Day 13: 365 Days of Literacy for Kids – Fun, Easy & Completely Do-able

One way to express how you feel about something is to write about it or tell about it.  One way to understand something you’ve never experienced it to read about it.  Poetry gives us a way to experience another person’s feelings and another person’s culture through words that make us feel something.  Take your children on a walk today with the Teton Sioux Indians to see and experience how a connection with nature is joyful enough to sing about…

I SING FOR THE ANIMALSTeton Sioux Indians

Out of the earth
I sing for them,
A Horse nation
I sing for them.
Out of the earth
I sing for them,
The animals
I sing for them.

Read this poem/song with your children.  Talk about how important the animals are to the speaker of this poem/song.  How do we know the animals are so important?  What words does the speaker use to tell us how important the animals really are?  Talk about celebrations where we sing for someone or something;  perhaps a birthday, a wedding, a church service.  Ask your children if they ever remember singing for animals.  Why or why not?  Why are animals so important to the speaker of this poem/song?  Which animals are the speaker singing about?  Definitely horses?  Why are horses so very important to the Sioux Indians?  Perhaps buffalo, deer, moose are important, too? Did the Sioux Indians rely on animals for food and transportation?  Ask your children if you rely on animals for food and/or transportation.

There is a spirituality to the poem/song I  SING FOR THE ANIMALS.  There is a celebration in the poem/song.  Talk to your children about living in the wilderness of the 17th 18th and 19th centuries in comparison to our lives today.  What do we celebrate?  What do we sing for?  This Sioux Indian poem/song gives us a deep sense of the appreciation for the animals that were such an integral part of their lives, their culture, their existence, their joy, their feelings.  The Sioux Indians were inspired enough to sing for the animals. Use this poem/song to make connections with the nature around you and with people from other times and places.  LITERACY is all about WORDS – Written, Spoken, Felt… and in this case, SUNG!

Remember the words of Jean-Paul Satre, “To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.”

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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