NH Poetry Out Loud 2012-2013
Teacher Orientation Notes combined
Getting
Started: Poetry in the Classroom- variations on applying the poetry curriculum
:
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Some schools have the recitation as
voluntary, some require it
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A school started the program
incorporating just AP students
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Some schools ask students to write
about why they chose their poem
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Poetry work becomes part of writing
portfolio for some schools
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Sarah, from Holderness outlined
pieces of her program:
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Making lists of all kinds of poems
(masculine poems, poems with animals, etc)
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Students must present their poem and
their poet- 2 slides 2 minutes
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“Font your poem” exercise
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Warm up- girl poem, boy poem- groups
say the poem together
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Stephanie, from Kingswood outlined her
plan:
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Starts with what/why poetry is about
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Students choose a poem they love
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Tone Map lesson- S. recommends this
highly
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Performance game- “look up, look
down” eye contact exercise
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Recitation performance counts as a
test grade; memorization = extra credit
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S. says: that POL is “not an extra thing, it is the
way I teach poetry- the best way!”
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Recommends: “Brave New Voice” youtube
video; “I’m Thinking about You”; “Pretty” poetry slam
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James, from Kearsarge back plans to
have the content culminate the week before winter carnival. Students get points
for participating and attending. The curriculum is voluntary for teachers and
not necessarily connected to competition. 25 students competed last year, 8
went on to school championship, plans for 12 this year.
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Maureen, from Dover coordinates to
create an integrated arts day, working with scholastic arts awards and UNH
chamber music event. Many teachers participate in the program, and it is
mandatory for all 9th graders, but Maureen also offers an after school group version
to incorporate students who want to participate and don’t have a participating
teacher. Holds run off events in January. Gets 500 at event.
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Alison, from Pembroke:”I begin by
having students go to the computer lab and choosing their own poems. They have a worksheet that they need to fill
out about the poem that they choose. All
students must participate, but I tell all my students that if they are
interested in the school competition, they need to choose 2 poems. For our classroom competition, they only need to recite one poem. Students have already learned and recited a
Shakspearean monologue in the fall, so they know what to expect.
- Integrates learning of POL poems with a poetry unit.
- Looks at a large variety of poems and has students write poetry as well.
- Works on memorization strategies and give students designated time just to work on paraphrasing, chunking, silent reading, and partner practicing with their poems.
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Analyze a partner’s poem exercise
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Illustrating the poem assignment
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Poetry Scavenger Hunt- one page
worksheet
Designing a
School Competition that Makes Sense for Your School- variations:
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Small, voluntary, after school “club”
version: promoting the program via the library, finding partners in the school
and community volunteers to help. Learning after year 1: Getting a
calibrator=important!
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Large, during school day, standing
room only version: administrators and teachers as judges, student jazz band for
interludes
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Gloria from Jesse Remington-small
school: created “winter wonderland” -special night out ambiance with twinkling
lights; uses integrated arts approach;has music playing, coordinator did emcee
role, but thinks it’s better if that doesn’t happen. Judges get folder with
laminated scoring criteria sheet. Judges come ½ hour prior for their
training.Gloria has developed an additional spread sheet to help judges.
- Alison, from Pembroke- holds school competition in second week of February to get as many English teachers on board as possible. Encourages teachers to dedicate at least three weeks to POL at the start of the semester. Some students, who have competed in previous years, have started long before this. Has 3 judges each year, including headmaster. Orients other judges with the materials and a "judges how to session" before the actual competition. Offers coaching meetings after school before the competition. After the school competition, our 2 winners, meet with school co-coordinators several times for coaching.
Student
input: (At Holderness Orientation, we had 3 students sit in on part of the
meeting and 1 student presented a poem; at Hopkinton, we had 1 student present
a poem and answer some questions.)
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Finding the poem- some by luck, some
by title, some given suggestions- but all agreed the poem had to mean something
to them to make it work.
Teacher
ideas/comments:
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Helping kids sift through poems for
poem choice is a challenge
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If anyone has list of poems to share
it would help us all! humorous poems, angry poems, love poems, poems by women,
bilingual poems, nonamerican poems, etc
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Need to know about scholarship
opportunities. For some schools it helps to draw students into the program.
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Getting peers on board: get them to
see it once (sells itself);reaching out to world language, social studies
teachers, reading teacher;getting peers to be judges, kids promote within
school
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Selling points: the program involves
that “different” kid; sparks inspiration in teachers and students
The National
Competition- what happens when your student represents NH in Washington DC:
Jason Lambert shared his experience last spring:
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whirlwind- busy, fun, challenging
schedule of recitations
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degree of polish, consistency-
concept of what it takes: self awareness, poem selection is key, tone of the
poem/tone of the presentation
Cynthia shared learning points she gathered from other states during
nationals. Favorite moment: seeing a group of students, who did not advance,
performing their 3rd poem to each other in a sandwich shop- sharing their
poems/experience. “Level of Difficulty” discussion: this category will most
likely go away after this year. Cynthia reported that this criteria point is
contentious for many states, as it asks judges to make a judgement about the
poems themselves.
Several school report preparing the level of difficulty score for
their judges, which is not exactly what is supposed to happen, but is
understandable. This does not happen at state level- which is why we need the
poem choices in advance of the semifinals.
What does
“dramatic appropriateness” mean? A group discussion on finding that balance in
presenting dynamic recitations
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Letting the words carry the weight
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physical support of the poem
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seems natural, not choreographed
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owning the story
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voice- the student’s own
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connect with audience
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encourage range of tones, starting at
school level.
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judges can be sucked in by drama
Question
raised by a teacher regarding NH rule that previous state champions can not
compete in subsequent years. Discussion at that orientation revealed that
teachers were open to retracting that rule. Cynthia and Arlene will bring the
question to the Advisory group.
General Info:
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Competition Timing and Personnel
(handout attached)
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Resources handout (attached)
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New blog is the place for deadlines,
info:
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Toolkits: read them cover to cover,
suggest this also to peer teachers
New Student
Clinic Event: Cynthia introduced the concept of a gathering(not mandatory) open
to all school champions and alternate champions for a “clinic” that would include
microphone and presentation coaching. Potential date is Sunday Feb.17, which
may encourage schools to hold their competitions ahead of this date.
If you would
like to invite a poet to your school, let us know, and we can refer you.
Teacher
participated in an exercise to consider the team approach to the program. What
task could you get someone else to do? What are the key tasks you have to get
done ahead of time? What are the challenging pieces?
September-October:
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Intro to English dept- get more
teachers involved
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Rotary- scholarship, board
presentation
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Collaborating with other teachers to
plan classroom lesson
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Guest presentations from community
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Presentation workshops
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Get someone else to attend
orientation
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Contact local businesses for
monetary/other support
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Looking at calendar to set school
competition date
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Find time in class for practice
November:
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Plan publicity, newspaper coverage
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Scholastic awards connection
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Announce POL competition to school
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Get other arts teachers involved to
be part of competition event
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Guest judge in the classroom
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Find outside judges
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Cultivation of support, judges,
volunteers
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Back planning to give students enough
time to be ready
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Get development director to mine
alumni for judges
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Recruit MC
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Line up space and support materials
for competition
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Dress rehearsal?
December:
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Snacks planning/planning
refreshments- parents? other group for fundraiser?Lit mag?
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provide extra support and coaching
for students competing in school championship
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Figure out how we will pare our 100
competitors down to 20
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Coordinate prizes
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Plan musicians
January:
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From classroom comp. to school wide,
a couple of “tune-up” workshops led by qualified community members-
dept./school/local in prep for school comp.
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Assign 2 community members to get
gift donations for winners
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Entertainment- get someone else to
plan/supervise it
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Copying program
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Copy poems
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Catering? flowers?
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Get someone else to promote the event
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Plan for kids to observe the event
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Organize papers/scoring sheets for
judges, directions for judges
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Get someone to videotape the event
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Help students practice memorization-
collaborate with other teachers?
February:
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Getting kids to come to the evetn
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Meet with school winners to prepare
for state semifinals
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Create notebooks for judges
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