Nursery rhymes have been a part of childhood for centuries. Spanning the generations, children and adults continue to delight in their poetry and melodies. Educators consider these rhymes traditional literature for music and language instruction. Within this article, the author includes a brief historical discussion of nursery rhymes and writes contemporary music lessons for young children using traditional English verse.
BryantP. E.BradleyL.MacleanM.CrosslandJ. (1989). Nursery rhymes, phonological skills and reading. Journal of Child Language, 16, 407-428.
2.
ChisholmM. (1984). Mother Goose—Elucidated. In BarronP. P.BurleyJ. Q. (Eds.), Jump over the moon: Selected professional readings (pp. 69-72). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
3.
ChoksyL.BrummittD. (1987). 120 Singing games and dances for elementary schools. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
CullinanB. E.GaldaL. (1998). Literature and the child. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace.
5.
ElwesK. T. (1930). The real personages of Mother Goose. Boston, MA: Lothrop, Lee, & Shepard.
6.
JerroldW. (2012). Introduction. In JerroldW. (Ed.), The big book of nursery rhymes (pp. 6-9). London, England: Blackie. (Original work published 1903)
7.
LynnJ. L. (1985). Ruins to ward off sorrow: Rhetoric of the English language rhyme. Children’s Literature in Education, 16, 3-14.
8.
MillerJ. (Ed.). (1860). Mother Goose’s melodies. New York, NY: James Miller.
9.
O’HerronP.SiebenalerD. (2007). The intersection between vocal music and language arts instruction: A review of the literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 25(16), 16-26.
10.
OpieI.OpieP. (Eds.). (1997). The Oxford dictionary of nursery rhymes. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1951)
11.
RobertsC. (2005). Heavy words lightly thrown: The reason behind the rhyme. New York, NY: Gotham.
12.
SendakM. (1984). Mother Goose’s garnishings. In BarronP. P.BurleyJ. Q. (Eds.), Jump over the moon: Selected professional readings (pp. 62-69). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
13.
WhitmoreW. H. (1892). Preface. In The original Mother Goose’s melody with tales: Reproduced in Facsimile, from the first Worcester edition. Boston, MA: Damrell & Upham.