Creating Our Own Joyful Noise: Presenting a Poem from the Book
Objective
Big Idea
Who Needs Some Time?
Today is the day the students have been waiting and practicing for- Poem Day! The students enter the room nervously anxious to present their poems to their classmates. I take a quick poll and ask who would like a bit of time to practice and review their poems. Instantly, all hands shoot up!
I give the students 15 minutes to practice one more time and then we begin the show.
On With the Show!
Once all the teams are quite prepared, we gather back together and ask for volunteers to read their poems. Most of the pairs have their hands up- they all seem ready. I choose the first pair to go and then have them choose the next pair and so on and so forth.
One thing I did to keep the "audience" engaged was to have the presenters say the name of their poem as well as what page it was on and then to have the other students turn to the poem and read it silently in their heads as it was being presented. This seemed to cut down on the inattention during each reading.
The students were also going to be responsible for completing a Glow and a Grow for the pair of their choosing. Telling students that they have a task to complete after a presentation also helps to keep them focused.
Ready, Set, Evaluate!
After the presentations, I allow time for the students to complete their evaluations of the presentations. I collect each evaluation before I share them with the pairs to avoid any comments that may be hurtful or inappropriate. After I read through them, I make a copy for each person in the pair and hand them out the next time we have class.
