13. Use of Rhymes for Ecological Awareness

Ms. Vishu, a fourth semester student of the MA Degree course of the University of Kerala,   made her first ever seminar presentation  at the  at the International Seminar  on Innovative English Language Teaching organized by the Centre for English Language Teaching, University of Kerala and the Government College For Women, Trivandrum on 26^th  July 2010.

 The following  are notes prepared  during the presentation.

The PowerPoint  presentation had the following lines from Wordsworth as  the first content slide:

One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man,

Of moral evil and of good

Than all the sages can.

-The Tables Turned (1798)

From notes prepared  during the presentation:

*Environments/seasons  shape the temperament of individuals. So it is important to help children have a better understanding of nature and its elements. One way of doing it is to include pictures of seeds, plants, trees, flowers etc in the text book.

*Another way is to use rhymes.Given below is one such rhyme:

If I were an apple

And grew on a tree

I think I’d drop down

On a nice boy like me

Giving nobody joy

I’d fall down at once

And say, “Eat me, my boy!”

*Rhymes also illustrate appropriate social roles. For instance, they can kindle love for animals and other living beings. They can also help develop moral responsibility to protect Mother Nature.