SPL tipsheets
Library Poetry Shenanigans
Elspeth Murray suggests some engaging poetry activities with these tried and tested ideas, to get everyone thinking about the endless possibilities for playing creatively with words.
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Activity:
SLICE A POEM
Make the Rules:
Piece together a poem or poems from fragments, each a line long.
Break the Rules:
Create remixed poems using the original lines in a different order.
Mix lines from two or more different poems and write them down.
Use a favourite line to start writing a new poem.
Extra Exploration:
Consider the qualities of the first and last lines of a poem.
Examine the final word of each line and think about any rhyme patterns.
Materials:
- Poems printed (double spaced) on stiff paper or card and sliced up line by line (preferably with a guillotine).
- Optional coloured paper to help distinguish different poems.
- Envelopes for the strips of poem or poems.
- A stopwatch.
- Poetry books as reference material.
- Paper and pens for copying out or creating new poems.
- Glue to save favourite remixes.
Timings:
Two or more small teams could race each other to piece together identical poems. This could be a simple 10 minute warm-up or, with variations and different rule breakings, you could get a good 30 minutes or more out of this exercise.
Staffing:
Do-able with one leader.
Age Suitability:
For younger children, use shorter poems and consider rhyming couplets. To crank up the challenge, a mix of longer poems – in the same font and on the same colour paper.
Publicity:
A poster with collaged lines from a well-known poem.
A challenge where people of all ages are invited to re-make a well-known poem against the clock.
Follow-Up:
Display the remixed poems. Lend the poetry books. Invite people to suggest other poems for this activity.
Consider using this activity after a session on memorising poems. Is it easier to re-make a poem that you know off by heart? Pick a random line from a poem and see if you can pick up the thread from that point.
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Activity:
MESOSTIC INSTALLATION
Don’t / P / lay withyour f / O / od.
Com / E
T / o the
libra / R / y and
pla / Y / with your words
Make the Rules:
Create a mesostic poem – on the floor, windows, walls or tables – using masking tape or gaffa tape.
A mesostic is like an acrostic poem but with more flexibility. The title word (or phrase) is written vertically and cuts through the middle of the horizontal lines, rather than spelling out the initial letters of each line as in an acrostic. A letter of the vertical word can be the first letter of a horizontal line, but in most of the lines it is within the horizontal word or phrase.
The title word or phrase can be a name, an author, a place, the title of an existing poem, a kind of food, a plant, a question … anything.
Break the Rules:
In many mesostics the horizontal lines each consist of a single word or, but in the example above a little rule bending means the lines have up to four words. Overall, this poetic form is too good to allow much rule breaking. Working out what you want to say about the title word – and figuring out how to say it with the relevant letter in the middle is important. Coming up with words or phrases that begin with one of the letters is kind of the easy option and should be resisted! Encourage a poem where the meaning flows from one line to the next. Collect ideas about the title word/s with a brainstorming session. Create the poem on paper before committing it to sticky tape.
Extra Exploration:
Consider the power of the first and last lines.
How does the overall shape of the mesostic relate to the title?
Materials:
- Paper and pencils.
- A smooth, flat surface.
- For short-term indoor use, including on walls, low-tack masking tape (cheaper)
- For other surfaces including outdoors, white, professional gaffa tape (though expensive) works well and looks great. Go forthe cloth-backed kind that tears easily and doesn’t leave sticky residue. Beware of the coarser, tackier,cheaper kinds intended for plumbing repairs.
- Marker pens, e.g. Sharpies.
- A camera because it’s going to look lovely!
Resources:
Mesostic Herbarium(Platform Projects, 2004) is a collection of poems written with the letters of a chosen plant’s name forming a ‘stem’ from which single word lines about that plant branch out.
Mesostic Interleaved uses authors’ names with the mesostic (written in horizontal sentence form) describing the essence of one of that author’s books:
Timings:
The writing part could take 15-30 minutes, once the task is clearly explained and people have seen some examples of mesostics.
Completing the sticky tape installation will take longer depending on the number and length of lines.
Staffing:
The installation part can be a bit tricky so two leaders is probably best for that part.
Age Suitability:
For younger children, work as a group around a title topic everyone can relate to, perhaps a place name. To crank up the challenge, try mesostics around writers’ names.
Publicity:
A poster featuring a Library mesostic.
The finished pieces will be visually arresting and will help to attract interest in future poetry sessions.
Follow-Up:
Keep a photo gallery of poetry installations. Invite reading groups to take part. Use mesostic installations to highlight other events you’re holding.
Activity:
Easy Foldy Books
Make the Rules:
Make simple 6-page books from a single sheet of A4 and fill them with 6 little poems, pictures, facts, ideas, questions … Including the front and back page there are actually 8 pages. And there’s a secret inside part too.
Making the Book
1) Fold a piece of A4 in half along its width. Do this again, and again a third time, so you have a chunky little piece of paper 8 pieces thick.
2) Unfold two of those folds so it’s A5 sized with the first fold at the top. There will be a cross of creases. From the centre fold, gently tear the paper to the centre where the creases cross. Stop there!
3) Open the A4 out fully then fold it along the centre length which is partly split by the tear you just made.
4) Here’s the tricky bit: push the two ends towards the middle so that the split becomes a diamond that you then flatten.
5) What you have now is basically your book, open at its centre fold. Now close it and press firmly on the spine. The torn edges should be at the top of the book.
Inside the book:
These books provide a format for any number of structured writing or drawing exercises.
Front Cover: My Library Book
On each of the inside pages – and the back cover – write the letters in one corner and use the following ideas to fill the pages.
L – A list of things I love
I– I am …a self portrait here, plus some descriptions
B – Books I’d like to read OR Books I have read
R – Rhyming words or lines – invented or discovered from poetry books
A – Several words beginning with A, starting with one-syllable and working up to longer and longer words – illustrate if you like.
R – Research – find out some ‘did you know’ facts from reference books
Y – Yelling and … and … are not allowed in the library (get creative, be absurd!)
Break the Rules:
Make bigger books out of A3
Materials:
- A4 paper
- Paper and pencils.
Evaluation
What went well? How clear were the tasks? How focused were people on completing it? What unexpected fun stuff happened?
What would you do differently? Would you use different materials? What took the most time? What suggestions did participants have for doing things differently?
Elspeth Murray
“I call myself ‘Poet and Wordsmith’ because for me it’s not just about writing poems, it’s enjoying the art and craft of playing with words. Wordsmith is bit of an old-fashioned word but I like it. As well as reveling in poetry projects, I also work with my husband Richard Medrington as touring Stage Manager for his wonderful puppetry and storytelling show, The Man Who Planted Trees. I grew up in rural Cumbria and Blairgowrie, Perthshire and have lived in Edinburgh since I began studying Social Anthropology in 1989.”
Scottish Poetry Library download your free copy from