Print

Home » Religious Education » Tapestry of Faith Curricula » Youth Programs » Exploring Our Values Through Poetry » Workshop 12 » Activities » Alternate Activity 2

Alternate Activity 2: The Spoken Word (20 minutes), Workshop 12: Poems On Stage: Exploring Poetry Out Loud, in the Exploring Our Values Through Poetry Program

Materials for Activity

• Provide books, handouts, and other resources to allow participants a choice of poems for the activity (see Find Out More for suggestions)

Preparation for Activity

• Write on newsprint:
• What do you think the poem is about?
• How does it make you feel?
• How does hearing the poem enhance its meaning?
• Be prepared to divide the group into pairs or small groups.

Description of Activity

Participants take turns reading a poem aloud to a partner or a small group. After each reading, the listeners provide feedback on the "performance." When the exercise is finished, participants gather for a large-group discussion.

Have youths form pairs or small groups, and explain the exercise:

• Take a few minutes to find a poem to read aloud. Each of you can read a poem of your choice or everyone in your group can read the same poem in his/her own way.
• First reader: Practice your poem quietly to yourself, and then read your poem aloud to the other(s).
• Listener(s): Respond to the reading with answers to the following questions (on the newsprint):
• What do you think the poem is about?
• How does it make you feel?
• How does hearing the poem enhance its meaning? Its power?
• Repeat the process until each member of your group has had a chance to read.

When the exercise is finished, gather the entire group and lead a discussion based on the following questions:

• Did the poems that members of your group chose seem to have been written more for the eye or for the ear? Why do you think so?
• Do certain words jump out at you when you hear a poem? By contrast, what makes you notice certain words when you read a poem to yourself?
• In what ways might reading a poem aloud resemble acting in a play? Does it matter whether or not the reader is the author? Explain.
• Knowing that a poem of yours will be read aloud, what writing techniques might you use when you compose the poem? What characteristics or features might you avoid when you write the poem?

This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors. Please consider making a donation today.

Last updated on Thursday, October 27, 2011.

Sidebar Content, Page Navigation