LOTS AND LOTS OF IDEAS TO MAKE
POETRY FUN FOR CHILDREN
By Josie Whitehead
GETTING THE CHILDREN INVOLVED IN THE POETRY
Children love to be actively involved in projects, as you know . You, as the teacher, have the job of teaching them poetry, and hoping that they will enjoy it at the same time. How can you combine the two things?
Many of my poems (but not all by any means) are children’s fun story poems. They could be a turn-off for teenagers who, perhaps, may have lost interest in the subjects of witches, magicians, pigs and invisible friends by now, but, give them the reins to organise an event, especially if it will bring in some money for them, is another matter.
Why not split the class into small groups of, say, 6 in a group. Let them arrange an entertainment for either younger children, or older people, which would bring some money in at the same time for a school outing for them etc. – and use poetry as the centre of the entertainment? Perhaps, by arrangement with a nearby primary school, or an old people’s home, your teenagers could visit them for about an hour - or you could invite the audience to your own school. Here’s an example: Choose a special occasion: e.g.: Christmas, Easter, Halloween etc. I will take, for example, Christmas: The children will have examined the poems and will have chosen which poem from the Christmas selection they think their audience might appreciate.
DRAMATISING THE POEM
They may have chosen, perhaps “The Nativity Play at School” as an example. They will, amongst themselves, have chosen which people will play the particular characters. They will then decide the costumes to be worn by the players. They will need to have learnt this poem well and decide whether the narration of the poem is to be by one person, two together, or perhaps more. They must read it a few times, deciding where they will bring in pauses, emphasis on words etc. – because this is a funny poem, and all comedians know that pauses in the right place are effective. Also, the pauses give time for the characters to act their parts. Perhaps, to link to this poem, there could be someone who will introduce the poem and talk about what they have prepared, and, at the conclusion, perhaps sing a carol together with the audience.
BRINGING IN ART
The children could perhaps arrange to make some Christmas cards with this particular poem as an insert, and, perhaps a photograph of the group, in their costumes on the front of the card, with a “Happy Christmas” gold peel off added. Children love art. They might also make some little Christmas cakes, or chocolates etc., boxed with a photograph of themselves on the front and “Happy Christmas”. They could design some A4 poetry sheets, printed off on particularly nice paper and with a matching envelope, to sell. I have done this for our church and the poems sell very well for about £1.50 ($3 USD). Whatever they decide to do, it is a good way of both entertaining people and making some money at the same time. PLUS, getting them involved with POETRY in a fun way.
They could even persuade those who have come to their entertainment to get together in groups and do a group reading of this poem together also, because their audience might like to be involved in it. Someone with a camera might also take some photos of the groups and sell them a picture for their own cards. I think that this involves young people in many ways, giving them the chance to put their own ideas into practice in a competitive way. You could ask their audiences to give them a little present for having done the performance, or to charge them, telling them that it is to raise money for a special day out for the class etc. Children can learn a little about enterprise also from this activity, as well as stirring up their imaginations.
INVITE THE POET
The Poetry Society, and our new children's laureate have asked children's poets to go into schools etc. to be involved with children. I do that already, and love it. Why not invite me to your school for the event via Skype? I'd love to see what they're doing - especially if it is with one of my poems!
ANOTHER IDEA BRINGING IN MUSIC WITH POETRY
Whilst one group of the class is working together on their Christmas poem, another group might work on a completely different poem for another occasion – e.g. Halloween. There are two wonderful poems for children which can be brought alive in this way: Halloween Secrets and Halloween At Spooks Palace
They both can be dramatised in the same way. Halloween Secrets lays itself open to putting the poem to music, and incorporating dancing. Get your music teacher involved also. We can remember that poetry was linked strongly with song right from the beginning, and lyrical poetry can easily have music added to it. See this interesting article on the origins of poetry)
Both as a performance for older people, for parents or for children in a neighbouring school, as well as a way of giving older children the opportunity of bringing poetry to life, the performance of poetry can draw out their creativity and confidence plus their organising ability. Some children may well carry this forward into a life of entertaining, whether just as a amateur or professional entertainer. Then you may be glad that you gave them the incentive when they came to your poetry lesson! They may well be encouraged to write their own poetry for drama events. This is an excellent opportunity to do more than just study poetry in a really, really BORING way!