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K-2 Classical Enrichment
Our Recitations
The following is a list of recitations studied, memorized, and recited in Classical Enrichment. Students recite these in large and small groups. A number of them are performed throughout the year at Pillar Assemblies and the Fine Arts Festival. Copies of poems are sent home with students for memorization practice. Homeroom teachers also often use poems during transitions to provide more practice for students.
Kindergarten
AUGUST
Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Jack jump over
The candlestick
Jack jumped high
Jack jumped low
Jack jumped over
And burned his toe!
SEPTEMBER
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn't know where to find them
Leave them alone and they'll come home
Wagging their tails behind them
OCTOBER
Various Nursery Rhymes from Amplify Curriculum
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
The Pine and the Palm by Heinrich Heine
Single fir tree lonely,
On a northern mountain height,
Sleeps in a white blanket,
Draped in snow and ice.
Its dreams are of a palm tree,
Who far, in eastern lands,
Weeps all alone, and silent,
Among the burning sands.
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
I Do Not Mind You Winter Wind by Jack Prelutsky
I do not mind you, winter wind
When you come whirling 'round
To tickle me with snowflakes
Drifting softly to the ground
I do not even mind you
When you nibble at my skin
Scrambling over all of me
Attempting to get in
But when you bowl me over
And I land on my behind
Then I must tell you, Winter Wind
I mind, I really mind!
MARCH
Time to Rise by Robert Louis Stevenson
A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon my windowsill
Cocked his shiny eye and said
"Ain't you shamed, you sleepy head?"
APRIL
Months by Christina Rosetti
January cold and desolate
February all dripping wet
March wind ranges
April changes
Birds sing in tune
To flowers of May
And sunny June
Brings longest day
In scorched July
The storm clouds fly
Lightning torn
August bears corn
September fruit
In rough October
Earth must disrobe her
Stars fall and shoot
In keen November
And night is long
And cold is strong
In bleak December
First Grade
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
Table Manners by Gelett Burgess
THE Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives;
They spill their broth on the tablecloth--
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew;
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a goop. Are YOU?
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
'Til I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--
'Til I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
One Thing at a Time by M. A. Stodart
Work while you work; play while you play.
That is the way to be cheerful all day.
All that you do, do with your might.
Things done by halves are never done right.
One thing each time and that done well,
Is a very good rule as many can tell.
Moments are useless trifled away;
So work while you work and play while you play.
JANUARY
Beautiful
Beautiful faces are they that wear
The light of a pleasant spirit there
Beautiful hands are they that do
Deeds that are noble, good, and true
Beautiful feet are they that go
Swiftly to lighten another's woe
FEBRUARY
February Twilight by Sara Teasdale
I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new laid snow
A single star looked out
From the cold, evening glow
There was no other creatur
That saw what I could see
I stood and watched the evening snow
As long as it watched me
MARCH
Rope Rhyme by Eloise Greenfield
Get set, ready now, jump right in!
Bounce and kick and giggle and spin
Listen to the rope when it hits the
ground
Listen to the clappety-slappety sound
Jump right up when it tells you to
Come back down, whatever you do
Count to one hundred, count to ten
Start to do it all over again
That's what jumping is all about
Get set, ready now,
Jump
Right
Out!
Third Grade
SEPTEMBER
The Crocodile by Lewis Carroll
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!
OCTOBER
Books Fall Open by David McCord
Books fall open,
you fall in,
delighted where,
you’ve never been.
Hear voices
not once heard before,
Reach world through world,
through door on door.
Find unexpected
keys to things,
locked up beyond
imaginings….
True books will venture,
Dare you out,
Whisper secrets,
Maybe shout,
across the gloom,
to you in need
Who hanker for
a book to read.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face by Jack Prelutsky
Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.
Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you'd be forced to smell your feet.
Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.
Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.
Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place--
be glad your nose is on your face!
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
Count That Day Lost by George Eliot
If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went --
Then you may count that day well spent.
But if, through all the livelong day,
You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay --
If, through it all
You've nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face--
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost
Then count that day as worse than lost.
FEBRUARY-MARCH
By Myself by Eloise Greenfield
When I'm by myself,
And I close my eyes,
I'm a twin.
I'm a dimple in a chin.
I'm a room full of toys.
I'm a squeaky noise.
I'm a gospel song.
I'm a gong.
I'm a leaf turning red.
I'm a loaf of brown bread.
I'm whatever I want to be.
And anything I care to be.
And when I open my eyes,
All I care to be
Is me.
MARCH-APRIL
Daisies by Frank Dempster Sherman
At evening when I go to bed
I see the stars shine overhead;
They are the little daisies white
That dot the meadow of the Night.
And often while I'm dreaming so,
Across the sky the Moon will go;
It is a lady, sweet and fair,
Who comes to gather daisies there.
For, when at morning I arise,
There's not a star left in the skies;
She's picked them all and dropped them down
Into the meadows of the town.
Fourth Grade
SEPTEMBER
various Langston Hughes poem
(review "Dreams" from 2nd grade)
Dream Variations by Langston Hughes
To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me—
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.
Harlem by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER
Humanity by Elma Stuckey
If I am blind and need someone
To keep me safe from harm,
It matters not the race to me
Or the one who takes my arm.
If I am saved from drowning
As I grasp and grope,
I will not stop to see the face
Of the one who throws the rope.
Or if out on some battlefield
I’m falling faint and weak,
The one who gently lifts me up
May any language speak.
We sip the water clear and cool,
no matter the hand that gives it.
A life that’s lived worthwhile and fine, What matters the one who lives it?
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Things by Eloise Greenfield
Went to the corner
Walked in the store
Bought me some candy
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more
Went to the beach
Played on the shore
Built me a sandhouse
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more
Went to the kitchen
Lay down on the floor
Made me a poem
Still got it
Still got it
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!
MARCH-APRIL
excerpts from speeches:
Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry
Ain't I a Woman by Sojourner Truth
MAY
***As a cumulative activity for the close of Classical Enrichment, teacher may have students select a poem of their choice that illustrates truth, beauty, goodness. Students would analyze, reflect upon through writing and discussion, and recite for peers.***
Second Grade
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field
Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered,--'snow'
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned,--'frost'
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,--
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
NOVEMBER
Leaves by Elsie N. Brady
How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.
At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
'Til all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow.
DECEMBER
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold onto dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
JANUARY
Buffalo Dusk by Carl Sandberg
The buffaloes are gone.
And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
Those who saw the buffaloes by
thousands and how they pawed
the prairie sod, into dust with their
hoofs, their great heads down pawing
on in a great pageant of dusk.
Those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
And the buffaloes are gone.
FEBRUARY-MARCH
Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield
Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff
Wasn't scared of nothing neither
Didn't come in this world to be no slave
And wasn't gonna stay one either
"Farewell" she sang to her friends one night
She was mighty sad to leave them
But she ran away that dark, hot, night
Ran looking for her freedom
She ran to the woods and she ran
through the woods
With the slave catchers right behind her
And she kept on going 'til she got to the north
With the slave catchers right behind her
Nineteen times she went back south
To save three hundred others
She ran for her freedom nineteen times
To save black sisters and brothers
Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff
Wasn't scared of nothing neither
Didn't come in this world to be no slave
And didn't stay one either
APRIL
Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don't frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn't frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won't cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don't frighten me at all.
That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don't frighten me at all.
Don't show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I'm afraid at all
It's only in my dreams.
I've got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
Life doesn't frighten me at all.