Make a selection Health Math Science Social Studies Literacy Tips - Colleagues Tips - Activities Tips - Training Click here for a printer-friendly version of this activity. Go! Requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader won't you celebrate with me: The Joy of Lucille Clifton Preparation Steps Credits Preparation Grade Levels: 1-5 and older, with modifications This activity is effective with young people as well as adults. The physical warm-ups are more effective with grades 1-5, and with students with special needs. Prerequisite: Group leaders should read "won't you celebrate with me…" available online at http://www.thirteen.org/foolingwithwords/mainlst_clifton.html. Materials: If you have access to the Internet, watch the amazing video clip of Lucille Clifton reading from her poem, "won't you celebrate with me…" http://www.thirteen.org/foolingwithwords/main_video.html. Ideally, group leaders can introduce the poem to students through this engaging medium, as well. Students will need: loose leaf paper pencils/pens paper copies of the poem (optional) Academic Goals: Children will: participate in group discussions address topics such as hope self-esteem, race, gender, individuality learn collaboration skills Social Goals: Children will: work in small groups to compare information, coordinate together to write it up and present to class have an opportunity to view one another's work and comment on it. Steps Warm-up 1: Breathing (5 minutes) Begin with two warm-up activities that let students know that poetry is different from other activities and get them ready for reading, movement, discussions, and writing. To get students excited about poetry -- a living, breathing art form -- ask them to breathe in through their noses and out through their mouths three times (you may tell them to "smell the roses, and blow out the birthday candles"). Warm-up 2: Poetry is music, story, song… (5 minutes) Continue to prepare students by introducing the concept of poetry through movement and song: Ask students to stand up or sit up straight. Show them how to say and move to the word, POETRY: lift right arm above head and say the sound, PO lift left arm above head and say the sound, EH wave arms back and forth (swaying like a tree in the wind) and say the sound, TREE To say and move to the word, MUSIC: stomp feet or tap hands to the syllables, MU-SIC repeat three times Tip: It's helpful to say "music" musically. For example, you could sing it the way you sing "ding dong" to indicate a doorbell. To say and move to the word, STORY: put hands together in a half-clap open hands like a book and say STORY in excited voice To say and move to the word, SONG: put hands to mouths and move them away, sing the word "song" as one long high note This activity can lead to discussions about poetry. Ask students: What is a poem? What are the ingredients we put into poetry? What songs do you like? What stories do you like? Warm-up 3: Yes, and… (5 minutes) To get students thinking about the kinds of language poetry can use, ask students to find a partner or sit in small groups at a table. Explain that each person takes turns to start a sentence with "Yes, and.." It's all about accepting and building on each other's ideas, rather than blocking, which so often happens in conversations. Example: A: Yes, and it's raining B: Yes, and I've got a large umbrella C: Yes, and we can shelter under it D: Yes, and the wind is blowing us into the air E: Yes, and we are flying over the sea F: Yes, and we have landed on an island G: Yes, and there is a giant dinosaur approaching H: Yes, and we should climb this tree And so on. This can be a very liberating activity. It also introduces story telling, as well as a key poetic device, anaphora (the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses or paragraphs). You may want to go around the table 2-3 times until the participants feel comfortable. Warm-up 4: Anaphora (5 minutes) Depending on the age and ability range, introduce the word anaphora using physical movements. Hands clasped above head forming the letter A for the sound, A. Hands together to the left side of neck and head tilted to the left for the sound, NA (as in napping). With right hand, show four fingers for the sounds, FOR. Hands clasped above head for the sound, A. Do this several times. Make sure to use different intonations for each syllable. For example, NA can be said in a very soothing voice as if you are about to take a nap. Have fun with the movements, too and allow the rest of the body to dance. Introduce the definition of anaphora: repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each verse, phrase or paragraph. Clap out a rhythm and say with students: "Repeat, repeat, repeat beginning words." Do the vocabulary movement and clapping/ definition together. (A-na-phor-a: repeat, repeat, repeat beginning words.) Discuss how the game students just played, "Yes, and…," used anaphora. Ask students where else they have heard this poetic tool. You may want to remind them that it appears in advertising, political speeches, the Bible, and many other texts. Activity 1: Listening to Lucille (5 minutes) Watch Lucille Clifton read her poem (twice) on: http://www.thirteen.org/foolingwithwords/main_video.html. Raise broad discussion topics/questions, such as: Does Lucille Clifton seem hopeful or fearful? Do you think she has had a hard life? Who is your model? Who do you look up to? What does it mean to be different? How do we accept people who are different than ourselves? What is racism? How do we experience it? Who or what do you feel tries to stop you from getting where you want to go? You can also read the poem/download the poem from: http://www.thirteen.org/foolingwithwords/mainlst_clifton.html. If students are interested, you can then discuss the poem's form, such as Clifton's use of capitalization, punctuation, and line length. Note: It is very important when discussing a poem to not have answers in mind. Let participants develop interpretation skills. Activity 2: Writing (10-15 minutes) This activity is limitless. However, it is often fun and useful to write a collaborative ANAPHORA poem, especially if students are intimidated by the writing process. Ask students to think of something they celebrate or want others to celebrate about them. Give them the line beginnings: Come celebrate with me (that everyday) I ___________________ Celebrate ____________________, ______________________, ________________ Example: Come celebrate with me that every day I get out of bed Celebrate mornings, sunshine and wind Note: Use of "everyday" is optional Ask students to finish each of these lines individually. They should only write two lines total. However, allow time for them to write more if they are inspired. Give them about six minutes to write and re-read their lines. You can collect and read all of the lines for them together. Tips: Make sure to read enthusiastically! You can discuss sequencing with participants, although these poems almost ALWAYS sound fantastic! You can also have them read their lines together, either sitting down or standing up. This poem can be used for a performance, an art project or just a beautiful collaborative poem! Make note that any line beginning can be used for a collaborative or even individual poem. Credits This AFTERSCHOOL EXCHANGE activity was created by Corie Feiner, a 2004 Pushcart Prize nominee who earned her M.F.A. from New York University and is a writer-in-residence in New York City community centers and public schools. A finalist for the 2000 Randall Jarrell and 1998 Sue Saniel Elkind Poetry Prizes, her poetry has appeared in Kalliope, Caylx, Runes, 5 AM, and Phoebe, among other literary journals. She is the author of Radishes into Roses (Linear Arts Press, 1997) and is currently completing the poetic memoir, Maw-Maw. < Back to Afterschool Exchange Activities & Tips main © 2003-2006 Educational Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved.