Poetry Unit
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Poetry Unit |
Here is a list of acceptable projects for the group presentation. The projects are grouped by type. You may not repeat a project.
*If you wish to suggest another project, please write it up and submit it. I'm always looking for new ideas!
1. Illustrate the poem - using any medium (watercolor, felt pens, monochrome, oil, etc.), illustrate the poem in a meaningful way.
2. Collage - using pictures from the Internet or magazines, make a collage that represents the poem your group choose. Be prepared to explain why you chose each picture and how it relates to the poem.
3. Picture book - turn the poem your group chose into an illustrated picture book suitable for younger students. Be prepared to read it aloud and explain the illustrations.
4. Mobile - turn the poem into a mobile. Print the poem in sections on individual sections of the mobile. On the flip side, illustrate the section. Be creative - attach visually exciting "stuff" that relates to the poem to the mobile. (Make sure it will hang in a balanced manner!)
5. Sculpture - make a sculpture out of modeling clay that represents something meaningful from the poem.
6. Photo Essay - take pictures that tell the story of the poem or illustrate the central theme of the poem. Mount them and write some text to connect them. (You may also use the digital camera and mount them on a web page.)
7. Sun/Shadow mandalas - (from Fran Claggett and Joan Brown's incredible Drawing Your Own Conclusions) - make a sun/shadow mandala that represents the poem. (See me for more detailed instructions.)
8. Postage Stamp - recast the poem as a postage stamp. It must be drawn of at least an 8.5x11 paper, so we can get all of the details. I have examples in the classroom for you too look at. You must decide what value your stamp carries.
9. Flip Book - draw your poem as a flip book. Make sure it is detailed enough to be meaningful.
10. Art Gallery - if the poem were an art gallery, what paintings would be in it? Why? (In addition to art books, there are many online poster stores that have lots of great art. You can cut and paste them into a document.) Find pictures of at least 6 paintings and mount them. Explain (in writing) how they relate to your poem.
11. Comic Strip - turn the poem into a comic strip. Your strip should have at least 5 boxes.
1. Script - turn the poem into a script. Be prepared to act it out. You are responsible for any props or costume you need.
2. Frozen Tableaux (from Jeff Wilhelm's wonderful book You Gotta Be the Book) - freeze into statues that represent parts of the poem - characters, objects, items, etc. Each statue should have a line ready which explains what s/he is feeling or experiencing at that moment.
3. Monologue - become one of the characters in the poem and give a speech that might be given by that character.
4. Interview - interview a character from the poem, the author, or the poem itself. Ask questions that get at the meaning of the poem and the reasons the characters act as they do.
5. News broadcast - Recast the events of the poem as a news broadcast.
6. Puppet Show - turn the poem into a puppet show. (Remember, however, that we are trying to make the poem meaningful in another medium - don't get too silly here ;^)
1. Letter - if the poem were a letter, what would it say? Who would write it? To whom? Rewrite the poem as a letter. Try to keep the same feeling and mood that the poem has.
2. Advertisement - write an advertisement for the poem. Remember the important points of advertising are the same as for writing - audience, tone, and purpose. Your ad must be illustrated. "Sell" your poem!
3. Fairy Tale - turn the poem into a fairy tale.
4. Diary Entry - change the poem into a diary entry by one of the characters in it.
5. Newspaper Story - write up the poem as a newspaper story. Use headlines, bylines, datelines, and columns to make it as authentic as possible.
6. Copy Change - copy change the poem by changing a key word, and making all necessary changes in the poem to match. What difference did this make in the tone of the poem? Be prepared to discuss the changes. (This is frequently done with William Carlos William's poem about plums - the plums are changed into bicycles or or kittens, and the rest of the poem is changed to match.) Thanks to Nancy Patterson for this one.
1. Song - rewrite the poem as a song. (You don't HAVE to sing it, but it would be great if you did!)
1. Heirloom Box - Find three items that represent symbols or feelings in the poem. Put them into an "heirloom" box, a box that might be handed down to your heirs. Include an explanation of what the items symbolize and how they relate to the poem.
2. Venn Diagram - find a poem with a similar theme or mood. Make a Venn Diagram of the things they have in common and that are different. Make sure it is colorful!
3. Book Review - decide what book that you have read that has a similar theme or tone. Write a speech from the point of view of one of the characters in the book about how that person would like or dislike the poem and why. Be prepared to give the speech.