Spoken+Word+2013


 * Group Name: Spoken Word Poetry**


 * Adult Leader/s: Miyo**


 * Student Members:**
 * Karina**
 * Rachna**
 * Rosie**
 * Sabrina**
 * Ana**
 * Jasmine**


 * Goals and Objectives:**

In the Spoken Word Poetry Rensizzle Group 2013, students will explore a variety of poetry drafting, revising, and performance techniques in order to grow as confident and expressive creative writers! Our focus this year will be on women poets, as we are an all female group. We will explore the world of professional poetry at Poets House, a nationally renowned center for poetry, gain advice about writing and performance from professional Spoken Word Artist Verandah-Maureen Howard, and explore museums and neighborboods as inspirations for our writing. The week will culminate in a performance at the final Rensizzle Sharing Event. An additional fieldtrip to a poetry performance may occur during this week in the evening or in subsequent weeks, due to the scheduling of youth-friendly poetry events.
 * Activities:**


 * Monday: We went to MOMA PS1, an art museum, and there was a lot of art pieces that were very weird but cool. We saw different designs of art. We learned a lot of new stuff from the artist Mike Kelley, including seeing old artifacts. We made observations and took notes about the art pieces. Then, we wrote an ekphrastic poem inspired by the artwork. We also wrote an acrostic poem based on the word "poetry".**


 * Tuesday: Verandah-Maureen Sheppard, a spoken word artist, came to meet us and explore performance poetry. We practiced presenting our first lines. She showed us some of her published books and techniques for performing. She shared some poetry she's working on. We did an emulation poem based on poems we chose from a big collection of books Miyo brought in.**


 * Wednesday: We went on a tour around Chinatown and then walked through Little Italy. We saw different statues and learned about the history of Chinatown. We ate good noodle soup and had dessert from Little Italy. We wrote poems about Chinatown and Little Italy based on sensory details!**


 * Thursday: We went to Poets House. We saw thousands of books by different poets. We did a revision workshop with Mike, and he showed us sixteen drafts of Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art". We explored through the library and saw different books. We read tons of books, and each was organized from letters to genres to authors. The Poets House was calm and quiet, like a pin drop.**


 * Friday: We worked on our presentation and performance skills. We practiced speaking loud and clear and pausing for emphasis. We wrote a group poem about dreams and decided who would say each line. This afternoon we will present!**