Access to enriching activities for all children and youth has never been more important. And it has never been more challenging. Out-of-school time providers have outdone themselves in rising to the challenge. We’ve created a new web-page to share what we learn about programs offering virtual and social distancing activities, with regular updates through the fall.
This list is not exhaustive. We are reaching out to local programs and will update this post regularly. If you know of a program that should be added to this list, please contact us at mail@enrichmentalliance.org. Please also contact us if we have missing or inaccurate information about your program.
Writers in Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Adaptive Recreation‘s summer camp identified Harry Styles as a favorite musician. I felt that “Canyon Moon” offered an opportunity to explore descriptive language in landscape poetry.
As you watch this lyrics video, pay attention to the colors the lyricist uses.
(Note to helpers, YouTube might follow this with viewing with suggestions for videos you consider inappropriate. You may want to monitor minors).
Now read, “Girl Riding a Horse in a Field of Sunflowers,” by David Allan Evens. His poem is awash in color. The poet also adds some details from the landscape to help us see the place: sunflowers, lake, trees, brush.
Even though the song and poem are about scenery (moon rising in a canyon, girl riding through a field of sunflowers) they are also about feelings. Without coming right out and saying it, both writers let us know that they feel sad when they are separated from someone.
What is a place that you really love?
For the next activity, you will need an image of a place in nature that you really love. Here are just a few examples of places in nature: beach, garden, lake, woods. (A note to helpers: for poets who need visual cues, consider providing photographs of several places you know the poets love and letting them pick one. Or choose from this small collection of Place Images).
Write a poem that lets readers know what it feels like to be there.
Your feeling doesn’t have to be directly about the place. It can be about something you or someone else is thinking about.
Remember to use colors and details to help us see where you are.
Harry Styles repeats the same sentence several times. This is a technique used often by songwriters, but poets sometimes use that strategy as well. You might want to try repeating sentences in your poem.
These Pre-writing and Template pages can be useful in getting you started. You might decide just to do Page 1 and then write a poem without a template, but if you need one, pick a template to get you going.
A Note to Helpers
Some poets may need support writing their poems, but of course we all want to allow the poets to express themselves. Our Notes to Helpers offer suggestions for providing support only to the extent it is needed.
Firework is a song that uses a lot of comparisons to explain feelings. “Like a plastic bag/drifting through the wind.” “Like a house of cards/One blow from caving in.” Comparisons can make writing much more powerful than simple statements. How boring this song would have been if she had said, “Do you ever feel sad and insignificant? Like your world isn’t stable?”
Poets and Songwriters Love Comparisons
OPTION A. Grab a piece of paper. Write down 2-3 emotions, next to each emotion write or draw an image to go with it. An example from “Firework” might be “Sad. Plastic bag drifting.” An example from your imagination might be “Happy. A vase of sunflowers.”
Poets Don’t Always Say things Directly. Read A Blessing, by James Wright. At the very end of the poem, what do you think he is feeling? And what is he comparing himself to (hint: what could break into blossom)?
Write a Poem about Your Feelings
As mentioned, Perry uses a LOT of comparisons in “Firework”. Poets tend to prefer to use fewer comparisons. Pick one of your comparisons and use it to write a poem about a feeling.
Poets usually break their lines before they get to the end of the page. You can learn more about line breaks and white space through thisvideo.
Option A. Write a poem about a feeling. Use a comparison to help your reader understand what the feeling is like. Use some strong action verbs to talk about what you do when you feel that way. Remember to think about where you want to break your lines.
Option B. If you need some ideas try one of these Poem Prompts. And here are great “doing words” you might want to use in your poem.
