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Workshop on Performing Poetry at Secondary Level Language Learning Support Section 21 st October 2006

A Diamond Poem Speech Festival solo choral articulating rehearsing performing competition verse-speaking celebration curriculum understanding appreciating learning integrated creative English Teaching

Getting Ready to Teach the Poem for Performance

Understanding the Poem

Activity 1 Matching You have been given a copy of the poem “ The Listeners ” by Walter de la Mare ” In the envelope on your table is a “ modernized ” version of the poem, cut up into sections Match the sections of the “ modernized ” version with the original version

Activity 1 Matching 1. C 2. H 3. F 4. A 5. D J G B I E

9 “ The Listeners ” by Walter de la Mare Now, listen to a reading of the poem After listening, share the following with a partner: Did you find the poem challenging? If so, in what ways? What problems do you anticipate in (a) (a) teaching the poem? (b) (b) performing it?

Challenges Poems can be difficult to understand because of: 1. The language – Grammatical omission or contraction – Inversion – Old-fashioned vocabulary and structures 2. The poetic features 3. The compressed way of expression 4. The reader’s lack of some background knowledge

Challenging language from “The Listeners” Never the least stir made the listeners. Though every word he spake … Inversion Old English Contraction ‘Neath the starred and leafy sky … Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken … And he smote upon the door again a second time … And his horse in the silence champed the grasses And (he could hear) his horse champing the grasses in the silence The listeners never made the least stir. And he knocked on the door again a second time … Listening in an air stirred and shaken … Though every word he spoke … Beneath the starred and leafy sky …

Activity 2 Work in pairs to study the poem

Analysing the poem - meaning 1. A horseman’s strange encounter in the woods 2. A narrative poem 3. Quiet, but tense and eerie 4. Narrator, traveller 5. The traveller is perplexed, nervous and scared 6. Moonlight, empty house with foliage, shadows in the hallway 7. Mainly senses of hearing and sight 8. Living creatures vs. ghostly listeners 9. One long stanza 1. Subject matter – what is the poem about? 2. What type of poem is it? 3. What is the mood? Is it serious or lighthearted? 4. How many speakers are there? 5. What feelings do they express? 6. What visual images are created with the words? 7. Does the poet play on the senses? 8. Is there any contrast within the poem? 9. What is the structure of the poem?

Analysing the poem - sound 1. Does the poem rhyme? 2. How are the sound, rhythm and pace? 3. Does the sound system help to emphasize the mood? 4. Are there any special sound features (e.g. alliteration, onomatopoeia) 1. Yes, alternate lines rhyme in pairs 2. Sound: soft and quiet. Rhythm: smooth Pace – generally slow, but moving fast when tension intensifies 3. Yes, the quiet and mysterious atmosphere is emphasized. 4. Alliteration “forest’s ferny floor”, “silence surged softly backward”

Analysing the poem - structure For each section, discuss the following Is it narrative or descriptive? What is happening? (narrative) What is being described? (descriptive)

Narrative – traveller speaks Descriptive – sets the scene Narrative – traveller speaks Descriptive –scene outside house Descriptive – the atmosphere inside the house Descriptive– traveller’s feelings Descriptive – scene outside Narrative – traveller’s response Descriptive – the atmosphere inside the house The traveller leaves and silence returns

Teaching the Poem

Consider the following… How can you help your students to – understand and visualise the poem? – respond to the poem? (What kind of response will you aim for? What prompting questions to use?) – learn and appreciate the significant poetic devices in it? – express the poem with imagination and feeling?

Teaching strategies  Use pictures, realia, music, context, etc to set the mood and help students understand the meaning and visualise the poem.  Employ different strategies and activities at different stages of the lesson to  encourage students to respond to the poem: commenting on the ideas, themes and events relating these to their own experience discussing or writing something related to the poem  extend their experience in using the language  teach poetic features  Read aloud the poem for students to focus on the sound imagery.

Visualising and understanding Show students pictures which convey some aspects of the scene described in the poem. Ask questions about the pictures. Some music or soundscape could also be used. Read through the poem and let them listen. (Possibly with scary background music) Ask very general questions to make sure they have grasped the gist of what the poem is about. – Who are the “Listeners” of the title? – How does the traveller feel? – Why does he go to that house? – What does he do in the end?

