Monday, May 7, 2007

Poetry & Elocution

Writing good poetry is an art.But over the years only some have been appreciated and understood.Here is a list of some poems that I have tried in my four year old teaching career. Our school holds an elocution competition every year. The categories are Group Elocution (where the whole class recites a poem), and individual, where there are three children from each class. Usually in the individual category there are nine contestants, the prize is given to the first two. For the group, only one section from each class is the winner.

I have always strived to get unusual poems. It results in an extensive search at times (I quite like the whole process). I have got them all from books, people, and internet. Ultimately it is the student who has to be trained, it is a challenge at times, as we try to bring in newer students each time, and of course the credit goes to the child who has put forth the piece in an acceptable manner. I am proud to say that several of my students get prizes, but even those who don't, are happy to have been given a chance to participate and represent the class.

Here is the list. (For some poems I could not find the name of the writer.):

1.The Porcupine- Roald Dahl

2.The Three Little Pigs- Roald Dahl

3.Granny's tree Climbing- Ruskin Bond

4. Never Trouble Trouble- Fanny Windsor

5. The Congo- Vachel Lindsay

6. Song of the Sea- Barry Cornwall

7. Cloony the Clown- Shel Silverstein

8. The Louse and the Mosquito- Vikram Seth

9. Somebody's Mother- Unknown

10. The Mystic Weaver- Unknown

11. Carry On!- Robert Service

12. My Kingdom- Louisa May Alcott

13. Mothers of Men- Joaquin Miller

14. It Makes One Think- G.B.Shaw

15. The Law of the Jungle- Rudyard Kipling

16. Hymn Before Action- Rudyard Kipling

17 The boy who did not pass- unknown

18 The silent and the Dark- Meher Dhondy

19. The Cataract of Lodore- By Robert Southey

20. The Schoolboy- by William Blake

21. I Must go down to the sea- by John Masefield

22. The Builders- By Henry W. Longfellow

23. When papa was a boy- By E.A. Brininstool

24. Television- By Roald Dahl


I would really appreciate other choices for poems for elocution, if possible.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

hello mam,do you know dhondy aunty's gurgaon address.i'm an old student of hers.if you have the address,please mail me at azharaok@gmail.com

Varnika Kapoor said...

hi, you will have to disclose your identity for me to tell u her address.....

Unknown said...

The poem-"The Professor" by Nissim Ezekiel is very nice.I said it for an inter-school elocution contest and came second.Also the poem "The Tiger and The Mouse"by Roald Dahl is very nice.

Unknown said...

The poem"The Professor" by Nissim Ezekiel is very nice.I had said it for an inter school elocution and had come second.Also,the poem"The Tiger And The Mouse"by Roald Dahl is very nice.

Varnika Kapoor said...

Thank you for your suggestions....

Conni said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Conni said...

Have you ever heard of a poem that begins “Benny and Bunny were two little deers with velvety jackets and stick up ears”? My mother was in grammar school in the late 20s - early 30s in Sayre OK and she remembered that poem, from an elocution class, until she passed away at 97 years. We know almost all of it, but can’t think of a few words. I have a recording of her reciting it a year before she passed, but there are parts we can’t quite understand. Could you help?

Varnika Kapoor said...

Hi Conni,
I will search for this, do not know about this off hand. So sorry for not being able to help. I know the feeling when one cannot remember something which is so closely connected to your heart.