Having Fun in the English Classroom with Nursery Rhymes

Many academic studies have concluded that learning is successful for beginners when there is play and fun incorporated in the daily lessons. In my ESL classes with Kindergarten and Primary School learners, we always take advantage of using their favorite songs in our lessons. It is very effective to use nursery rhymes in developing their early language skills in phonics, spelling, pronunciation, reading, and writing basic sentences. With music, we are free to explore our voices, melodies, and rhythms. We form stronger bond in the classroom and have fun while learning more.

Creativity in designing lessons that utilize nursery rhymes is key. It does not start and end with simply singing these songs. We do arts and crafts to extend the characters in the songs, we move around the classroom to make the song lovelier and more alive, and we look for clues in the songs that help us learn…