1. Poems
We used the following ones.
- Collins, Billy. “Introduction to Poetry.” The Apple That Astonished Paris. University of Arkansas Press, 1988.
- Merriam, Eve. “How to Eat a Poem.” In Stephen Dunning (Ed.), Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle. New York: Morrow, 1966.
- Prelutsky, Jack. “Bleezer’s Ice Cream.” The New Kid on the Block. New York: Greenwillow, 1984.
- Stevens, Wallace. “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” In Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair (Eds.), The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (2nd ed.). New York: Norton, 1988.
- Wilde, Oscar. “Symphony in Yellow.” In Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair >(Eds.), The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (2nd ed.). New York: Norton, 1988.
2. Songs
Create an MP3 playlist or a mix CD featuring the following pieces:
- A small selection of movie theme songs
- Copland, Aaron. “Fanfare for the Common Man”
- Saint-Saëns, Camille. “Aquarium” m Carnival of the Animals
- Holst, Gustav. “Mars”
- Ponchielli, Amilcare. “La Giaconda: Dance of the Hours”>
- Saint-Saëns, Camille. The Swan” from Carnival of the Animals
- Mussorgsky, Modest. “Night on Bald Mountain”
. . . or substitute the songs you like best.
3. Sights
Put together an image file with various pictures of faces. One great resource is a book called Faces by François and Jean Robert (Chronicle Books, 2000). Alternately, you could just cut out some face pictures from a magazine.
Go to a local paint store and collect a variety of paint chips in different colors. Make sure you have at least one for each student in them class.
4. Things to Touch
Assemble props for the “Monster in my unch Bag” exercise. Take random objects (bottle cap, small stone, ball of yarn, and so on) and place them each in a paper bag. Assemble enough bags so that each student has one.