Studying the language Sequencing a “modern English” version of the story in the poem. Sequencing Matching “Old English” and other difficult vocabulary items with modern or more common equivalents. Matching Ask students to underline those parts of the poem where there are sounds (champing, sound of iron on stone etc.)

Working on meaning and images Give students a list of things which are inside and things which are outside the house. They have to put them in the correct columns or boxes.list Use this to show how the author makes a contrast between the living creatures outside and the ghosts behind the door in the haunted house. Sounds and movement outside and ghosts inside etc.

Responding to the poem  Ask students to Draw the inside of the house (use the picture to represent the outside) Make a tableau of the scene in the poem, with ghosts inside and traveller outside Identify sounds in the poem and perform the poem with recorded or home made sound effects  The background (why the traveller came to the house, what promise he had made) is not explained. Ask students to make it up.  Alternatively, write about what the ghosts did next.

Performing the Poem (Solo verse-speaking)

Have a Go! Read the poem aloud with your partner – The first person reads lines 1-16 – The second person reads lines Make a mental note: What difficulties do you face in actually performing the poem? How would you help students to overcome them?

Teacher’s preparation  Analyse the structure of the poem for a good understanding --- this determines how it should be read.  Note  How many voices are speaking  Any sound that may be problematic to the students  Long and short vowels  Problem sounds for Chinese speakers (‘th, l, r’)  Final consonants --- (e.g.‘ed’ sound after voiced consonants -- champed, leaf-fringed)  Consonant clusters (e.g. cropping, thronging)  Check the pronunciation of any words in doubt Meaning Sound

Teacher’s preparation (2)  Mark the following:  Rhyming words  Pauses --- with end-on lines  Stresses  Syllable stress --- work out the basic rhythmic pattern  Words stress key words in every line words / phrases that carry special meaning words that convey the mood  Work out the general mood of the whole poem and note any changes in it.

Teacher’s preparation (3)  Read aloud the poem to yourself and listen:  Is the rhythmic pattern regular or irregular?  What is the effect of the sound pattern?  Does the pattern match the mood of the poem? Do you want to introduce some variations to break the pattern?  Experiment with different ways to say the poem.  Does your expression match the meaning you want to put across?  Is the student able to say it as you wish? Sound it out

Performing Techniques  Use contrast to enliven the reading APEAPE lternate ause mphasize  Saying it louder, slower and dramatically Wait for a specific silent ‘beats’ before continuing  fast & slow lines/stanzas  loud & soft lines  heavy & light voices  staccato & smooth rhythms  high and low pitches   Make suitable use of facial expression and gesture key words, sense words, onomatopoeia …key words, sense words, onomatopoeia … climax / punch lineclimax / punch line

Activity 3 Listen and Note Listen to the reading and complete the following on the poem sheet 1.Circle the words that are stressed for special emphasis 2. 2.Indicate the pauses with one or two slashes

Rehearsing the Poem

Rehearsing with the students Help students to visualise the poem and project themselves into the alternate roles/ voices. Model read the poem --- Use a tape to tune them in if necessary. Instruct students to mark the phrasing, stress, intonation and inflection patterns on the poem sheet.mark Listen to the students and work on any speech defects, if any. Ensure that students have mastered the pronunciation before working on the feeling, rhythm, intonation, etc. Encourage students to experiment with the reading and practise with one another. Peer support/learning

-- -- / / / (--) -- “Is there anybody there?” said the Traveller, / / -- / Knocking on the moonlit door:

Choral Speaking

What is Choral Speaking? A group of people reciting in unison? A group of speakers expressing their interpretation of a poem imaginatively from memory Unity Presentation: controlled, unified and harmonized The outcome of concerted efforts and repeated rehearsals + variations Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

Techniques for Choral Speaking

Techniques (1)  Orchestration – Use different voices for special effects.  Listen to students’ voices and group them accordingly: Light or dark High or low Rough or smooth Melodious or monotonous  Divide poem into chorus small groups solo lines or phrases character lines  Use conducting to synchronize the speech

Techniques (2)  Achieve extra effects with judicious use of  Gestures  All speakers using simultaneous gestures  Individuals / small groups gesticulating on certain words / lines  Postures (and hand position)  Train learners to show their concentration and enjoyment through synchronized speech, eye contact, posture and facial expressions.  Sound effects  Percussion  Vocal effects  Music  Costumes or props

Techniques (3)  Make pleasant grouping for better vocal and visual effects  Position the students according to voice quality to  create a stereo effect  form shapes to highlight the theme  Shapes or grouping can be changed to show a change of mood or meaning  Scatter solo speakers among the group, but place character speakers together in the front row  All speakers must be seen --- arrange them according to height on risers  Practise entering and exiting the stage --- The performance begins as soon as their names are called and finishes only when they sit down.

