Every Time I Climb A Tree

By Heidi Alida Dørmænen 

I have chosen the poem Every time I climb a tree by David McCord (Paschen, 2005). I am going to give a short introduction to the theme and characters in the poem, before I discuss how the poem can be used in relation to the competence aims in LK06.

The poem is written with a single speaker in 1^th person. The poem is about a boy or a girl who tells the story about when he or she climbs a tree. The theme of the poem is very typical for children, and it is easy to understand what it is about. I think the students could benefit from working with a poem like this, because they could relate to the person and the story in the poem very easily.

In the National Curriculum for Knowledge Promotion in Primary and Secondary Education and Training, LK06, one can find several competence aims in English concerning literature and poems. I have chosen to focus on three of the competence aims that the students are suppose to accomplish after their 4^th year.

·      Find similarities between word and expressions in English and his/her own native language.

·      Understand the main content of nursery rhymes, word games, songs, fairy tales and stories.

·      Participate in presenting nursery rhymes, word games, songs, short plays and stories in English. (Utdanninsdirektoratet)

The poem consists of several transparent words, which gives the students an opportunity to find similarities between English and their own native language. Some of these words are tree, leg, knee, bee, egg, things, good. The use of these transparent words can also make it easier for the students to get a felling of what the poem is about before they start to analyze or translate the poem. When the students begin to analyze the poem, it is possible to differentiate the tasks to the group of students after their levels, if that is needed. Some of the students could look after words ending in the same way, and that makes rhymes in the poem, while some students could look after particular characteristics for different types of poems.

Reading a poem can be done in many different ways. As mentioned over the poem consists of rhymes, and these rhymes can help making the reading of the poem more interesting. For instance it could be a good idea to begin with choral reading of the poem. With choral reading the teacher can make sure the entire group of student get a chance to hear how the word is pronounced correctly. The length of the poem is not so long, and since it consists of three stanzas, the students have a chance to memorize the whole poem, or at least one of the stanzas. Then they have the opportunity to play with where to pace, pause, pitch, the power of their voice, emphasis, and also the inflection if they make a performance out of their poem (Gamble, 2013, p. 238).

Sources:

Gamble, N. (2013) Exploring children’s literature. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Paschen, E. (red.). (2005) Poetry Speaks to Children. Naperville, Illinoise: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Utdanningsdirektoratet, National Curriculum for Knowledge Promotion in Primary and Secondary Education and Training: http://www.udir.no/kl06/eng1-03/Hele/Kompetansemaal/kompetansemal-etter-4.-arstrinn/?lplang=eng (sourced 17.09.15, kl.14:03)