Faith CoLab: Tapestry of Faith: Exploring Our Values Through Poetry: A Program for High School Youth

Activity 2: Small Group Planning

Activity time: 25 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Newsprint and markers
  • Paper and pencils or computers and printer
  • Poetry anthologies suitable for youth

Preparation for Activity

Make sure the room in which you meet is large enough for small groups to spread out and work independently of one another. If it is not, locate other rooms that youth can use and reserve them ahead of time.

Description of Activity

Small groups and individuals pursue assigned tasks, determine what additional tasks to do between this workshop and the Poetry Slam, and decide who will do them.

Ask the participants to work in small groups or independently, depending on their Poetry Slam role(s), to accomplish a final, detailed plan and move the plan forward. Provide newsprint and markers to groups that need them. At the end of the workshop, participants will reconvene as one group to smooth out rough spots in the overall plan and assign any outstanding jobs.

Use this template to create the small groups:

SMALL GROUP

GOALS FOR TODAY

Poetry writers, readers, and performers

Fine-tune your own poems.

Choose poems by other poets.

Practice how you will read or perform the poem(s).

Provide the title, author, and reader/performer(s) of your poem to the Production Crew.

Provide audio/visual needs to the Production Crew.

Publicity Planners

Write and design a flyer or other publicity for the event.

For the flyer, gather information about the poems, poets, reader/performers, and fundraising activity if the Poetry Slam includes a fundraiser.

Photocopy the flyer or make a plan to do so.

Make a plan for distributing the flyer.

Production Crew (includes emcee)

Write and design an Event Program to hand out at the event.

For the Event Program, gather information about the poems, poets, reader/performers, and fundraising activity if the Poetry Slam includes a fundraiser. Be sure to include "special thanks" to everyone outside the program group who is helping with or contributing to the Poetry Slam in any way.

Find out the audio/visual requirements of people performing poetry; strategize what equipment you need; make a plan for how to get it and who will operate it at the event.

Remember to locate a microphone. You may need to ask a member of the congregation who routinely handles the sound system to help with this.

Strategize how to set up and decorate the space for the event: Where will you locate seating? What will ushers do? Who will hand out programs? Who will operate the lighting?

Fundraising Team

Make plans as needed to obtain food, tickets, or other items for sale.

Decide how to provide information about the cause at the event: Will you produce a poster? Will you generate printouts from the Internet? Assign the tasks involved.

Decide who will be responsible for handling the money.

Connect with the Publicity Planners and Production Crew to make sure the fundraising information is included in the Publicity Flyer and the Event Program.

Circulate among the groups as participants work and make sure each group remains focused on its goals.

Including All Participants

Monitor small groups to make sure everyone who wishes to contribute has opportunities to do so.