Musing and perusing teaching ideas and educational topics.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Poetry Slams: Bringing Student and Cultural Commentaries to the Classroom
A few weeks ago, a friend sent me a youtube video of a poetry slam contestant. This participant was a member of Team Nuyorican and took second place at the National Poetry Slam of 2011. The slam took place at the Bowery Poetry Club in Boston. Here is a clip of Marshal Soulful Jones performing his poem "Touchscreen".
After watching the clip a few times I was still mesmerized by his performance - the body language, gesture, expression, tone, language, emphasis, intensity and layers of meaning. I knew that I wanted to share this with my friends and colleagues, and if I had my own English class, them too! Jones' performance could be used to discuss poetry, public speaking, media literacy, technology, online identities and communities - the possibilities were endless! Primarily I think I would use this video to address public speaking, performance and poetry. I developed some pre, during and post viewing activities to accompany the clip.
Pre-Viewing
Ask Students: How do we define poetry? What forms can it take? What is the purpose of poetry?
"Show and Tell": Have students bring in some poetry they are familiar with, and practice reading it aloud in small groups. (Children's books/poems, song lyrics, poetry they have written)
Have students identify elements of poetry that they "like", "dislike" or "find confusing" and record it in a table/graphic organizer.
First Viewing - Watch and listen.
Second Viewing - Describe
Ask Students: What does this poet want to tell us? What ideas are important? What is concered about?
How does the poet communicate his message?
Third Viewing - Evaluate
What is the purpose of this poem?
Is the poet an effective speaker? Why or why not?
What makes him an impressive performer? (make a list)
Do you agree with his message?
Post-Viewing - Our Own Poetry Slam
Have students consider performing a poem of their own.
In groups or individually have students begin developing spoken-word pieces of their own.
Have another group of students (senior or drama) perform their slam for the class.
Depending on the students in your class, carrying out the poetry slam may or may not be for you. However, I feel that if activities were properly scaffolded, most students could become comfortable with the performance element. Begin by having students read aloud comical children's literature or poems to lessen the pressure of the performance.
Hey Lisa! I was first shown this video a few weeks ago in my English class, and have seen it EVERYWHERE since then! Popping up in my Social Studies class, overhearing it in random conversations, showing/telling as many people as possible...It's AMAZING! It is the perfect example of someone taking their passion and feelings and putting it to good use - that can reach millions! I am desperately trying to find a way to include this in my upcoming English practicum, but I feel it is impossible *sigh*
Thanks for your comment Kristine. I hope you can find a meaningful way to fit in the clip. Let me know what your units and topics include for practicum. Maybe I can help you come up with something!
I really like your building around the video here. I think multiple viewings is very important with any clips we play in the classroom. Students expect to just kind of watch and glaze over something, but it's difficult to realize analyze a piece with just one viewing. With poetry personally I would have the students preform it themselves. Poetry to me is odd in how personal it feels. As a drama teacher myself, I am rarely as nervous as I am reading my own poetry. That is not necessarily a bad thing though. So much goes into creating meter and verse and sound when writing poetry which is something that isn't easy to convey. I can't even imagine how you could convey the power and movement of Mr. Jones' work.
The importance of multiple viewings is something I learned over my first practicum. Needless to say, I had a few multimedia lessons that were less than successful!
I would find it extremely challenging to teach meter and verse to most students, at least in a way that is meaningful to them! So I thought I would switch the focus from mechanics to performance. Performance poetry is something that I didn't experience until university, and I feel as if it could spice up poetry in the classroom a great deal!
I agree that Jones' performance is extremely challenging, and I think for that reason it would expose students to the the possibilities of poetry and performance in general. I would be floored if my students could produce something of this caliber!! haha. In presenting an example like this - both hip and effective in terns of performance elements - I think I would be setting the bar high. Hopefully with good results!
Hey Lisa! I was first shown this video a few weeks ago in my English class, and have seen it EVERYWHERE since then! Popping up in my Social Studies class, overhearing it in random conversations, showing/telling as many people as possible...It's AMAZING! It is the perfect example of someone taking their passion and feelings and putting it to good use - that can reach millions! I am desperately trying to find a way to include this in my upcoming English practicum, but I feel it is impossible *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Kristine. I hope you can find a meaningful way to fit in the clip. Let me know what your units and topics include for practicum. Maybe I can help you come up with something!
DeleteI really like your building around the video here. I think multiple viewings is very important with any clips we play in the classroom. Students expect to just kind of watch and glaze over something, but it's difficult to realize analyze a piece with just one viewing. With poetry personally I would have the students preform it themselves. Poetry to me is odd in how personal it feels. As a drama teacher myself, I am rarely as nervous as I am reading my own poetry. That is not necessarily a bad thing though. So much goes into creating meter and verse and sound when writing poetry which is something that isn't easy to convey. I can't even imagine how you could convey the power and movement of Mr. Jones' work.
ReplyDeleteJeremy,
DeleteThe importance of multiple viewings is something I learned over my first practicum. Needless to say, I had a few multimedia lessons that were less than successful!
I would find it extremely challenging to teach meter and verse to most students, at least in a way that is meaningful to them! So I thought I would switch the focus from mechanics to performance. Performance poetry is something that I didn't experience until university, and I feel as if it could spice up poetry in the classroom a great deal!
I agree that Jones' performance is extremely challenging, and I think for that reason it would expose students to the the possibilities of poetry and performance in general. I would be floored if my students could produce something of this caliber!! haha. In presenting an example like this - both hip and effective in terns of performance elements - I think I would be setting the bar high. Hopefully with good results!