vorpal sword in hand,

Long time the manxome foe he sought.

So rested he, by the tumtum tree

And stood awhile in thought.

 

And as in uffish thought he stood,

the Jabberwock with eyes aflame

came whiffling through the tulgey wood

and burbled as it came.

 

One two! One two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker snack

He left it dead, and with its head

He came galumphing back.

 

Hast thou slain the jaberwock?

Come to my arms my beamish boy.

Calooh callay, oh frubjous day!

He chortled in his joy.

 

Twas brilig, and the slithy toves

did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogroves

and the mome raths outgrabe.

The nonsense words really test memory skills and challenge you to discover meaning.

[parias1126]

Love this thread! Could everyone keep adding to it please? :lurk5:

[mhg]

Two that "stuck with me" from childhood:

 

Hey, Bug, stay!

I know a game that we can play!

I'll hold my finger very still

And you can climb a fingerhill.

 

 

THE STEAMDIGGER

Oh, the steamdigger is much bigger than any beast I know!

It snorts and roars like the dinosaurs that lived long years ago.

It crouches low on its mighty paws, and scoops up dirt within its jaws.

Oh the steamdigger is MUCH bigger than any beast I know.

 

Also, there are lots of good ones in the book

Hailstones and Halibut Bones

 

and also check out books by Jack Prelutsky especially

READ ALOUD POEMS FOR THE VERY YOUNG.

 

Best wishes!

 

PS After I posted this I read others' postings. The other Hey Bug is probably more correct, I recalled this one and didn't check it by a book. And, I recall having to memorize Jabberwocky (listed earlier) in 7th grade at ps.

Edited August 9, 2010 by mhg
added at the end

[In2why]

I love this thread. So far we have only done the ole regulars from FLL, so I am grateful to see some whimiscal ones for the boys.

[parias1126]

Anyone have some poems for girls?

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

Anything by Edward Lear, especially his limericks.

 

There was an old man with a beard,

Who said, "It is just as I feared!

Two owls and a hen,

Four larks and a wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!

 

and many, many more!

 

Anything by Robert Louis Stevenson.

 

Our favorites are...

 

Block City

 

What are you able to build with your blocks?

Castles and palaces, temples and docks.

Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,

But I can be happy and building at home.

 

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,

There I'll establish a city for me:

A kirk and a mill and a palace beside,

And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride.

 

Great is the palace with pillar and wall,

A sort of a tower on the top of it all,

And steps coming down in an orderly way

To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.

 

This one is sailing and that one is moored:

Hark to the song of the sailors aboard!

And see, on the steps of my palace, the kings

Coming and going with presents and things!

 

Yet as I saw it, I see it again,

The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men,

And as long as I live and where'er I may be,

I'll always remember my town by the sea.

 

 

 

 

and...

 

The Swing

 

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!

 

 

We also like Eugene Field

 

The Duel

 

The gingham dog and the calico cat

Side by side on the table sat;

'T was half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)

Nor one nor t' other had slept a wink!

The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate

Appeared to know as sure as fate

There was going to be a terrible spat.

(I wasn't there; I simply state

What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

 

The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!"

And the calico cat replied "mee-ow!"

The air was littered, an hour or so,

With bits of gingham and calico,

While the old Dutch clock in the chimney place

Up with its hands before its face,

For it always dreaded a family row!

(Now mind: I'm only telling you

What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

 

The Chinese plate looked very blue,

And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!"

But the gingham dog and the calico cat

Wallowed this way and tumbled that,

Employing every tooth and claw

In the awfullest way you ever saw -

And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!

(Don't fancy I exaggerate -

I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

 

Next morning, where the two had sat

They found no trace of dog or cat;

And some folks think unto this day

That burglars stole that pair away!

But the truth about the cat and pup

Is this: they ate each other up!

Now what do you really think of that!

(The old Dutch clock it told me so,

And that is how I came to know.)

 

Many others but I'm zzzzzzzz. I'll be interested to read others' favorites! :001_smile:

[SilverMoon]

These are favorites of my rising second grade boy. :)

 

The Goops by Gelett Burgess, sometimes called Table Manners.

 

Hopping Frog by Christina G. Rossetti

 

Lickety Lick by May Justus

 

The Little Turtle by Vachel Lindsay

 

A Limerick by Elizabeth Ripley

 

Just about anything by Robert Louis Stevenson

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

Anyone have some poems for girls?

