Module 2-Perceiving

How Do I Love Thee-Perceiving

Perception Activity:  Familiar song           

           

 As an educator of young children, teaching them how to hear and use language is essential for success.  In Sparks of Genius, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein state, “Initially, all knowledge about the world is acquired through observing, paying attention to what is seen, heard, touched, smelled, tasted, or felt within the body.” (Root-Bernstein, pg. 25)   One of the key components of teaching phonological awareness to children is helping them to hear and manipulate sounds through songs and rhymes.  One of the first activities that very young children often engage in as toddlers is listening to nursery rhymes.  Their flowing melody and rhythm is engaging for children. Using multiple senses to understand nursery rhymes, such as hearing the song, seeing the cute images of children and families going around in a circle gives a sense of joy and security.  Children often happily sing and dance to the tunes.  One such song that has been sung for hundreds of years is Ring Around the Rosy.  Here are the lyrics:

Ring Around the Rosy

Ring around the rosy

A pocket full of posy

Ashes, ashes

We all fall down

The image I have for this song is children standing in a circle holding hands, singing the song as they rotate in a circle, while at the end they “all fall down” giggling.  This is based on my own experiences from my own childhood, to singing it with my own toddlers, as well as using it in my classroom.  Happy children and happy times, right? 

Perception Activity:  Re-imaging

            Now let’s think about the song differently.  I had to force myself to really stop hearing the melody of the song.  I needed to close my eyes and stop seeing and hearing the children’s happy voices and faces.  I forced myself to only read the words, not sing, but read the words and their meanings.    What was a rosy? Is it a beautiful flower?  Why put posies in your pocket?  Did ashes and falling down mean something other than children collapsing to the ground in a fit of giggles? 

           There is controversy about its origins and meanings.  With a bit of research on the web I was able to view this song’s meaning through a different lens.  The images that I found were disturbing.  The song originated in the late 1300’s when the Black Plague had taken over Europe.  Now imagine the song being sung with visual representations that are dark and disturbing.  Hearing the same song, but with pictures of red rings around red bumps, disease, and death gives one a very different feeling other than happiness.   See link for a different interpretation of this song.  (http://www.scaryplace.com/ringaround.html)

Perception Activity:  Final Thoughts 

Using the ideas of observing and imaging, allows me to view the concept of phonological awareness and more specifically the topic of nursery rhymes, differently.  Though phonological awareness is about hearing sounds through syllables, rimes, and phonemes, the art of observing can deepen one’s understanding of the process. Visualizing nursery rhymes can be just as important as hearing them.  Children can hear the rhymes and sing along happily, but when you take the music away and simply look at the words, a different kind of learning can occur.  One can “see” or visualize the context of songs, viewing the words, interpreting their meanings, and conjuring images to fit the text.  Learning about the history of songs gives a deeper understanding and appreciation.  Besides making a visual interpretation of the song, children may also use the text (i.e. letter identification, sight word identification, etc.) to further acquire the skills needed for future ability to read.

References:

Root-Bernstein, R. & M. (1999).  Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the

           World’s Most Creative People. Houghton Mifflin Company:  Boston & New York

Website: Definition for Phonological Awareness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_awareness

Website: The ScaryPlace  http://www.scaryplace.com/ringaround.html

Pictures for video:

Picture 1:  “Ring a Ring o’ Roses.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2 Jan. 2011. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o’_Roses

Picture 2:  Energy Burrito: http://www.energyburrito.com/a-ring-around-the-rulings/

Picture 3:  “Black Death.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

Picture 4: Boccaccio--The Black Death Comes to Florence

http://fathertheo.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/boccaccio-the-black-death-comes-to-florence/