Session 4: My Name

This session leads the workshop into its first thematic phase: Identity. In the past, we’ve had diverse experiences with this workshop, but youth have always found its particular theme – My Name – to be powerful. Sometimes the discussions around the theme have been very engaging and insightful. At other times, the discussions have been one-dimensional despite probes and prompts from facilitators. In order to avoid such a situation, we’ve added a new activity: a focus write on the theme, My Name. We hope this gives each participant space for introspection, even for the quiet participants.

The writing activity for this particular session has been consistently popular. Its simple and the end results are almost always beautiful.

To see the session, click on Session 4: My Name

Session 3: Practicing Craft

This session starts off with introducing The Writer’s Notebook. This is one of the most crucial steps for participants to transition into poets. And its astonishing how ownership of a writer’s notebook can inspire writing.

This greater part of this session brings together a vareity of activities allowing participants to explore and practice the use of sensory imagery, similes, metaphors. Some of these activities are done orally and collectively, and some individually on paper. Feel free to mix methods around depending on the comfort and confidence of your group.

This session also includes a new activity which we’ve never done before – the writing activity “Five ways to Look at a Dead Crow.” This is activity is of course inspired by Wallace Stevens’ “13 Ways of Looking at Black Bird.” Other poetry groups and writer’s workshops often use this poem in different ways to instigate writing. Through this activity we hope to further practice metaphors, particualry uncommon metaphors. We wonder if this activity may be a little challengeing at this early stage, but lets see. It will be interesting to see how it goes with the group of boys in Don Bosco.

For Session 3, click on Session 3: Practicing Craft

Session 2: Inner Vision of a Poet

For a printable version of this session,
click on Session 2: Inner Vision of a Poet

MATERIALS

1. Literature: “Kabita Aamon” by Al Mahmud

2. Arts Supplies (Crayons, Paints, sketch pens)

ENERGIZER

Circle of Similarities

The group stands or sits in a circle with one person in the middle. The person in the middle says, “I stand on common ground with people who….” and then says something that defines or describes them. Everyone in the circle whom that statement also describes has to leave their spot and switch with someone lese, and the person in the middle finds a spot in the circle. The person left in the middle starts again. This game can be made as deep or as silly as desired, depending on the statements people make.

DISCUSSION and ACTIVITIES

1. Ground Rules and Contract

• Discuss importance of functioning as a community. (Self-respect/mutual respect)
• Talk about how Kalam is about sharing ourselves through writing with each other.
• It is important to start out with a shared understanding of how we will respect each other and our ideas.
• Brainstorm Ground Rules (Do this on a Chart paper).
• Write out all the ground rules every participant comes up with.
• After all ground rules have been explored, vote on each of them as a group.
• Write all finalized rules on a new piece of Chart paper.
• Have all participants sign the paper. This is Kalam’s contract.

Some Ground Rules Kalam should include:

• Don’t laugh at each other’s art, ideas, thoughts, etc.
• During Poetry Sharing Session, give full attention to the poet.
• Be pen to constructive criticism (in order to ensure improvement of poetic craft.)
• Cell Phones Off

2. The Writer’s 1^st Step: Know Yourself – Discussion

Where does poetry come from? Poets write from their hearts about what they deeply care about or about what deeply affects them. But sometimes we don’t even know what is in our hearts because too often other people tell us what should be important to us. Explain to the group that we feel the first step a writer needs to take is to revist their heart and see what is hiding, lurking, beating inside. It is a poets job to know the interior of her heart.

3. Heart Mapping

Note to Facilitator: Heart Mapping will allow the poets to visualize and concretize what they really care about, as well as, help sharpen their inner vision.]

1. Pass out blank sheets of paper and plenty of art Supplies.
2. Tell the group that they are to make a map of all the important things that are in your heart – visible and invisible.
3. Keep this activity as an in-session activity.

Thing to include in activity:

Memories, People Places, Things you love to do, First time you learned something,Trips/Holidays

Questions/Prompters to instigate heart mapping:

What are some experiences or central events that you’ll never forget? What happy or sad memories do you have? What secrets have you kept in your heart? What small things or objects are important to you – a tree in your back yard, a trophy, a stuffed animal?

Something to Consider as Maps are being created:

Should some things be outside of the heart and some inside? Do you want to draw more than one heart — good and bad; happy and sad; secret and open — and include different things inside each heart? Do different colors represent different emotions, events, relationships?

4. Sharing Heart Maps

Go around the room and ask participants share parts of your heart map – parts that you feel comfortable sharing.

ENERGIZER (Optional)

All participants stand in the middle of the room and facilitators announce two contradicting/opposing/dissimilar statements (Night/Day or Auto/Bus or Bus/Telephone Booth or Blue/Red). In a split second, the participants decide which statement resonates true to them run to the opposite sides of the rooms, each side representing a statement as designated by the facilitator.

POETRY SHARE

1. Read aloud “Kabita Aamon” by Al Mahmud. Pass out copies to participants.

2. Ask the group how they feel after hearing/reading this poem? Do they seem images, feel sensations from the writer’s heart in the poem?

CLOSING ACTIVITY

Check-Out

Go around the room and ask the group to “sign” how they felt about this session. Thumb up, Great Session. Thumbs Down, Bad Session. Thumbs Sideways, So-so session.

Sources

1. Explanation taken from “Group Games” provided by Pipeline Project, University of Washington
2. From Heard, Georgia. Awakening the Heart. Page 108

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Not to be used or reproduced without written permission from Kalam: Margins Write unless it is for educational purposes.