 

The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson (although my dd likes Pirate Story and A Good Play best, probably because of the way she plays with her brothers). :lol: We also love My Shadow.

 

Time to Rise is also great.

 

A birdie with a yellow bill

Hopped upon the window-sill,

Cocked his shining eye and said:

"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head!"

 

Anything from Here's a Little Poem. A favorite...

 

The Early Morning by Hilaire Belloc

 

The moon on one hand, the dawn on the other:

The moon is my sister, the dawn is my brother.

The moon on my left and the dawn on my right.

My brother, good morning: my sister, good night.

 

April Rain Song by Langston Hughes

 

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head

with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

 

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays a little sleep-song

on our roof at night--

 

And I love the rain.

 

Cat Kisses by Bobb Katz

 

Sandpaper kisses

On a cheek or a chin

That is the way

For a day to begin!

 

Sandpaper kisses

A cuddle, a purr.

I have an alarm clock

Covered with fur.

 

 

For beginners...

 

August Ice Cream Cone by Paul Janeczko

 

Lick

Quick.

 

:D

 

Our favorite in the whole book...

 

The No-No Bird by Andrew Fusek Peters

 

I'm the no-no bird,

That's right, that's me.

I live up in

The Tantrum Tree.

 

I'm the no-no bird,

I won't say why

I stamp my feet

And shout and cry.

 

I'm the no-no bird!

I sulk and sing

No! No! No!

To everything.

 

(Great for a bad mood day.)

[kalanamak]

Arthur Guiterman. 1871–

 

50. Strictly Germ-proof

 

THE Antiseptic Baby and the Prophylactic Pup

Were playing in the garden when the Bunny gamboled up;

They looked upon the Creature with a loathing undisguised;—

It wasn't Disinfected and it wasn't Sterilized.

They said it was a Microbe and a Hotbed of Disease;

5 They steamed it in a vapor of a thousand-odd degrees;

They froze it in a freezer that was cold as Banished Hope

And washed it in permanganate with carbolated soap.

In sulphurated hydrogen they steeped its wiggly ears;

They trimmed its frisky whiskers with a pair of hard-boiled shears;

10 They donned their rubber mittens and they took it by the hand

And elected it a member of the Fumigated Band.

There's not a Micrococcus in the garden where they play;

They bathe in pure iodoform a dozen times a day;

And each imbibes his rations from a Hygienic Cup—

15 The Bunny and the Baby and the Prophylactic Pup.

Edited August 9, 2010 by kalanamak

[fhjmom]

My favorite is "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.

 

Twas brillig and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe,

All mimsy were the borogroves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jub Jub bird

And shun the frumious bandersnatch!

 

He took his vorpal sword in hand,

Long time the manxome foe he sought.

So rested he, by the tumtum tree

And stood awhile in thought.

 

And as in uffish thought he stood,

the Jabberwock with eyes aflame

came whiffling through the tulgey wood

and burbled as it came.

 

One two! One two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker snack

He left it dead, and with its head

He came galumphing back.

 

Hast thou slain the jaberwock?

Come to my arms my beamish boy.

Calooh callay, oh frubjous day!

He chortled in his joy.

 

Twas brilig, and the slithy toves

did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogroves

and the mome raths outgrabe.

 

The nonsense words really test memory skills and challenge you to discover meaning.

 

One of my favorites! This was my UIL poetry selection one year when I was in school and I still remember it. I drive DS batty with it!:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

"One Winter Night In August" by X.J. Kennedy is on our list this year.

[helena]

Anyone have some poems for girls?

 

We like

Keep Climbing Girls by Beah E. Richards

There's a book with pics on each page, or you can print it and memorize it that way.

 

Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou

http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/life_mayaangelou.htm

 

I personally love Woman's Work, I had the girls memorize it. :)

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/woman-work/

[crazyforlatin]

No poems to contribute, but thank you so much for this thread. I've totally neglected this area of our study. How about the lyrics in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, specifically the one about reading and watching too much tv? I just bought the book so that we can memorize it.

[golfcartmama]

My kids are LOVING Shel Silverstein right now. "Boa Constrictor" is this week...it's so funny to watch my 4.5 year old recite it!

