CIRCUIT PRODUCTIONS: Promoting Education in Music, Dance and the Performing Arts

PS39K

Poetry Jam: Camp Friendship April 22, 2010, 1:10 and 2:10 pm

Attendees: Donna Baker from PS 39; Elena Spurell and Everjean Ellerby from Park Slope Senior Citizens Center; Susan Goldbetter from Circuit Productions.

Gary Glazner: Poet, former Managing Director, Bowery Poetry Club, Founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, writer and teacher led two poetry workshops. Each group improvised under his direction. Here are some of the results from the audience including the attendees above and:

1:10pm show: 3rd – 4th grades with their teachers:
Cheryl Taylor - Grade 3-307
Lynn Bernstein - Grade 3-208
Janice Berkowitz - Grade 3-304
Eve Ottavino - Grade 4-305
Denise Racioppo - Grade 4-306

2:10pm show: 5th grade with their teachers:
Marlo Fedeli - Grade 5-203
Rebecca Herbert - Grade 5-301

Special Guests: The Park Slope Senior Citizens Center (PSSCC) and poets from the creative writing group of the PSSCC including: Diana, Harriet, Lois, and Cynthia.

Gary got the participants warmed up with “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll then introduced the first guest poet Diana who read her original poem, “A Big Bold Life”. Harriet read an original poem called “My Tree”. Gary had Harriet read her poem a second time. He introduced a technique called Call and Response. Harriet read each line (Call) and the audience repeated the line together (Response). The third guest was Lois who said she would read a poem that was a favorite of hers when she was a little girl. She read from author, A.A. Milne’s (Winnie the Pooh) “Disobedience” from “When we were Very Young”. The last guest was Cynthia who read her original poem, “Leo the Lion”. The audience roared their approval when the guest poets finished.

Moving along Gary introduced Edgar Allen Poe’s well-known poem, “The Raven”. One-third grader said her middle name was Raven and she joined Gary in acting out the words as he said them to the audience.

Next Gary introduced some poems by Ogden Nash (“Celery”) and Shel Silverstein (“Monkey). In the latter students discovered that the numbers 1-11 could be found within the poem. The poem was read again. In each line or two they found all eleven numbers. They understood that some of the numbers were a “play on words”. One example was “.......I was here before (number FOUR)”.

When Gary asked the audience, “What is poetry” their answers were:

“a song”, “a story”
“a rhythmic beat”; it’s a story in rhythm.
(This provoked a short explanation of iambic pentameter) or the “heart beat” in poetry
“poetry doesn’t know to always use proper grammar or capital letters”
“Poems are a bunch of words that if read correctly make sense”
“It’s a connection of words that form a story.
“it doesn’t have to make sense
“it can be a riddle”
“it’s a chance to tell people what you feel”

Gary cited two well-known poets in answer to the question: Robert Frost: “A poem begins with a lump in the throat”. And Dylan Thomas:” poetry makes you laugh, cry, or makes your toenails twinkle”. Students discussed what meanings these two poets might have had in mind.

Next was the creation of a GROUP POEM. Gary discussed how the seniors, in a 2-hour workshop a week before had created a poem together. He read the group’s poem and told the audience that they were going to improvise and create their own poem together. He would ask questions to elicit responses from the audience:
Question: What does water taste like?
Answer: Water tastes like nothing
Q: What does water smell like?
A: Water smells like salt. Water smells like fish

Here is the Group Poem created by guests and grades 3 and 4 of “Water”:

Water tastes like nothing
Water smells like nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing!
Water feels like a pool Water tastes like water
Or someone’s daughter
It tastes like............
It smells clean like rain........RAIN IN SPAIN
Water feels like summer
Water feels like summer
Hey summer! We’re waitin’ for you!
Water smells like salt
Water smells like fish
Water sounds swishy
Water sounds like Vegas............VIVA LAS VEGAS!
Water tastes like Sprite
Water smells like Florida
Water

Here is the Group Poem created by guests and grade 5 of “Water”:

Water tastes like nothing
Water smells like air
Water sounds like nothing
Water feels soothing – soothing –SOOO-thing
Water looks clean – real clear, like you can see through it
It’s invisible
Water tastes like water
(Louder) Water tastes like water, like an otter
Water smells like dirty socks
Water is refreshing
It’s like dirty.....
It looks like sand
Water crashes on the waves
Water tastes like.............it’s refreshing
Water smells like “slimy toes”
Water smells like garbage
Water.......OR an OTTER...........smells like an otter
Swimming in the water
Like wearing dirty socks
Water I can hear you.............RAIN
If I were dry my pores would open to you and shut
He gets his eye fried. Water can help us. Maybe do a sleepover
But water didn’t bring its pajamas
WATER!!

Group Poem created by seniors at workshop on 4/13/10. In attendance were Gary G., Susan G. and Alyssa Yankwitt (PSSCC’s creative writing teacher):

"WATER"By the Park Slope Senior Citizens Center Poets

Water is crisp.
Water is fresh.
Water is soothing or dynamic.
Water feels cold unless it’s hot.
Water looks like a clear sky.
Water tastes like chemicals, unless it’s pure, or Poland Spring!
Water smells like the beach in Negril, Jamaica.
The water tasted salty and coarse.
The waves as exciting as 4th of July fireworks!
Water sounds like a roaring lion- a waterfall.
Water sizzles like seltzer.
Water feels hard when you dive from a high cliff.
Water looks like a silk scarf.
Rainwater is soft as cotton on a baby’s butt.
Rainwater is soft as a whisper.
Muddy water is murky as a treacherous personality.
Water looks like a Van Gough painting, rippling surface.
Water is very blue like Jamaica.
Water reflects the sun like a sparkling diamond.
Water is destructive- it makes the Grand Canyon.
Water is God crying.
You can fish, splash, swim, snorkel, boat, float-
Water is entertainment.

Special thanks to all the participants, as well as those who helped provide the special event including, Anita de Paz, Paquita Campoverde, Serena Rockower, Alyssa Yankwitt, Denise Johnson, Donna Baker, Elena Spurell, and the PTA of P.S. 39K.

Written and Submitted by Susan Goldbetter, Circuit Productions, Inc.