Wham! It's a Poetry Jam: Discovering Performance Poetry
TWIST AND SHOUTGET YOUR POETRY OUT Toot Your Own Horn Tune up your voice instrument with the poem below Notice it has a repeating line also known as a refrain and can be performed right from the safety of your desk Hang onto your hats and eyeballs the ride's about to begin Choose one two or eight jammers to read the verses of this poem and have the entire class jam on the refrain Don't hold back now Let's hear you loud and clear DOG DAZE You think the sun spots are more bright The leashes are less tight Over the fence and down the
You think there's not a single chore That nothing is a bore Over the fence and down the street I'm tired of my backyard I'm two paws up and thinking hard Adventure sure smells sweet Over the fence and down the street You call that loud Let's try it
Call and Response a Class Act When one person calls out a phrase and a group of people responds in unison that is known as call and response Poets and storytellers from Africa have used the call and response method of performance for so long that no one can even remember when it started Way before there were newscasts and talk shows before television radio or books the poets and storytellers of Africa told the news of great hunts wars births and deaths by performing poetry And since these poets had no computers or even pens and paper they memorized all their work The best thing about a call and response performance is that it gives everyone in the audience a chance to be part of the performance And no one even has to leave his or her seat The poem All My Fault on the next page will help you learn two important skills for performance 1 the power of group response 2 the power of memorizing OK I know what you're thinking MEMORIZE Is she kidding Here's the scoop about memorization If you take the time to memorize a poem you own it You'll be able to express it better andyou’ll give a better performance Why People can see your face and youwill be able to move more freely on stage Hey it's not so hard You know Mary Had a Little Lamb don’t
How old were you when you memorized that You can do this Choose different jammers to perform the red call lines in this poem Then have everybody join in on the blue response lines This will be easy to memorize since everyone has only a line or two ALL MY FAULT The guinea pig has fleas there are grass stains on my knees AND IT S ALL MY FAULT There's mustard on the floor and flies came in the door AND IT S ALL MY FAULT The milk is warm and sour all the bread has been devoured THAT TOO IS ALL MY FAULT Why when I walk into the room do you always start to fume LIKE IT S ALL MY FAULT Did Icause the national debt The creeping ozone threat IS THAT ALL MY FAULT How bout