[SnegurochkaL]

Hi, My daughter was using Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization last year. She had several favorites but my 3.5 old son really loves Ooey-Gooey.

 

Ooey-Gooey

 

Ooey-Gooey was a worm,

A mighty worm was he.

He stepped upon the railroad tracks,

The train he didn't see!

Ooooey-Gooooey!

 

My daughter's very favorite one is My Gift by Christina Rosetti.

 

My Gift

 

What can I give Him

Poor as I am;

If I were a shepherd,

I would give Him a lamb.

 

If I were a wise man,

I would do my part.

But what can I give Him?

I will give my heart.

 

 

 

She also likes Jabberwocky, The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt,

The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

[Snickerdoodle]

What's really funny is when you ask them to recite a poem and they improvise.

 

We've had some "wet the pants" funny improvs here.

[helena]

Some of our favorites:

Jabberwocky

 

Hurt No Living Thing by Christina G Rossetti (she has a lot of nature/bugs/critter type poems)

Hurt no living thing:

Ladybird, nor butterfly,

Nor moth with dusty wing,

Nor cricket chirping cheerily,

Nor grasshopper so light of leap,

Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,

Nor harmless worms that creep.

 

The Last Word of a Blue Bird by Robert Frost

As I went out a Crow

In a low voice said, "Oh,

I was looking for you.

How do you do?

I just came to tell you

To tell Lesley (will you?)

That her little Bluebird

Wanted me to bring word

That the north wind last night

That made the stars bright

And made ice on the trough

Almost made him cough

His tail feathers off.

He just had to fly!

But he sent her Good-by,

And said to be good,

And wear her red hood,

And look for the skunk tracks

In the snow with an ax-

And do everything!

And perhaps in the spring

He would come back and sing."

 

Also, Gathering Leaves by Robert Frost

Spades take up leaves

No better than spoons,

And bags full of leaves

Are light as balloons.

 

I make a great noise

Of rustling all day

Like rabbit and deer

Running away.

 

But the mountains I raise

Elude my embrace,

Flowing over my arms

And into my face.

 

I may load and unload

Again and again

Till I fill the whole shed,

And what have I then?

 

Next to nothing for weight,

And since they grew duller

From contact with earth,

Next to nothing for color.

 

Next to nothing for use.

But a crop is a crop,

And who's to say where

The harvest shall stop?

 

Stopping by Woods is a big favorite around here (maybe #1?)

 

 

Pippa's Song by Robert Browning

THE year 's at the spring,

And day 's at the morn;

Morning 's at seven;

The hill-side 's dew-pearl'd;

The lark 's on the wing;

The snail 's on the thorn;

God 's in His heaven—

All 's right with the world!

 

works byBasho:

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

*haiku is fun, we learned about how a single poem can have many translations.

 

Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field (love her :))

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go;

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, . . . "Snow".

 

Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned . . . "frost"

 

All the sagging orchard steamed with amber spice

But each wild breast stiffened at remember "ice".

 

Something told the wild geese it was time to fly.

Summer sun was on their wings

Winter in their cry!

 

Last one... I was really happy to have found this Canadian poet

In the Shadows by Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go;

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, . . . "Snow".

 

Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned . . . "frost"

 

All the sagging orchard steamed with amber spice

But each wild breast stiffened at remember "ice".

 

Something told the wild geese it was time to fly.

Summer sun was on their wings

Winter in their cry!

 

Least favorite?? Witches Chant by Shakespeare

Darn those dead babies and cut off noses!! What was I thinking???

In my defense, I had read an edited version, and thought that's what I was printing. The kids had been reading it a few days until I realized what had happened.

We looked up a lot of gruesome words to understand what he was talking about. :001_huh:

[Kuovonne]

Are there copyright issues when posting entire poems that haven't entered the public domain yet?

 

When DD was six, it was really cute when she memorized "The End" by A.A. Milne. It's the last poem in "Now We Are Six." It is best memorized when the child is six years old.

[Joyofsixreboot]

My ds is a big Jack Prelutsky fan. I'm on my iPod but his favorite is "The Turkey Shot Out Of Oven".

[kathkath]

Thank you thank you for posting these! I love love love teaching with poetry.

