Who knew?

...that Jaybird could be such a brilliant public speaker? He recited his poem flawlessly. Today was a day I will always remember because it was a big milestone in our boy's life. At home before the big eventToot gives Jaybird a pat on the back

Besides his poem, we heard approximately 20 others. I was beyond impressed, flabbergasted, with the performances we saw! Among those were the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I have a dream" speech, beautiful poetry from Stevenson, Longfellow, Carroll, Whitman and Kipling. There was even one boy that got to re-enact a scene from "We are Marshall". Here are a few wise words written today by Jaybird's principal about the importance of memorization and public speaking for young children.
"A child who memorizes poetry is able to internalize the beautiful patterns of words. It also increases vocabulary and comprehension. Memorizing of poetry and other works in context stores the information for use in speaking and writing.
Poetry and prose introduces students to the culture's accumulated wisdom. (She goes on to list the various poets that were included today.)
An obvious benefit of memorization and recitation is being comfortable speaking in front of people. It has been fun to watch students who shake at the thought of speaking in front of others grow to enjoy it...so the next time your child is whining about memorization, be thankful it is not a lost art at ____(our school)!"
I am inspired to memorize more often. I love to memorize and I don't flex that "muscle" as I used to! This has been an amazing day!