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How to Fit Drama into Your Homeschool
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Having a special event
To change how your kids present
Can be done in a fun way
With a Poetry Café
Okay, so maybe I’m not a poet, but a Poetry Café is a great way to get kids excited about presenting their poetry. Instead of just presenting the same way you present every paper, you can have a special event that adds interest and motivation to have something prepared and to present it well.
Hi! My name is Danielle. After homeschooling my kids from Pre-K through high school, we have found a lot of fun ways to fit drama into our homeschool and love to share what we've done with you.
Something changes when you tell kids there is going to be a special event attached to them presenting, especially when it comes to poetry. In the past I’ve had my students read their poems in front of the class like any other presentation they’ve done. Sometimes kids would come unprepared or they just didn’t put a lot into the assignment. They just couldn't get excited about poetry.
Once we started implementing a Poetry Café, all that changed. The kids knew this event was coming up and that it was going to be special. We even had decorations, snacks and iced coffee for our junior class thanks to some helpful moms. Some of the kids got dressed up to represent the Beatnik theme we discussed. Others dressed up in something related to their poem or put in the extra effort to present well with dramatic flair. One mom even played the hand drums between poets to add to the dramatic effect.
(Here's a small room set-up and the Beatnik look.)
I would say most of my students are not poets, but all of them have it inside of them to come up with something creative. One of the things I loved the most about these presentations was that you would see the personalities of the students shine through in what they wrote about. They often chose topics they were passionate about or shared something deep and personal they had struggled with or a victory they had experienced. It was beautiful to see the hearts of these kids through their poetry.
One year, one of my students got up in front of the class and said the title to his poem was "I Don't Have any Ideas." Of course the first thought is, "Oh, no. He didn't write anything," but then he proceeded to tell us a poem about trash. Normally I wouldn’t think that was a great topic for a poem, but it was hilarious. Everyone laughed, clapped and cheered so loudly for his poem. It was a hit! So much so, that he was asked to repeat it numerous times that day and at future Poetry Cafés.
Another student after reading her poem commented that, “she got snaps, but he got claps.” In the Beatnik tradition, the snaps are supposed to be a quiet way to applaud the artist for something special. Unfortunately, this did not come across as special since the trash poet received an enthusiastic applause with a demand for more when he was done. This began the battle of the poems.
The next time we had a Poetry Café she wrote a poem titled, “I Got Snaps, He Got Claps,” and continued in a very passionate way to express how she felt about that experience. It was hilarious and the kids loved it. Our trash poet also came out with a new poem as he randomly chose words that he found around the house. Such creativity, and this came from a future engineer not a literature major! 😄
At our last Poetry Café for the year (we had three that year), most of the students wrote something heartfelt about their classmates or about their time in class throughout the years. They really personalized their poems taking this opportunity to share how they felt with their fellow students. It was very sweet to hear what they had to share. Two of the students were leaving, so they announced their farewell in their final poem. That was bittersweet. Poetry allowed them to think about each other and present something thoughtful instead of something random just for an assignment.
Amongst all the techniques we learned that year, Spoken Word was definitely my favorite. There is just something about the rhythm and the passion that comes from this style and presentation. If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend you look it up. It can be very dramatic and powerful. (There was a winner on AGT, presenter at the Inauguration, and college graduation speaker, just to name a few.)
One of my students took on the challenge to combine his advocacy speech from another subject with Spoken Word. If you haven’t met me yet, I love integrating subjects and ideas together. The results are rich in depth and understanding. It was beautiful as he talked us through his speech in such a rhythmic and passionate way. So much thought was put into it for him to produce this piece, and I believe the topic he was advocating for was remembered even more because of the way it was presented.
You can fit drama into your homeschool by giving your poetry presentations a little dramatic flair. You can even change it up with different themes like this Asian inspired Poetry Café.
A Poetry Café is a fun way to:
Get your students excited about presenting their poetry
Add some dramatic flair to their presentation through costume or actions
Encourage them to share their passions through their poetry
Have a special event to change the way your kids present
Ready to do a Poetry Café and need more details for the steps you can take? We've got you covered with Just Add Drama to Literature, Poetry and Writing curriculum. With this collection of dramatic ideas, you can have your students present at a Poetry Café and so much more. Students will have fun being creative during literature, poetry and writing time while still gaining important skills.
Want to know another way to incorporate drama into your poetry? Read Drama in Ancient Literature to add drama to the epic poems.
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Thanks for joining us!
Danielle at homeschooldrama.com