Classroom Activities
Activity for Poetry Recitation
I found this particular lesson on poetry recitation at the website listed below: http://www.bbchs.k12.it.us/teacher_pages/coppenbarger/publicspeaking.html
Students will present a poem to the class. In this particular activity students will choose their own poem to recite but it must be within the guidelines listed below:
Guidelines for Poem Selection
Must be entirely appropriate for school
Must be a new poem and not memorized for any other purpose previously
Must contain at least 10 lines
Must be written by a published author
Students will be instructed to find a poem they enjoy and can appreciate. Students will share the poems with others because it will show something about their personality. Students are permitted to use textbooks, poetry books, collections by a specific author, or magazines and the Internet to search for poems. Students must provide me with a typed copy of the poem to include the author's name. Students will be graded partially on the length of the poem and partially on the performance.
Activity for "Rap Writing"
This particular activity was adopted from the reading a-z.com website.24 In this lesson I will begin by explaining to students what rap is and how it uses poetry in its form. I will then create a two-column flow chart on the board using the words Poetry and Rap as headings. Students will brainstorm words and phrases that describe poetry. I will write the words on the board under poetry. Then I will ask students to brainstorm words and phrases to describe rap. I will then write those words on the board under rap. Students
will engage in a discussion about how rap is the same and different from traditional poetry. Next, I will hand out a poem listed below called "Seven Traits Plus Rap".
Seven Traits Plus Rap
Juicy details, a pointed purpose,
One main topic or theme is the intent.
Show it's important your connections
A portrait with Ideas and Content.
Our writing must show Organization,
The beginning surely must set the hook.
A chronological trail a common thread
Like recipes in a writer's cookbook.
Through your writing and your performance
Others hear, view, and sense all you feel.
The heartfelt Voice of your reflecting
Is no doubt important to reveal
Precise, colorful, concise, most unique,
Portray a picture in the reader's mind.
Powerhouse verbs laden with energy.
Strong Word Choice most craftily intertwined.
Writing renders an exciting ride with
Well-built, strong, varied Sentence Fluency-
Variations flow like an ebbing tide,
Pleasing to hear, a sense of congruency.
The rules of grammar, punctuation,
And spelling for sure we must adhere.
We must use reflection more than approximation;
It doesn't suffice to just be near.
These challenging rules we call Conventions
With Presentation, add many dimensions:
Pleasing to the eye, your message will appeal,
Pleasing to the ear, your message will reveal.25
This poem will be read together in class and then I will break students into small groups to work with a select stanza or group of stanzas. Students will be given time to practice how they would best like to present their stanza(s), using creative movements and sounds (claps and stomps). Students will be given the opportunity to be creative with their sounds. Upon completion of practice students will then present their stanza(s) to the entire class.
I will also pre-select and listen to additional age-appropriate raps and allow students to hear the samples more than once. Then I will ask them to try and identify the poet's point of view in each example. We will discuss how the words and music work together to express the poet's point of view.
Model Writing a Rap
I will explain to students that raps are generally written to express a strong feeling or emotion about a topic. Students will then brainstorm ideas or topics that they feel strongly about. I will write their ideas on the board. Subjects may include war, peace, divorce, hunger, justice, and so on.
I will then choose a topic from the student-generated list that will promote constructive discussions and emotions. I will create a topic web. The topic will be written in the center of the web and students will generate words, thoughts, and feelings that the topic evokes in the outer circles of the web.
Together as a class we will use the web as an outline to write a short-four-or-five-line rap. We will start with a sentence that clearly defines the class topic and point of view. We will then proceed with rhythmic words and phrases that further express the authors' point of view. Students will be instructed to create a web topic to develop their own rap independently. They use a topic from the list generated in the model activity or they can choose a topic of their own.
I will review with students the meaning and function of the following forms of figurative language: metaphor, simile, and symbolism. I will provide detailed definitions of each along with clear examples. Then as a class, we will discuss how a poet might use metaphor, simile, and symbolism to express an idea or an opinion. Students will be given various types of activities to work on relating to figurative language.
Group Product-Pitch Presentation
I adopted this activity from the Scholastic Teacher website26. The author's name is Miriama Sesay-St. Paul. In this activity students will work in teams to create a new and unique product. They will use their speaking skills in a presentation that advertises their product. This is a 10-day activity please see below how the activities are divided up daily:
Day 1
Students will be divided into teams of no more than five people. Distribute the Product-Pitch directions sheets to the groups and explain the requirements of the project (See Appendix C). Then, distribute magazines and the Product-Pitch development sheet (See Appendix D). Students will brainstorm product ideas for the remainder of the class using the magazines to help develop ideas.
At the end of every class over the next ten days of this lesson, each group will write down what they accomplished during the period and what they intend to accomplish the next day.
Day 2
Teams will use this class period to meet and complete the Product-Pitch development sheet which will be collected at the end of the class period.
Day 3
Teams will plan the visual presentation of their product, coming up with a list of materials they will need. In addition, teams use Day 3 to discuss and begin designing their magazine advertisement.
Day 4
On this day, teams will begin or continue building the visual representation of the product and continue designing the magazine advertisement.
Day 5
Teams will finish building the visual representation of their new product and designing the magazine advertisement.
Day 6
I will distribute the Product-Pitch Presentation rubric and discuss it with the students (See Appendix E). Students should begin developing the script for the presentation.
Days 7-9
Students will continue and complete working on the script development. They will also use this day to practice their oral presentations.
Day 10
Product-pitch presentation day!
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