 

WHen I was Lost

Dorothy Aldis

 

Underneath my belt

My stomach was a stone.

Sinking was the way I felt.

And hollow.

All Alone.

 

Keep a Poem in your Pocket

Keep a poem in your pocket

And a picture in your head

And you'll never feel lonely

At night when you're in bed

 

The little poem will sing to you

The little picture bring to you

A dozen dreams to dance to you

At night when you're in bed

 

So...

Keep a poem in your pcoket

And a picture in your head

And you'll never feel lonely

At night when you're in bed.

 

 

 

A fly and a flea in a flue

were caught so what could they do?

Said the fly, "Let us flee!"

"Let us fly!" said the flea,

And they flew through a flaw in the flue.

 

 

 

THE OLD COLD HOUSE

I know a house, an old, cold house

An old, cold house by the sea.

If I were a mouse in that old, cold house,

What a cold, cold mouse I'd be.

[creekmom]

I love reading all your favorite poems! - Some of my favorites for girls...

 

(this one is really for teenage/college girls and was my absolute favorite)...

 

After A While

 

Veronica A. Shoffstall

 

After a while you learn

The subtle difference between

Holding a hand and chaining a soul

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning

And company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn

That kisses aren’t contracts

And presents aren’t promises

And you begin to accept your defeats

With your head up and your eyes ahead

With the grace of a woman

Not the grief of a child

And you learn

To build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow’s ground is

Too uncertain for plans

And futures have a way

Of falling down in mid flight

After a while you learn

That even sunshine burns if you get too much

So you plant your own garden

And decorate your own soul

Instead of waiting

For someone to bring you flowers

And you learn

That you really can endure

That you are really strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn and you learn

With every good bye you learn.

 

Some of my favorites for young girls...

 

IF - for girls

 

 

If you can hear the whispering about you

And never yield to deal in whispers, too;

If you can bravely smile when loved ones doubt you

And never doubt, in turn, what loved ones do;

If you can keep a sweet and gentle spirit

In spite of fame or fortune, rank or place,

And though you win your goal or only near it,

Can win with poise or lose with equal grace;

 

 

 

 

If you can meet with Unbelief, believing,

And hallow in your heart, a simple creed,

If you can meet Deception, undeceiving,

And learn to look to God for all you need;

If you can be what girls should be to mothers:

Chums in joy and comrades in distress,

And be unto others as you'd have the others

Be unto you - - no more, and yet no less;

 

 

 

 

If you can keep within your heart the power

To say that firm, unconquerable "No,"

If you can brave a present shadowed hour

Rather than yield to build a future woe;

If you can love, yet not let loving master,

But keep yourself within your own self's clasp,

And not let Dreaming lead you to disaster

Nor Pity's fascination loose your grasp;

 

 

 

 

If you can lock your heart on confidences

Nor ever needlessly in turn confide;

If you can put behind you all pretenses

Of mock humility or foolish pride;

If you can keep the simple, homely virtue

Of walking right with God - - then have no fear

That anything in all the world can hurt you - -

And - - which is more - - you'll be a Woman, dear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Falling Star

 

 

 

 

I saw a star slide down the sky,

Blinding the north as it went by,

Too lovely to be bought or sold,

Too burning and too quick to hold,

Good only to make wishes on

And then forever to be gone.

Sara Teasdale

 

 

 

 

Flint

 

 

 

 

An emerald is as green as grass,

A ruby red as blood;

A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;

A flint lies in the mud.

 

 

 

 

A diamond is a brilliant stone,

To catch the world's desire;

An opal holds a fiery spark;

But a flint holds fire.

Christina Rossetti

 

 

 

 

 

And these are some that my 5 year old girl will memorize this year:

 

 

 

 

Undersea

 

 

 

 

Beneath the waters

Green and cool

The mermaids keep

A swimming school.

 

 

 

 

The oysters trot;

The lobsters prance;

The dolphins come

To join the dance.

 

 

 

 

But the jellyfish

Who are rather small,

Can't seem to learn

The steps at all.

Marchette Chute

 

 

 

 

Clouds

 

 

 

 

If I had a spoon

As tall as the sky

I'd dish out the clouds

That go slip-sliding by.

 

 

 

 

I'd take them right in

And give them to cook

And see if they tasted

As good as they look.

