Poem+for+Two+Voices

This assignment will be completed in class with a partner. First you will read and listen to the poem "Fireflies" from the book //Joyful Noise//, which is a Newbery Medal winning book full of poems to be read with two voices together. The greatest element of poetry is that it is meant to be read out loud, and two voices working together creates a powerful experience of expressing words, thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions and imagery. After reading and hearing "Fireflies," you will work with your partner to write your own. Here is what you will need to do this...

1. Click on the link below to access the online mp3 audio file to hear a reading of "Fireflies". This will give you a better idea of what two voices reading a poem together sounds like. [audio http://www.recordedbooks.com/audio/Joyful-Noise-fireflies.mp3]


 * source**: http://www.rbk12blog.com/2008/05/12/free-lesson-plan-part-2-for-joyful-noise/

Follow along with the poem by reading the text by clicking on the document below for a typed version. media type="file" key="03 Firefly.m4a" width="300" height="50"
 * For additional inspiration when thinking about this poem, listen to the song "Firefly" by Michael Franti. There are some great action verbs in the lyrics (remember that all songs lyrics are poems too)...this may help you come up with your own set of both active and passive verbs.
 * source**: Franti, Michael. "Firefly". //Songs from the Front Porch//. 1965 Records, 2002.

--metaphors --similes --alliteration
 * Also pay attention to:

2. Complete the Two Voices Worksheet (provided in class).

3. Using the worksheets, discuss the subject for your own Two Voices poem. Your topic should have something to do with nature (an element of nature, a season, creatures, weather related, trees, plants, flowers...) Use the PDF file below as a guide, however you should not simply repeat the same rhyme scheme/pattern and/or subject from "Fireflies".
 * source**: www.readwritethink.org

4. Type your poem in Pages, being careful to make sure that each line that is meant to be read separately is on a different level (you might want to use a table to help keep your lines organized), and that any lines meant to be read in unison are on the same line. Give your poem a title with quotation marks around it. List your name and your partner's name underneath the title.

5. Decorate your poem with images relating to the mental pictures you visualize when you read your poem out loud. Choose a song that you feel ties in with your poem's subject (it may have lyrics if you choose). Cite the images and song information using MLA format and include your citations underneath your poem. Print and turn in!