Welcome to the first day of Marking period 2.
This morning, during the first 15 minutes of period 3, please select up to two of your best pieces of writing so far this year (from September until now) that you would want to share with the world.
Details about the event:
FAQ's about the COFFEEHOUSE:
Q: What should I pick?
A: The performance is to show you off to the public. We like to celebrate the fact that you created something out of nothing, wrote down your ideas, and are furthering your education. As such, please pick a piece of work that you are PROUD of. Look over your work that you have done from September until now and pick a piece that you feel best represents you and your talent.
Q: Do I have to perform a poem?
A: No. Listening to 16 students perform the same type of poem is maddening. You can choose: Your interview story, your prologue story, your House on Mango Street vignettes, your 500 word short story, your slam poem, your found poem, a piece from your Glass Menagerie project, or any poem assignment, or any other fiction or script assignment we asked you to write. You can even perform a piece of writing we did NOT ask you to write, provided that you are proud of it and want to perform it.
A helpful hint: please select only one piece to perform as a requirement. This should be your top choice. Then select 1 other piece that you MIGHT want to perform. You will have about 3-5 minutes to deliver your reading performance. If might select 1 vignette or short story, 1-3 poems, and/or a combination.
Q: So, I just go and read, is that it?
A: No. All performances need rehearsing. To help you prepare for the event, we will spend Monday (and possibly Tuesday) rehearsing for next Tuesday night (Nov. 8). To help prepare, make some decisions about your piece. What moods happen in the story, what rate of speaking is most appropriate, which words will you stress, where will you pause, when can you make direct eye-contact, etc.? Decide and then rehearse.
Q: What time do I have to be there?
A: 6:45. It is sometimes helpful to get to a performance a few minutes before you have to perform so that you can get yourself ready. The Ensemble Theatre will be open at 6:30 for you to prepare.
Q: How long is the performance? Can I leave after I read?
A: The performance lasts about an hour and a half usually (depending on how many readers read--you will be joined by other creative writing majors in other grades--but you are the header. This coffeehouse is meant to introduce our Freshman class to the school/community/world). Please plan on staying for the entire performance. It is rude to leave after you've read. Tell your parents this is a requirement. Refreshments are served after the performance. Please join us for those.
After time is called, please gather your performance script(s), your belongings, and head down to the Ensemble Theater to rehearse.
HOMEWORK: None. Prepare for your coffeehouse performance.
This morning, during the first 15 minutes of period 3, please select up to two of your best pieces of writing so far this year (from September until now) that you would want to share with the world.
Details about the event:
1. You may read up to 2 poems or 1 short story (no longer than 3 minutes, please)REMEMBER: Effective performance is based on a few things:
2. You must introduce yourself and let your audience know what you are planning on reading.
Example: "Hello, I am Mr. Craddock and I will be reading 2 poems tonight entitled: Poem #1 and Untitled Poem #347."
3. Always breathe and take a slight pause between transitions (that includes your greeting and the reading or performance of your selection(s))
4. Perform your poems or stories with energy, volume, and effective speech techniques. You should be using the techniques and skills we have been discussing in class to communicate your idea (your poem/story) to your audience.
- 1. Preparation (rehearsal) -- knowing what you are saying and why.
- 2. Voice (how you sound: volume, pacing, pitch, tone, elocution, and appropriateness of voice)
- 3. Character (how you portray a character both vocally and physically)
- 4. Energy
- 5. Making choices. A good performer makes deliberate choices about voice, character, energy, tone, and rehearses these choices to deliver a solid performance.
- Highlight the best lines in your work. I should see a yellow glow over some of your best lines when you are rehearsing. (Be selective: not everything you wrote is your best line...)
- Bold important or key lines or words in your draft that you might want to stress.
- Italicize changes in tone in your story, or changes in setting--(that includes location, time, and weather or season), or changes in point of view (POV).
- Underline dialogue. (Not the tags--just the dialogue lines...!)
FAQ's about the COFFEEHOUSE:
Q: What should I pick?
A: The performance is to show you off to the public. We like to celebrate the fact that you created something out of nothing, wrote down your ideas, and are furthering your education. As such, please pick a piece of work that you are PROUD of. Look over your work that you have done from September until now and pick a piece that you feel best represents you and your talent.
Q: Do I have to perform a poem?
A: No. Listening to 16 students perform the same type of poem is maddening. You can choose: Your interview story, your prologue story, your House on Mango Street vignettes, your 500 word short story, your slam poem, your found poem, a piece from your Glass Menagerie project, or any poem assignment, or any other fiction or script assignment we asked you to write. You can even perform a piece of writing we did NOT ask you to write, provided that you are proud of it and want to perform it.
A helpful hint: please select only one piece to perform as a requirement. This should be your top choice. Then select 1 other piece that you MIGHT want to perform. You will have about 3-5 minutes to deliver your reading performance. If might select 1 vignette or short story, 1-3 poems, and/or a combination.
Q: So, I just go and read, is that it?
A: No. All performances need rehearsing. To help you prepare for the event, we will spend Monday (and possibly Tuesday) rehearsing for next Tuesday night (Nov. 8). To help prepare, make some decisions about your piece. What moods happen in the story, what rate of speaking is most appropriate, which words will you stress, where will you pause, when can you make direct eye-contact, etc.? Decide and then rehearse.
Q: What time do I have to be there?
A: 6:45. It is sometimes helpful to get to a performance a few minutes before you have to perform so that you can get yourself ready. The Ensemble Theatre will be open at 6:30 for you to prepare.
Q: How long is the performance? Can I leave after I read?
A: The performance lasts about an hour and a half usually (depending on how many readers read--you will be joined by other creative writing majors in other grades--but you are the header. This coffeehouse is meant to introduce our Freshman class to the school/community/world). Please plan on staying for the entire performance. It is rude to leave after you've read. Tell your parents this is a requirement. Refreshments are served after the performance. Please join us for those.
After time is called, please gather your performance script(s), your belongings, and head down to the Ensemble Theater to rehearse.
HOMEWORK: None. Prepare for your coffeehouse performance.
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