Wham! It's a Poetry Jam. Discovering Performance Poetry

Customer Reviews

Beginners to Poetry Jam's Start Here

2008-04-20
Holbrook, Sara. 2002. Wham! It's a Poetry Jam: Discovering Performance Poetry. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong Publishing. ISBN 1569379885.

"Show the world that poetry was never meant to simply lie quietly on the page, any more than kids were meant to sit quietly in their seats to read it." With this closing line Holbrook encourages teachers and librarians to try out the exercises outlined in this work to get kids up and performing poems from favorite poets and their own creations. The author includes her own poetry in this work to demonstrate performance poetry and include tips and advice to adults and kids on how best to perform certain works.

The format of this work lends itself to adults wanting to include performance poetry and poetry jams in their classrooms or programs. Each poem is paired with explanations on how best to perform the poem out loud, alone or with a group. The instructions are included at the beginning and end of each poem, and additional cues are highlighted in colored boxes of various shapes on each page. The author includes open ended questions to encourage children to think about how the poem sounds when performed with different tones and emotions and ways to include movement in the performance. Each page of cues, instructions and poems give teachers ample information on not only performing the poem offered but also encouraging children to want to perform. The work begins with poems suited to more than one voice to give children the safety of performing as a group. Holbrook then moves on to solo performances and how to instill the courage in children to give this a try.

The most useful chapter for adults working with children is "Get Ready to Wham: A Word (or Two) About Contests. This chapter provides useful information in hosting a poetry jam that would be a contest between performers. Holbrook includes instructions for who can participate, how to keep score, who the judges should be, the rules to follow, who is in charge of the contest, and other information to ensure a smooth and fun poetry jam for all contestants. The inclusion of this chapter is clearly helpful to beginners in the poetry jam field.

Holbrook's enthusiasm for the subject comes through loud and clear. Unfortunately, her chipper tone and dramatic phrasing could turn some young teens off. This book is best suited for teaching adults. There are a lot of good solid pieces of advice, instruction, and tips in this short work for teachers and librarians. From the use of stage space to the tone, rhythm and emotion behind the words to the volume and strength of the voice, Holbrook offers the right information to inspire adults to give performance poetry a try in the classroom or library programs.

GREAT

2005-09-26
Her daughter is my teacher and we did an activity at the end of the year with this book. It really is top quality. Very Good!

Another Great Book for Students to Steal From Your Shelves!

2004-12-17
Of course, I am not advocating robbery, but all of the books that I put on my shelves by Sara disappear. This book will be another of those. I teach high school English to 9th graders and her books have broad appeal with my struggling readers and to my honor students. She speaks to the adolescent in all of them including me. It, however, is a great book for teachers to use to begin working on the art of performance poetry and poetry slams with your students. So if you are not afraid of a little noise, enthusiasm and excitement in your class then Wham ---get your own copy to jam with Sara and your students!