Show Time ! You are going to watch the performance of choral group:  Haunted (by Shel Silverstein) While you watch, take a mental note of the strengths and weaknesses of the performance

From analysis to orchestrating Study the poem and analyse its structure - -- focus on the gist and special features of each stanza Plan how it can be read to best convey the meaning Design the orchestration Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 36

Haunted -- Analysis challenge make- believe spooky descriptions showing courage backing down: back to reality

Haunted – Reading style

Haunted - orchestration

Practical Work

Your Turn Now! Suppose you are to prepare your class for performing a poem at a school function and you have the following poems for consideration: Cat Began Hong Kong is Full of People Listen to the poems and comment on their suitability for solo or choral work. Listen to the poems and comment on their suitability for solo or choral work. Please refer to the yellow ‘poem analysis sheets’ for the text

Before making your decision  Study the poem and analyse – its structure (gist and purpose of each stanza) – how it can be read – how to orchestrate it for choral work  Experiment how to read it out according to your interpretation

Working Together Get into pairs or groups. Get into pairs or groups. Work on one of the poems. Work on one of the poems. Make notes on the poem analysis sheet

Practical Tips

On choice of poems  Poems that are relevant to students’ interest and experience  Poems that match students’ gender, age, voice quality and personality.  Different occasions and purposes call for different poemsdifferent poems For choral work   Poems with variety, contrasts and repetition (refrain)   Narrative poems are good as a start   Avoid ‘static’ and abstract poems   Not poems with ‘I’ as the subject (but modification could be done sometimes).

Poems that you can manage you can manage suit your students suit your students Traditional and contemporary poems with significant poetic features and meaning Traditional and contemporary poems with significant poetic features and meaning Poems that motivate motivate relate thematically to the modules relate thematically to the modules The HK Schools Speech Festival NSS elective module Integrating with curriculum School Performance Poems that are fun, dramatic and allow room for exploitation

On solo verse-speaking  Do not give explanation and instruction only --- Students must visualise and appreciate the poem before they can speak it meaningfully.  Don’t teach verse by verse ---This causes a lack of continuity. Students can’t get a feeling of the poem as a whole.  Rehearse section by section --- Focus on one thing at a time. Allow students time to internalize, experiment and improve on their own.  Never allow premature memorization --- Memorizing the words without proper interpretation and feeling is disastrous and it’s difficult to undo any mistakes.

On choral speaking  Orchestration must be the product of analysis and interpretation.  Introduce orchestration only at the final stage of rehearsal --- Every speaker must know the whole poem to maintain harmony in the speech.  Work on a harmonious blend of voices and synchronized movements to show good co- ordination.  The speakers should look involved, confident and relaxed.  Maintain good discipline at all times.

Key to Success

SUCCESS !  Clear speech and accurate pronunciation are of paramount importance.  A touch of drama is essential. Never overdo any extra effects --- they should add to and not distract from the poem.  It is important that students enjoy the choral work --- Know when to stop.  Aim not at perfection, but spontaneity and flexibility --- Adapt your expectation and treatment to bring out the best in the students. But for school functions, extra effects help to deliver the meaning clearly and may be more appealing!

Selected Anthologies of Poems 1. Mike Murphy (1979) Rhythm and Rhyme. Hong Kong Institute of Education, HK. 2. Paul Cookson (ed.)(2005) The Poetry Store. London, Hodder Children’s Books 3. Michael Rosen (ed.) (2003) A World of Poetry. London, Kingfisher 4. Brian Pattern (ed.) (1998) The Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry. London, Puffin Books 5. Michael Harrison & Christopher Stuart-Clark (eds.)(1999) The New Oxford Treasury of Children’s Poems. Oxford, Oxford University Press 6. Sadler, Hayllar, Powell (1981) Enjoying Poetry. South Yarra, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd 7. Michael Rosen (ed.) (1985) The Kingfisher Book of Children’s Poetry. London, Kingfisher Publications Plc

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