Two Voice Poetry
I’ve always felt that poetry is communal. First of all, it’s accessible to everyone regardless of age, poetic experience, or writing ability. My six year old can write as profound a poem as anyone. Secondly, poetry is a genre meant to be shared and enjoyed with others. Poetry creates a sense of community and has the power to evoke emotions and build relationships in a way that ordinary prose simply cannot.
A poem in two voices offers a unique way to showcase two distinct perspectives or to compare and contrast two items, and it lends itself to being read out loud and performed for others. This type of poetry is usually written in two columns so that one person speaks at a time. The two voices go back and forth so that it becomes a dialogue or conversation between the two voices. If the poet wants the voices to come together as one, the words are either written in the center of the page or on the same line in each of the two columns.
Last week I introduced this form of poetry to my second and third graders and handed each pair of students a book with a collection of two-voice poems. I expected a few moans and groans (which I always seem to get when I ask students to pair up and read something together). I wasn’t expecting what came next.
For over half an hour, my students devoured these poems. They took turns reading different parts, they laughed, they questioned, and they passed the books back and forth (all while building their vocabulary, comprehension and fluency). Of course, we then spent another 30 minutes sharing our favorite poems with one another and performing them in front of the group. Not a bad way to spend the morning.
Our next step will be to write our own two-voice poems. Want to try it with us? Here are some easy steps to get you started.
• Choose two items, objects or people that have a relationship.
For example:
– Book characters (Charlotte & Wilbur)
– Family members (brother & sister)
– Animals (cat & dog)
– Seasons (winter & spring)
– Flowers (tulip & daffodil)
– Friends (you & your bestie)
You get the idea, and if you think creatively the possibilities are literally endless. Use the book list below for even more inspiration!
• Brainstorm some words, ideas or phrases for each of the items. Think about how the items are similar and different from one another. It might be helpful to use a graphic organizer (two-column chart or Venn diagram) to get your ideas in order, but it’s not necessary!
• Begin writing your poem, in two separate columns, so that each item has a distinct voice. Consider whether or not your two voices will speak together at certain points in your poem. If so, try writing those lines in the center of the page.
• Practice reading your poem. When you feel ready, perform your poem in front of others! If you haven’t written your poem with a partner, find a friend who will read the poem with you. Don’t forget to switch parts every once in a while. It’s always fun to hear the lines being read in a different voice.
There are also many other concepts that can be taught during this activity:
• Personification
• Determining point of view
• Comparing and contrasting themes, settings, plots, and characters
• Reading with fluency to support comprehension
• Using graphic organizers
Here are a few books to enjoy and be inspired by:
*There are six different books in this series including the original Very Short Stories, Tall Tales, Fairy Tales, Fables, Mother Goose Rhymes, and Scary Stories.
Two-voice poems could also be used as a response to another text or written to support an opinion about a topic or text. I’ve frequently used them at the beginning of the school year when we are first getting to know one another; it’s a perfect medium to begin building community and establishing relationships in the classroom.
It's a meowerful day!
And I've got another peek at my work day, this time regarding the writing of a poem for two voices. It's the only one I've written to date, but definitely a form I'd like to try again considering its extra-meowerful potential for performance.
Anyone who’s seen my blog knows how strongly I feel about reading poetry aloud, and poems for two voices give students a particularly rich opportunity to explore everything the language of a poem has to offer. Plus there’s the bonus of having a partner in rhyme to take some of the pressure off and to play against during the presentation.
one voice. Phrases written on their own lines within the columns are to be In “The Catnap,” each column represents respective individual readers, while phrases written on the same line are to be read simultaneously.
THE CATNAP: a poem for two voices
read by the a particular challenge because you have to construct coherent, engaging stories and poems using only Writing for vocabulary-controlled readers is patterns the child has already learned. Imagine writing a story without the words “was” or “to” or “for.” With such limited words and word always that the story or poem will be stilted and unnatural at vocabulary, the danger is dull at worst.
In this case, the poem would have been the last chapter in best, or nonsensical and the child (age 5-6) has learned all the short vowel sounds and simple compound words. You’ll note that Level 1, Volume 3, by which time the poem has a short vowel sound, and all are one-syllable words save every word in compound words – “catnap,” “sunlit,” “muskrat” – which are themselves made up of two short-vowel words.
Using so many for a few short vowels can make for a staccato effect, which might not be the best one-syllable words and poem about a leisurely nap in the sun. To soften the effect, I looked for thing in a sounds that can be held, like the repeated “f,” “sh,” and “s” sounds in the first five lines, and coupled them words with unvoiced that can be held, like “n,” and a bit of assonance and alliteration, as in the with voiced sounds slant of sun.”
Elsewhere, the staccato effect helps the poem show all the line “naps in a around the sleeping cat. In those sections, the noisy shenanigans are amplified by the use of chaos going on “ck” and the repeated rat-a-tat of the “t” in lines like “the fat rats harder sounds like to juxtapose the more leisurely feel of the “intro lines” of each section – as in “On the path tip the trash.” The idea is path” – with the faster, more urgent feel of what comes after. However, if I were to revise the / on the sunlit fewer of those harder sounds since they ended up being a mouthful.
poem today, I would use present a poem, whether for one voice or two, will find a lot of gold to mine in Students preparing to the poem: where and how they are used and juxtaposed, how they can be vocally manipulated, and how they the sounds of pacing, tone, and delivery. Playing with sounds will help you make the poem sing!
