First Son's Third Grade Poetry Memorization

I had planned to finish all of our 2012-2013 posts a long time ago, but of course I got swept up in planning the next year! It's my blog, so you really have no choice but to bear with me. Here's the list of poems First Son memorized in third grade.

• Open Range by Kathryn and Bryon Jackson (found in Favorite Poems Old and New)
• Alphabet Stew by Jack Prelutsky (Poetry by Heart)
• First Thanksgiving of All by Nancy Byrd Turner (Favorite Poems Old and New) - This one took him a really long time to memorize; many of the lines were similar but not quite the same.
• Skyscrapers by Rachel Field (Favorite Poems Old and New)
• Halfway Down by A. A. Milne (Favorite Poems Old and New)
• The Tyger by William Blake (Poetry for Young People: William Blake) - I thought he might struggle with this one because of the vocabulary and the off-rhymes, but he loved it and memorized it pretty quickly.

I offered to record all of his memorized poetry, but he was a little shy on camera. I do have Halfway Down.

I wrote a little about how we memorize poetry in this post. First Son selected at least every other poem he memorized in third grade. I think he enjoys it more when he chooses the poem. If he pulled one right from a book, I would probably allow it, but usually he chooses one from a selection I provide.