The purpose of this study was to examine the response of preschoolers to an aesthetic approach of poetic activities for young children in an effort to help young children feel the beauty of children's verses as literary works. An action research was i...
The purpose of this study was to examine the response of preschoolers to an aesthetic approach of poetic activities for young children in an effort to help young children feel the beauty of children's verses as literary works. An action research was implemented in 14 sessions from August 24 to October 6, 2015. After children's poetry instruction was researched, this researcher provided poetic activities for young children by taking an aesthetic approach in the process of planning, acting out, reflecting and re-acting out. To find out the results of this action research, data were gathered by videotaping, photographing and sound recording, and this researcher's journal and the works of the preschoolers who took classes were additionally collected. And then a qualitative analysis was made.
The findings of the action research about taking an aesthetic approach poetic activities for young children were as follows:
First, the beauty of children's verses was conveyed in aesthetic language. That made it possible for the preschoolers to feel the literary beauty of children's poetry. After how to further their mutual aesthetic verbal expressions was considered in the course of reflecting and re-acting out, they were divided into small groups, and they talked to one another in small group about how they felt about the children's poems they read, and they consequently improved in aesthetic language. Second, aesthetic media were utilized instead of sticking to stereotyped activities of children's poetry. Photographs, video clips and narratives that were all aesthetic media were used to further the class participation of the preschoolers, and the usage of the aesthetic media stimulated them to actively engage in children's poetic activities. After undergoing the process of reflecting and re-acting out, what happened to them in everyday life was reflected when the aesthetic media were in use. That served to strengthen their flow in class, to enrich their conversations and to provoke their laughter all the time. Third, art activities were provided for them to express themselves in diverse ways, and the activities enabled them to internalize what they read in children's poems. Besides, another activity of writing a children's poem was planned after undergoing the process of reflecting and re-acting out. The young children felt a sense of achievement and got to enjoy children's verses while they wrote children's poems for themselves.
The findings of the study about the young children's response in the course of taking an aesthetic approach poetic activities for young children were as follows:
First, the preschoolers were in pursuit of beauty, and they became able to find beauty in things and their surroundings. In addition, they got to make use of poetic language that was metaphorical and imaginative. The classroom overflowed with laughter and joy. Second, the young children were born to be little poets. They became poets who dealt with children's poetry as works of art and wrote children's verses on their own. Third, the preschoolers were growing at heart. They wanted to sympathize with others, to help them and to share with them and became more considerate.