1. Essentials of Childrens Literature 3 Poetry and Plays Instructor: Presenter: 20978L020 Contents: 1.Section One: Poetry Poetry in the Classroom Choral Poetry Students Reading and Writing Poems 2.Section Two: Play Definition and Description Evaluation and Selection of Plays Historical Overview Of Plays Types of Plays

2. Choral Poetry Interpreting and saying a poem together Saying and hearing poems over and over again

3. How to select poems and teach them to students? 1. Selection 2. Memorization 3. Arrangement 4. Performance

4. Selection short, humorous narrative longer The loser Mama said Id lose my head It if wasnt fastened on. Today I guess it wasnt Cause while playing with my cousin It fell off and rolled away And now its gone. From Where the Side walk Ends

5. Selection short, humorous narrative longer And I cant look for it Cause my eyes are in it, And I cant call to it Cause my mouth is on it (Couldnt hear me anyway Cause my ears are on it), Cant even think about it Cause my brain is in it. So I guess Ill sit down On this rock And rest for just a minute … The Loser From Where the Side walk Ends

6. Memorization 1. The teacher select and read aloud a poem that is well liked by the students. Then students repeat each line or pair of lines after the teacher until they know them. 2. Variations can be added for performing the poem. 3. Some longer poems with older students who read well will not be memorized but will be practiced and read together as a group.

7. Arrangement -- Learn the poem and recite it together as a group -- Achieve different effects Two-part or three-party choral poetry is usually based on arranging students into voice types (e.g. high, medium, low) and by selecting lines of the poem for each group to recite or read. solocumulativesimultaneousdramatic unison

8. Arrangement Solo can be added to either of these presentations and are sometimes used for asking a question or making an exclamation. solo cumulativesimultaneousdramaticunison

9. Arrangement A cumulative buildup is effected by having, for example, only two voices say the first line, then two more join in on the second, and then two more, gradually building to a crescendo until the entire class says the last line or stanza. solo cumulative simultaneousdramaticunison

10. Arrangement Simultaneous recitation In this case, group one begin the poem and recite it all the way through. When group begins the third line, for example, then group two starts the first line, and the two groups recite simultaneously until the end. Other groups can, of course, be added. solocumulative simultaneous dramaticunison

11. Arrangement. simultaneous dramatic solocumulativeunison Paul Fleichmans Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices and I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices are written to be read aloud by two readers at once, one reading the left half of the page and one reading the right half, as well as certin lines simultaneously

12. Arrangement Let be your guide. As soon as children learn that poems do not have to be read sedately through exactly as written, they will begin to find excitement and deeper meaning in poetry. simultaneousdramaticsolocumulativeunison imagination

13. Performance Action, gestures, body movements, and finger plays Remember the best audiences are close by – the class next door, the principal, the librarian, the custodian, or a visiting parent.

14. Poetry in the Classroom Conclusion In addition to the group activity, teachers can encourage an individual student to learn poetry by heart, voluntarily, and then to recite a poem in a small group or as a part of a group performance, perhaps around a theme. Jane Yolens collection of weather poems, Weather Report, could be a resource for this activity.

15. Students Reading and Writing Poems Learning to Write Poetry Read Silently The Classroom Library 1.Comprehensive poetry anthologies 2. Specialized collections by a single poet. 3. Books of poem on a single topic Students Activities 1. Making copies of their favorite Poems 2. Illustrating and arranging the poems in new and inventive ways. 3. Rotating the poetry books Learning to Read Poetry

16. Students Reading and Writing Poems Learning to Write Poetry Learning to Read Poetry Other activities: 1.Pair reading / making videotapes or audiotapes of their readings 2.Selecting three poems by one poet and finding something out about the poet; group discussing and reading three poems aloud. 3.Finding three poems on the same topic; then reading them aloud in small groups. 4.Finding poems of the same poetic form/similar poetic elements/slow or fast rhythms.

17. Students Reading and Writing Poems Learning to Read Poetry Learning to Write Poetry Suggestive books to start with: Poems on Poetry, Sunrises and Songs, Reading and Writing Poetry in an Elementary Classroom Group Writing Brain- storming Composing poems In pairs Composing individual poems

18. Students Reading and Writing Poems Learning to Read Poetry Learning to Write Poetry Children should be reminded: 1. Poetry is a form of communication. 2. Children should think of an idea, feeling, or event to write about in their poems. 3. Poetry does not have to rhyme. Children may write something of interest to them.

19. Students Reading and Writing Poems Other suggestions: 1. Personal and class anthologies 2. Bulletin board 3. Modeling the works of professional poets 4. Reading aloud many poems of one poetic form; analyzing the form with the students to reveal the characteristics of its structure Learning to Read Poetry Learning to Write Poetry

20. Reasons to include plays in school curriculum 1. Children often dramatize their daily lives and fantasies. 2. In playacting, children can give expression to hidden feelings. 3. Childrens linguistic abilities can improve. 4. Children delight in plays and playacting. 5. In a play and in a childs own play, imagination transforms reality and endows ordinary objects with fantastic quality. Section Two: Plays

21. Reasons to include plays in school curriculum 6. Students enjoy reading plays and are able to experience a story vicariously quite readily through the play form. 7. Reading plays aloud and performing plays are natural ways to develop and demonstrate a childs oral reading fluency.