Dorothy Aldis

 

 

 

 

The Sunbeam

 

 

 

 

See that little sunbeam

Darting through the room,

Lighting up the darkness,

Scattering the gloom.

 

 

 

 

Let me be a sunbeam

Everywhere I go,

Making glad and happy

Everyone I know.

 

 

[FriedClams]

Anything by Frost (I'm from new England....)

I've Known Rivers by Langston Hughes

 

We use Poetry Speaks to Children as a guide - it even has a cd with the authors reading their poems. It's breathtaking and helps with memorizing.

[pqr]

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep,

though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

 

An Irish Airman Forsees His Death

 

 

I KNOW that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;

Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love;

My county is Kiltartan Cross,

My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death.

 

William Butler Yeats

 

 

 

 

William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invictus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OUT of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

 

 

 

 

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

 

 

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

 

 

 

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, of course:

 

If and Gunga Din as well as the Lays of Ancient Rome.

Edited August 10, 2010 by pqr

[helena]

I've Known Rivers by Langston Hughes

Yes!!

:iagree:

[creekmom]

Anything by Frost (I'm from new England....)

I've Known Rivers by Langston Hughes

 

We use Poetry Speaks to Children as a guide - it even has a cd with the authors reading their poems. It's breathtaking and helps with memorizing.

 

 

Thanks for recommending this! I checked it out on Amazon and it looks great!!

Edited August 10, 2010 by creekmom

[Susan in TN]

A poem that we call "The Road" by J.R.R. Tolkien (from "The Hobbit" or LOTR, can't remember)

 

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And wither then? I cannot say.

 

 

Some "Thesaurusoetry":

Scintillate, Scintillate, Glubule Vivific by Dave Arns

 

Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific!

In vain do I ponder thy nature specific -

Precariously poised in the ether capacious,

Closely resembling a gem carbonaceous;

Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific,

In vain do I poinder thy nature specific!

 

 

 

And a longer one, but our favorite -

Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably by Hilaire Belloc

 

(won't write it out here, but you can google it.)

 

I also love the book of poem "duets" - Joyful Noise by Paul Fleishman

 

ALSO second the book Poetry Speaks to Children - we listened/read that on a car trip once and everyone loved it.

[annlaura]

Great thread! The first one we did was "Through the Jungle the Elephant Goes" by Grace Nichols. We also love "Who's There?", "The Toaster", and "The Sea-Monster's Snack." My older son can almost recite "Pelican/Toucan" by Bert Kitchen, and "Alligator" by Grace Nichols. He can only recite chunks, different chunks different days, of this favorite of his - "Question Time" by Michaela Morgan. This fall, I plan for him to memorize "Witch, Witch" by Rose Fyleman. I can hardly wait for all the poems we get to do as the boys get older.

 

I also have boys, but here is a nice one for a little girl:

"Night Flight" by Shirley Hughes

 

Annie flew out of the window,

Bedclothes and cot and all,

And floated around above the ground,

And over the garden wall.

 

And her shadow skimmed over the gardens

And followed her all the way,

As she looked down on the roofs of the town

And the moon shone as bright as day.

[HSMom2One]

This one's easy, and a very sweet poem for kids to memorize. I did myself when I was a wee one and still recite it to myself on occasion.

 

I KNOW YOU LITTLE

 

I know you little, I love you lots,

my love for you could fill ten pots,

fifteen buckets, sixteen cans,

three teacups, and four dishpans.

 

Shel Silverstein

[3littlekeets]

TWENTY FROGGIES

BY GEORGE COOPER

 

Twenty froggies went to school

Down beside a rushy pool

Twenty little coats of green,

Twenty vests all white and clean.

 

"We must be in time," said they,

"First we study, then we play"

That is how we keep the rule,

When we froggies go to school."

 

Master Bull-frog, brave and stern,

Called his classes in their turn,

Taught them how to nobly strive,

Also how to leap and dive.

 

Taught them how to dodge a blow,

From the sticks that bad boys throw.

Twenty froggies grew up fast

Bull-frogs they became at last.

 

Polished in a high degree,

As each froggie ought to be.

Now they sit on other logs,

Teaching other little frogs.

