Recitation or Interpretive Reading

This post was originally written February 25, 2008.

Recitation or Interpretive Reading achieves several things.  It helps you to learn to read aloud with feeling and meaning, clarity and volume and to practice making good eye contact when speaking.

Each term my children have one poet they study and each week they are given a new poem to practice.  They are to read this poem aloud with feeling, practicing clarity as well.  Then once a week we get together and have Poetry Tea.  Julie at Brave Writer gave me this idea.

I make a few snacks along with some tea, of course, and that’s it.  It’s not fancy, although a few times I went out of my way to do something extra special.  My kids enjoy it; they get to eat (a big thing for boys) and it’s something different in their day.

As we hear the various poems from all age levels, I like to think that we’re training our ear to appreciate the different types of poetry.  I don’t always understand what they’re reading,  (I have a hard time understanding Shakespeare for instance.) but I still think it doesn’t hurt to stretch yourself.

Justus, my 4yos, loves to be a part of our tea too.  Since he cannot read he recites the few memory verses he knows.  He is all excited to be able to do this and jumps up and down when it’s his turn and for this reason he usually goes first.  We all clap when he’s finished.  (He probably claps for himself, too, now that I think about it.)

I forgot to mention that I do tell the children that this is a good time to practice being good listeners and to be respectful of those speaking by looking at them and not getting up to go get something in the middle of someones poem.

This boy of mine has no trouble with expression and being dramatic.  When he reads from the book of James about the tongue and how ‘it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.’ it fairly causes you to shiver.  He actually reminds me of the minister on Pollyanna when he preaches.

However, he wasn’t reciting from James on this day.

Do you think it is important to practice recitation?  How do you practice it in your home?