Slam Poetry
By Sarah Thompson
On Thursday, December 14, Ian Keteku and Tanya Neumeyer, two poets from the Toronto Poetry Slam, led a workshop on Spoken Word for our Grade 10 students at LCS. In the words of the poets, “The goal of the workshop is to introduce, educate and immerse students in an art form most may be unfamiliar with (spoken word poetry), while at the same time building literacy and self-expression skills. Through a series of writing and performance exercises, students will gain a greater sense of connection with their own ideas, while developing the skills needed to openly express themselves. A number of techniques and topics are explored during the workshop.”
Tanya and Ian started the day by each performing a piece in the Chapel; they truly captured their audience and demonstrated the power of spoken word. Later, in just 70 minutes of workshopping, many of our students began to find their own voices and wrote something they were proud of. When writing thank you letters to the poets, students commented:
“I’ve never been very much into the subject, but your enthusiasm gave me the boost that I needed to push through this unit. The way you gave a detailed list of different styles and devices really helped me, and I believe that it will ultimately improve my work in a drastic way.”
“I loved how they helped us to write poetic sentences just with our feelings and thoughts in that moment. I'm so satisfied with my poem and they helped me to clarify some of my doubts about how to express my thoughts.”
“Ian and Tanya, I am proud to say that you truly improved and inspired my poem piece for English class. Before the presentation I was not very keen on writing or even listening to poetry, but when I heard your voices and how you brought the class to life, I am more open to poetry now. I really liked the writing section of the class where you had us sit down and write for 3 minutes. In those 3 minutes I wrote my favourite piece I have written for a long time when I had been trying and trying for hours before without success. I liked how Ian was very enthusiastic and it paired well with Tanya’s calmer voice.”
“Thank you so much for your time on Friday and inspiring us to make some awesome pieces. I think we all enjoyed your amazing enthusiasm towards the workshop and you made having a workshop so much fun. It would not be the same without your expertise and enthusiasm; it was a great class to go to. I enjoyed it very much and I got a poem I actually liked out of it.”
The Grade 10 students will be performing their spoken word pieces soon!
School Information
4391 County Road 29, Lakefield Ontario K0L 2H0 705.652.3324 admissions@lcs.on.ca
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Lakefield College School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12, located in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.
We respectfully acknowledge that Lakefield College School is located on the Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig territory and in the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations, collectively known as the Williams Treaties First Nations, which include: Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, Scugog Island, Rama, Beausoleil, and Georgina Island First Nations. Lakefield College School respectfully acknowledges that the Williams Treaties First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.
We respectfully acknowledge that Lakefield College School is located on the Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig territory and in the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations, collectively known as the Williams Treaties First Nations, which include: Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, Scugog Island, Rama, Beausoleil, and Georgina Island First Nations. Lakefield College School respectfully acknowledges that the Williams Treaties First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.
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