 

and

 

My Shadow

Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;

I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the Sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

Edited August 10, 2010 by 3littlekeets

[3littlekeets]

Oh, and one I cannot find the author to, but had to memorize for Mother's Day when I was in 4th grade, still love and treasure it! My kids groan when I recite it :lol:

 

I Love You!

 

I love you mother, said little Nell

I love you more than tongues can tell.

Then teased and pouted for half the day

Till her mother rejoiced when she went out to play.

 

 

I love you mother, said little John

Forgetting his work, his cap went on.

Then he was off to the garden swing

Leaving his mother the wood to bring

 

 

I love you mother, said little Ann

Today I'll help you all I can

Then stepping softly she took the broom

Swept the floor and tidied the room.

 

 

I love you mother, again they said

Three little children all going to bed.

Now which one do you suppose really loved Mother the most?

[Joyofsixreboot]

This brought back all the snippets of poetry my grandmother used to recite to me, lots of Stevenson and things in German. She only had an 8th grade education but they must have really focused on poetry.

[HLDoll]

We like most things by Robert Louis Stevenson and Shel Silverstein (especially good for silly boys!).

[Underdog]

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

[Momling]

 

My daughter is an Emily Dickinson fan, so her two favorites are:

 

 

 

 

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune--without the words,

And never stops at all,

 

 

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

 

 

and

 

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul!

 

I also like e.e. cummings:

 

 

maggie and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star

whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles; and may came home with a smooth round stone

as small as a world and as large as alone. For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

it's always ourselves we find in the sea

[lejardin]

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

 

This is one of my favorite poems I learned as a young girl. My parents had a lovely paper placemat (when they did those things in restaurants lol) with various labeled drawings of leaves and in the center was Joyce Kilmer's poem. I love to be surrounded by trees and nature and recite this poem to myself...thanks for posting it and bringing back fond memories for me!

[notbefore7]

We just decided to hold off on FLL for my young first grader as we are still working hard on phonics/reading. BUT, I was wondering what poems to memorize. Now i have an ENORMOUS selection! Thanks!

[tweedybird]

I highly recommend Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization from Andrew Pudeaw....lots of great classic and fun poems.

 

Also highly recommend Poetry Speaks to Children, which includes CD with poems read by the poets. You can actually hear Robert Frost and other famous poets reciting their own poems. You can get this book from amazon.

[Narnian]

Great thread! A few of our favorites for memorization:

 

"My Gift," Christina Rossetti

"Barter," Sara Teasdale

"The Months," Sara Coleridge - or the one in Sing Song by Christina Rossetti that begins "January cold desolate / February all dripping wet..."

"Who Has Seen the Wind?," Christina Rossetti

"Little Things," Julia Carney

"Come, Little Leaves," George Cooper

"Silver," Walter de la Mare

"Singing Time," Rose Fyleman

"The Kite," Harry Behn

"Firefly," Elizabeth Madox Roberts

"Paul Revere's Ride," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dragonfly

Florence Page Jaques

 

A dragonfly

Is very thin,

Straight and shining,

Like a pin,

 

With narrow wings

Of stiffened gauze,

And in the air

He likes to pause

 

And look at you

With popping eyes.

He shimmers like

A small surprise.

 

 

The Mist and All

Dixie Willson

 

I like the fall,

The mist and all.

I like the night owl’s

Lovely call—

And wailing sound

Of wind around.

 

I like the gray

November day,

And bare, dead boughs

That coldly sway

Against my pane.

I like the rain.

 

I like to sit

And laugh at it—

And tend

My cozy fire a bit.

I like the fall—

The mist and all.—

 

 

December

Aileen Fisher

 

I like days

with a snow-white collar,

and nights when the moon

is a silver dollar,

and hills are filled

with eiderdown stuffing

and your breath makes smoke

like an engine puffing.

 

I like days

when feathers are snowing,

and all the eaves

have petticoats showing,

and the air is cold,

and the wires are humming,

but you feel all warm ...

with Christmas coming.

 

 

Jump or Jiggle

Evelyn Beyer

 

Frogs jump

Caterpillars hump

 

Worms wiggle

Bugs jiggle

 

Rabbits hop

Horses clop

 

Snakes slide

Sea gulls glide

 

Mice creep

Deer leap

 

Puppies bounce

Kittens pounce

 

Lions stalk--

But--

I walk!

 

 

... and many, many more that I don't have time to list just now.