The Poetry Station, http://www.thepoetrychannel.org.uk/
The website is a compilation of video poetry recitations. I found myself completely in awe of the website for a good number of reasons. Having participated in a creative writing poetry module during university, I started to become highly sensitive and aware of poetry’s aural and performative qualities. These are qualities which I think both students and teachers might tend to forget and neglect, but they were succinctly encapsulated via the video clips of contemporary Poets reading their poems on the website. For older classical poems, the video clip becomes a multi-modal text as there would be accompaniment images to the reading of the poem eg William Blake’s The Poison Tree. http://poetrystation.org.uk/poems/a-poison-tree/
Here are three of the best ideas the website has exemplified:
1. Encapsulating Poetry’s aural and performative qualities
As mentioned, an essential part of appreciating and understanding poetry is to recognize that poetry is predominantly aural and performative. These video poetry recitations reinforce those qualities and would make the lessons more interesting and interactive. It would also aid the students to recognize and acknowledge that poetry consist more than just pretty imageries and that it is indeed truly alive. Here’s an original poem: Please Mind the Gap by Sarah Olowofoyeku which depicts these qualities really well.
http://poetrystation.org.uk/poems/please-mind-the-gap/#commentframe
2. Learning to read multimedia/multimodal texts
As mentioned in the above as well, the “cover” recitations of classical poems uses accompaniment images to the reading of the poem. This modern take on the classical poem encourages the reader to consider the significance of particular images that are used as well as the choice of background music to the reading, which teaches the students to be more aware of the skills involved in reading of multimedia/multimodal texts.
3. Contribute your poem
The website accepts both original poetry recitations and “cover” recitations of classical poems. In this way, the website is well-positioned to become part of an end-goal objective of a lesson. Students can collaborate in their groups to churn out a poetry recitation video and submit it in, allowing them to understand (and hopefully appreciate) the poetry form and the poem better.
I would definitely find ways to incorporate the website in my poetry teaching lesson plans, and hope you enjoyed the site as much as I did! (:
The website is a compilation of video poetry recitations. I found myself completely in awe of the website for a good number of reasons. Having participated in a creative writing poetry module during university, I started to become highly sensitive and aware of poetry’s aural and performative qualities. These are qualities which I think both students and teachers might tend to forget and neglect, but they were succinctly encapsulated via the video clips of contemporary Poets reading their poems on the website. For older classical poems, the video clip becomes a multi-modal text as there would be accompaniment images to the reading of the poem eg William Blake’s The Poison Tree. http://poetrystation.org.uk/poems/a-poison-tree/
Here are three of the best ideas the website has exemplified:
1. Encapsulating Poetry’s aural and performative qualities
As mentioned, an essential part of appreciating and understanding poetry is to recognize that poetry is predominantly aural and performative. These video poetry recitations reinforce those qualities and would make the lessons more interesting and interactive. It would also aid the students to recognize and acknowledge that poetry consist more than just pretty imageries and that it is indeed truly alive. Here’s an original poem: Please Mind the Gap by Sarah Olowofoyeku which depicts these qualities really well.
http://poetrystation.org.uk/poems/please-mind-the-gap/#commentframe
2. Learning to read multimedia/multimodal texts
As mentioned in the above as well, the “cover” recitations of classical poems uses accompaniment images to the reading of the poem. This modern take on the classical poem encourages the reader to consider the significance of particular images that are used as well as the choice of background music to the reading, which teaches the students to be more aware of the skills involved in reading of multimedia/multimodal texts.
3. Contribute your poem
The website accepts both original poetry recitations and “cover” recitations of classical poems. In this way, the website is well-positioned to become part of an end-goal objective of a lesson. Students can collaborate in their groups to churn out a poetry recitation video and submit it in, allowing them to understand (and hopefully appreciate) the poetry form and the poem better.
I would definitely find ways to incorporate the website in my poetry teaching lesson plans, and hope you enjoyed the site as much as I did! (:
[Roxanne]
ReplyDeleteI was first captivated by the video on the Homepage of a poet reading his own poem aloud. Like Shu Wei, I really like how the site tries to capture the aural nature of poetry. Furthermore, the videos of poetry recitations remind viewers that reading poetry aloud makes a substantial difference in the interpretation and appreciation of poetry. For students who dislike reading, listening to poems could be an way to bridge the initial reluctance to read.
I saw the site! I was captivated by the video as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really useful site that can be used in the classroom. It truly allows the students and the audience to see the real essence of poetry.
Hi Shuwei, thank you for sharing this website. I was enthralled by the video on the home page as well. Since it was done by a student, I figured it would come in really handy if I were to assign a task whereby the students are to offer their own interpretation of a particular poem visually and audibly. The videos that I found under each poet’s name would serve to supplement my teaching and facilitates further scaffolding – this allows for more learner-centeredness and boost students’ interest and confidence level as they realize that learning poetry does not revolve around mere recitation and cantillation (though these are fun activities that could aid students in developing aesthetic sense as well), that it can be represented in and complemented with various multimodal forms of text that add further meaning/impact to the original text/message.
ReplyDelete