Survivor of the Poets

Groups:
Robert Frost:  Harley, Brynn, Brady, Hillary
Edgar Allen Poe:  Bridger, Austin, Joe, Canon
Pablo Neruda: Hadlee, Ellie, Camilla, Remlee
Emily Dickinson: Jill, Kadence, Rachel
Ralph Waldo Emerson:  Coleman, Tristan, Kyle, Andy
Maya Angelou: Ella, Ashley, Melissa
Edna St. Vincent Millay: Amitee, Lilly
William Shakespeare: Alexis, Emma, Adeline, Megan
Sylvia Plath: Ava, Jayden

Others to choose from:
Billy Collins
Frank O'Hara
Mark Strand
Gary Soto
William Carlos Williams
E.E. Cummings
Dylan Thomas
Gwendolyn Brooks
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
William Wordsworth
Gerard Manly Hopkins
May Swenson
Shane Koyczan
Neil Gaiman
Walt Whitman
Naomi Shihab Nye

Survivor of the Poets Assignment     

1.  Select a poet from the list provided by your teacher.   ___by the end of class February  6.

2. Select four poems by the poet you would like to represent. (If you find another of his or her poems that you’d rather use, you could change this later.)

3. Learn about the poet’s life.

4. Create a pennant or banner to represent your poet and your team.  On your banner you will include the poet’s name, six symbols of this poet’s life, and the names of your group members. 

Finish, present,  and post these in the classroom by  _end of class February 8____ .

5.   Challenges:   For each challenge, provide your classmates with copies of the poem.

            1) Mood!  Perform your poem with lots of moody background.  Remember all the senses, and use

them to set the tone of the poem. Music, scents, sound effects, backgrounds (painted cardboard, pictures projected on the screen, etc.), balloons, food, tactile images  (poems written on sandpaper or fabric and handed out), lighting effects like strobe or slide projected backgrounds – all these can make your performance effective. Try to represent all five senses.

Date ___work/plan February 10 -- present February 14.

              2) Frozen Tableau Presentation   Groups perform poem in a “talking statue” formation that represents some aspect of their poem.   Each person should know what their particular character is thinking or feeling within the tableau.  Groups need a decorated placard with poem’s title, poet’s name, names of all group members.
Date ______work/plan February 16 -- Present February 21.

            3) Artistic Representation Each group member creates an individual work of art to represent the group’s chosen poem. No two art forms in one group may be alike. Suggestions: painting, drawing, sculpting, poster-making, scrap-booking, movie making, animation, metal work, collages, carving, print-making, etc.

Date ______present February 23.

            4) Groups act out poems using props and costumes   Sound and lighting effects, dramatic entrances and exits, backgrounds, music and movement add flair to performances. Does not need to be memorized: “Reader’s Theater”

Hint:  Long poems can have a “director’s edit” to be shortened.

Date _____work/plan February 23/present February 27.