22. Section Two: Plays Definition and Description Plays refers to written, dramatic compositions or scripts intended to be acted. Acts A Play Scenes The script usually has set, costume, and stage directions noted, as well as dialogue provided for each actor.

23. Section Two: Plays Definition and Description Readers theatre Creative drama Recreational drama Childrens theatre Readers theatre 1. Oral presentation of literature by actors – a narrator 2. Dramatic reading – voice and gesture to convey additional meaning 3. Generally no stage sets, or stage movements

24. Section Two: Plays Definition and Description Readers theatre Creative drama Recreational drama Childrens theatre 1. Informal drama – the reenactment of story experiences. 2. Spontaneously generated by the participants who compose and act out their parts as the drama progresses. 3. Generally no scripts are developed or lines read or memorized. 4. Process-centered form of drama Creative drama

25. Section Two: Plays Definition and Description Readers theatre Creative drama Recreational drama Childrens theatre Recreational drama 1. Formal theatrical presentation -- The development and experience of the performers is as important as the the enjoyment by the audience 2. School and camp plays -- examples of recreational drama

26. Section Two: Plays Definition and Description Readers theatre Creative drama Recreational drama Childrens theatre 1. Theatre for young audiences – A formal theatrical experience in which a play is presented for an audience of children 2. Usually performers – skilled actors production – overseen by trained directors

27. Section Two: Plays Definition and Description Readers theatre Creative drama Recreational drama Childrens theatre Elementary school years: informal reading of plays Middle school or older students: recreational and formal plays The dramatic processes of creative drama and readers theatre, discussed in Chapter 12, are also suitable for elementary grade students.

28. Section Two: Plays Evaluation and Selection of Plays 1.Subject appealing to children 2.An interesting character or two 3.A problem that thickens or worsens, but gets resolved satisfactorily in the end 4.Humor 5.Conflict between characters 6.Natural dialogue reflecting the personality of the character speaking 7.One or more of child-appealing characters – childlike figures, a personified animal, …

29. Section Two: Plays Evaluation and Selection of Plays 1.Childrens Book and Play Review: reviews of ten or twelve childrens plays as well as feature articles occasionally about the publication status of childrens plays. 2.The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People: bibliographies of plays as well as synopsis of each play, length, types… 3.Anthologies: a good source of plays for childrens reading enjoyment 4.Eleven publishers: see page 63

30. Section Two: Plays Evaluation and Selection of Plays The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) The Distinguished Play Award Best original plays A: for young people B: for elementary and middle school age audiences C: for the best adaptation The Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award A body of work by a childrens playwright honors

31. Section Two: Plays Historical Overview of Plays Catholic church: a means of educating general audiences 1500~ 1900~ 500~ Middle Age Church Dramas 1904 J.M. Barries Peter Pan The most acknowledged classic of the genre of plays for children

32. Section Two: Plays Historical Overview of Plays Childrens theatre in the United States has generally independent of the adult professional theatre, is community based with substantial contributions by amateurs, has suffered from limited budgets, and yet has tenaciously survived. Childrens Educational Theatre was founded in 1903 in New York.

33. Section Two: Plays Historical Overview of Plays With the spread of childrens theatre groups there was an increase in the number of published script: 1. 1921 A Treasure of Plays for Children by Montrose J. Moses

34. Section Two: Plays Historical Overview of Plays 2. Exceptional note: Charlotte B. Chorpenning (1872-1955) Anchorage Press Plays The Artistic director of the Goodman Childrens Theatre of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1931 until her death. Her contributions to juvenile dramatic literature were outstanding for both quality and quantity. Her observations of childrens interests at each age level are still useful to playwrights (McCaslin, 1971)

35. Section Two: Plays Historical Overview of Plays During the 1960s and 1970s professional theatre companies for young audiences began to appear. Extremely limited body of childrens plays suitable to their needs A rapid increase in childrens play publishing (Oaks, 1997)

36. Section Two: Plays Historical Overview of Plays Aurand Harris, an outstanding childrens playwright, 1945-1996, left behind a rich legacy of published plays that include original works as well as adaptations of folktales and modern literature. He is particularly noted for exploring different styles for childrens theatre. A vaudevillian show ( The Toby Show) A melodrama ( Rags to Riches), A serious drama that treats the topic of death (The Arkansaw Bear) The first winner of the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Award and the only playwright to win it twice, in 1967 and in 1985.

37. Section Two: Plays Types of Plays Traditional: drama, comedy, farce, melodrama, and tragedy Most common types Participation plays – a drama with an established story line constructed to involve structured opportunities for active involvement by the audience. Adaptation plays – traditional literature, folktales, fables, Bibles stories, and modern childrens literature are available from most of the childrens play publishers.

38. Section Two: Plays Types of Plays Original plays, stories originating in play form – fewer than one third of the new plays published annually. A preference for plays with stories never heard before The publication of children play growing rapidly Early 1960: 10 –12 a year 21th century: 200 a year

39. Section Two: Plays Types of Plays The natural play of children and the theatre are To make concrete the intangible To make explicable the inexplicable To make accessible the incomprehensible To make memorable the significant (Davis, 1981, p.14)

40. Section Two: Plays Types of Plays Plays help children come to terms with the unknown and the threatening and help to heighten their appreciation of the actual and enjoyment of the human comedy.