Runny Babbit – our very enjoyable poetry study

Just wanted to share with you all – we have been reading Shel Silverstein’s book Runny Babbit this term and it has developed into a wonderful experience.  This book was published after Silverstein’s death from the Runny Babbit poems and doodles he made throughout his life.  The poems go something like this (here is a video with a poem read aloud with animation and the text of the poem as well).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNsknn_tH74

Here is how we are studying this:  

My 11yo dd reads the next two poems to herself, and chooses which one of the two she wants to read aloud to us.  She reads over that one a couple of times until she feels comfortable with the pronunciation and then she reads it aloud.  We are working our way through the book.

Yesterday she wanted to read both poems aloud!  My 7yo ds was laughing out loud at the poems and my daughter was struggling to read them because she was laughing so much.  They both have really gotten into Silverstein’s word play and even the 7 yo will often translate phrases into “runny babbit talk.”  

I think this book has been really good for improving reading skills, pronunciation, and enuncuation.  I am so glad we tried it!  We liked it from the beginning, but the longer we go on, the better it gets.

If you are looking for a modern poet or some light and fun poetry study – try Runny Babbit!