Usenet Posted 22 years ago
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Any suggestion on reading this poem?
My 4th grade students are gonna read the following poem for our country's annaul verse-speaking competition.
Can anyone give me suggestions in terms of its intonation and stress or even facial expression? I hope my students could appreciate English more if I could take this chance to teach them how to read the poem properly. Also, there are a couple of phrases I don't quite understand. Hope somebody can give me a hand also. Many thanks.
Mrs McPhee
==
Mrs McPhee
Who lived in the South Zeal
Roasted a duckling
For every meal
"Duckling for breakfast
And dinner and tea,
And duckling for supper,"
Said Mrs McPhee
*(These 2 stanzas are simple enough in terms of meaning, but how could i make the presentation more lively? should i make some variation on the line of "and duckling for supper"??)*
"It's sweeter than sugar,
It's clean as a nut,
I'm sure and I'm certain
It's good for me BUT
*(Why would the writer use sugar and a nut to describe the taste of duckling? I don't quite get it.")*
"I don't like these feathers
That grow on my back,
And my silly webbed feet
And my voice that goes quack."
*(any intonaton and stress suggestion here?)*
As easy and soft
as a ship to the sea,
As a duck to the water
Went Mrs McPhee
"I think I'll go swim
In the river,' said she;
Said Mrs Mac, Mrs Quack,
Mrs McPhee
*(This last stanza really gets me: I know Mrs Quack and Mrs McPhee are the same person, but why
would the writer introduce the 3rd person ie. Mrs Mac? It's probably just the casual way of calling
Mrs McPhee. But I don't find it funny at all. Can anyone clarify or even teach me how to bring this poem into
life.)*
Can anyone give me suggestions in terms of its intonation and stress or even facial expression? I hope my students could appreciate English more if I could take this chance to teach them how to read the poem properly. Also, there are a couple of phrases I don't quite understand. Hope somebody can give me a hand also. Many thanks.
Mrs McPhee
==
Mrs McPhee
Who lived in the South Zeal
Roasted a duckling
For every meal
"Duckling for breakfast
And dinner and tea,
And duckling for supper,"
Said Mrs McPhee
*(These 2 stanzas are simple enough in terms of meaning, but how could i make the presentation more lively? should i make some variation on the line of "and duckling for supper"??)*
"It's sweeter than sugar,
It's clean as a nut,
I'm sure and I'm certain
It's good for me BUT
*(Why would the writer use sugar and a nut to describe the taste of duckling? I don't quite get it.")*
"I don't like these feathers
That grow on my back,
And my silly webbed feet
And my voice that goes quack."
*(any intonaton and stress suggestion here?)*
As easy and soft
as a ship to the sea,
As a duck to the water
Went Mrs McPhee
"I think I'll go swim
In the river,' said she;
Said Mrs Mac, Mrs Quack,
Mrs McPhee
*(This last stanza really gets me: I know Mrs Quack and Mrs McPhee are the same person, but why
would the writer introduce the 3rd person ie. Mrs Mac? It's probably just the casual way of calling
Mrs McPhee. But I don't find it funny at all. Can anyone clarify or even teach me how to bring this poem into
life.)*
Top answer
[nq:1]My 4th grade students are gonna read the following poem for our country's annaul verse-speaking competition. Can anyone give me ... *(Why would the writer use sugar and a nut to describe the taste of duckling?
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[nq:1]My 4th grade students are gonna read the following poem for our country's annaul verse-speaking competition. Can anyone give me ... *(Why would the writer use sugar and a nut to describe the taste of duckling? I don't quite get it.")*[/nq]
They needed a rhyme for "But". This is not great poetry.
[nq:1]"I don't like these feathers That grow on my back, And my silly webbed feet And my
They needed a rhyme for "But". This is not great poetry.
[nq:1]"I don't like these feathers That grow on my back, And my silly webbed feet And my
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[nq:2]My 4th grade students are gonna read the following poem ... even teach me how to bring this poem into life.)*[/nq]
[nq:1]You get the idea that this woman is turning into a duck, right? Because she eats so much duck? The ... on "And my voice that goes quack" is to talk like a duck whatever that sounds like in yourcountry.[/nq]
Donna's spot-on: this has surely been chosen for a competi
[nq:1]You get the idea that this woman is turning into a duck, right? Because she eats so much duck? The ... on "And my voice that goes quack" is to talk like a duck whatever that sounds like in yourcountry.[/nq]
Donna's spot-on: this has surely been chosen for a competi
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