Essentials of Childrens Literature3 Poetry and PlaysContents:Section One: Poetry Poetry in the Classroom Choral Poetry Students Reading and Writing PoemsSection Two: Play Definition and Description Evaluation and Selection of Plays Historical Overview Of Plays Types of PlaysInstructor: Presenter: 20978L020

Choral Poetry

How to select poems and teach them to students?1. Selection2. Memorization3. Arrangement4. Performance

Selectionshort, humorous narrativelongerThe 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

Selectionshort, humorous narrativelongerAnd 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 LoserFrom Where the Side walk Ends

Memorization1. 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.

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.solocumulativesimultaneousdramaticunison

ArrangementSolo can be added to either of these presentations and are sometimes used for asking a question or making an exclamation.solocumulativesimultaneousdramaticunison

ArrangementA 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.solocumulativesimultaneousdramaticunison

ArrangementSimultaneous recitationIn 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.solocumulativesimultaneousdramaticunison

Arrangement.simultaneousdramaticsolocumulativeunisonPaul 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

ArrangementLet 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.simultaneousdramaticsolocumulativeunisonimagination

PerformanceAction, gestures, body movements, and finger playsRemember the best audiences are close by the class next door, the principal, the librarian, the custodian, or a visiting parent.

Poetry in the ClassroomConclusionIn 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.

Students Reading and Writing PoemsLearning to Write PoetryRead SilentlyThe Classroom Library1.Comprehensive poetry anthologies 2. Specialized collections by a single poet. 3. Books of poem on a single topicStudents Activities1. Making copies of their favorite Poems 2. Illustrating and arranging the poems in new and inventive ways. 3. Rotating the poetry booksLearning to Read Poetry

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

Students Reading and Writing PoemsLearning to Read PoetryLearning to Write PoetrySuggestive books to start with: Poems on Poetry, Sunrises and Songs, Reading and Writing Poetry in an Elementary Classroom

Students Reading and Writing PoemsLearning to Read PoetryLearning to Write PoetryChildren 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.

Students Reading and Writing PoemsOther 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 structureLearning to Read PoetryLearning to Write Poetry

Section Two: Plays

Section Two: PlaysReasons to include plays in school curriculum6. 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.

Section Two: PlaysDefinition and DescriptionPlays refers to written, dramatic compositions or scripts intended to be acted.The script usually has set, costume, and stage directions noted, as well as dialogue provided for each actor.

Section Two: Plays

Definition and Description

Readers theatreCreative dramaRecreational dramaChildrens theatre

Section Two: Plays

Definition and Description

Readers theatreCreative dramaRecreational dramaChildrens theatre

Section Two: Plays

Definition and Description

Readers theatreCreative dramaRecreational dramaChildrens theatre

Section Two: Plays

Definition and Description

Readers theatreCreative dramaRecreational dramaChildrens theatre

Section Two: Plays

Definition and DescriptionElementary 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.

Readers theatreCreative dramaRecreational dramaChildrens theatre

Section Two: PlaysEvaluation and Selection of PlaysSubject appealing to childrenAn interesting character or twoA problem that thickens or worsens, but gets resolved satisfactorily in the endHumorConflict between charactersNatural dialogue reflecting the personality of the character speakingOne or more of child-appealing characters childlike figures, a personified animal,

Section Two: PlaysEvaluation and Selection of PlaysChildrens Book and Play Review: reviews of ten or twelve childrens plays as well as feature articles occasionally about the publication status of childrens plays.The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People: bibliographies of plays as well as synopsis of each play, length, typesAnthologies: a good source of plays for childrens reading enjoymentEleven publishers: see page 63

Section Two: PlaysEvaluation and Selection of PlaysThe American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE)

Section Two: PlaysHistorical Overview of PlaysCatholic church: a means of educating general audiencesThe most acknowledged classic of the genre of plays for children

Section Two: PlaysHistorical Overview of PlaysChildrens 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.

Section Two: PlaysHistorical Overview of PlaysWith 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

Section Two: PlaysHistorical Overview of Plays2. 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)

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

Section Two: PlaysHistorical Overview of PlaysAurand 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.

Section Two: PlaysTypes of PlaysTraditional: drama, comedy, farce, melodrama, and tragedyParticipation 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.

Section Two: PlaysTypes of PlaysOriginal plays, stories originating in play form fewer than one third of the new plays published annually.

Section Two: PlaysTypes of PlaysThe 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)

Section Two: PlaysTypes of PlaysPlays 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.