Extension Activities “The Catnap”
give clues to
• Write a poem for two voices. Although “The Catnap” does not strictly follow this format, many poems for two voices explore • Writing:perspectives and the similarities between two sides or “characters,” just like a dialogue between two both the different voices can be about anything: nature (like night/day or sky/earth); people (like teacher/student or catcher/batter); things (like flute/tuba or broccoli/ice cream); or whatever else you can dream up! Write your poem people. Poems for two lines alternate between the two speakers, with some lines spoken in unison.
• Reading/Performing:
so that the Mentor Texts... or, in this case, Mentor Videos!
High School students reciting and acting out poetry from Two of our
Paul Fleischman's book, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices.
We use this text to begin Voices poetry unit.
Another version of a GREAT Two Voices poem.
our own Two not specifically written for a child's audience,
like Joyful Noise, but is a wonderful example of This one is
what's possible with this type of poetry.
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Two-Voice Poem
Two-voice poetry is written for two people to perform. The poetry usually has two columns—one for each the page.reading the poem. Each person reading the poem reads the text in one of the person who is the two readers to say something at the same time; so the poet writes the words on the same columns. Sometimes, the poet wants line in each column. These poems often sound like a dialogue for two
people.Two-voice poems are meant to be performed aloud. Students can practice reading aloud two-voice poems in pairs or in front of the class. When preparing to write a two-voice poem, a teacher might
suggest the following:• poems should be written to summarize a key concept
from a lesson• poems may quote sections of text, but should also contain original ideas
and writing• poems’ voices should be balanced so that one speaker does
not dominate• poems can be written in the form of a
rap.This can be done as an in-class activity where partners collaborate on a single poem. The benefit to this is that students revisit the text together, discuss the concepts they wish to address, and collaborate on
Over the past several months, social media has been a buzzing hive of Tweets, articles, and teaching resources for The Outsiders, as S.
the writing.E. Hinton’s beloved classic celebrated fifty years of resonating with readers of all ages around the globe.In using The Outsiders as a whole class text this spring with a seventh grade class composed of nearly all boys, I began to explore juxtaposing the beauty and power of poetry during National Poetry Month, and authentic literary analysis. How could I use poetry as an analytical catalyst?
The answer came in an approach that I love because it promotes several of the pillars of writing workshop:
• Student agency/ownership of the writing process
• Collaborative writing and thinking
• Mentor texts as models for writing craft moves
• Opportunities for teachers to participate in workshop as writers
Poems in Two Voices are an excellent way to invite creative literary analysis, since by definition, they challenge student writers to take on the personas of fictional characters and to look at a literary work through the lens of their chosen character’s perspective.
As an invitation into learning about Poems in Two Voices, I shared a poem that I wrote from Johnny and Pony’s point-of-view during our workshop time, as well as poems written by former students.
Seventh Grade Literature
The Outsiders
“The End of Innocence: A Poem in Two Voices” by Mrs. O.
Ponyboy Curtis
Johnny Cade
Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold.
Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold.
Gold was my mother. She was beautiful.
Nothing gold can ever stay. My life has been black.
Gold is my brother Soda. Movie star handsome. He kind of radiates.
I pulled a silver switchblade, thinking it was for the best. Disaster from then on.
Beauty was the sunrise in Windrixville. There was a silent moment when everything held its breath. I did, too.
I remember Pony’s voice as he read Gone With the Wind. Dallas is gallant, going into battle like those Southern gentlemen.
I thought things could only get better, but we went from ice cream sundaes at Dairy Queen to the red Hell of the church on fire. We started it with our cigarettes.
I was a hero for a moment. Instead of being beaten down, I was giving life. Pony said Jerry thought we were sent from Heaven.
Johnny never thought of himself. We can’t live without him. The gang needs him.
I don’t want to die now. Sixteen years ain’t long enough.
Sixteen years on the street, and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn.
Sixteen years on the street, and you can see a lot. But all the wrong sights, not the sights you want to see.
Then leaf subsides to leaf…
Then leaf subsides to leaf…
We had a rumble, but in the midst of the fight I realized, I don’t hate the Socs anymore…None of us should have been there, throwing punches with a gang of future convicts.
Useless…fighting’s no good. I tried to tell Pony that. I have to get the words out while I still have a pulse.
Johnny was so quiet, I thought Dallas and I were too late. I thought Johnny was already dead.
“We’re all proud of you, buddy.” That’s what Dallas said. I loved Dallas. I wanted to die with his words in my ears.
Johnny was trying to talk to me. I leaned in, close to his burns, his closed eyes.
“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.”
The pillow sank a little, and Johnny died.
I see something on the horizon. Light.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
After sharing my poem, and giving students the opportunity to read several student written poems aloud, we wrote the following list of writing craft moves:
Writers of Poems in Two Voices…
• Look back at passages in the text where the characters they’ve chosen are actually speaking, or where they can “hear” their thoughts.
• Base their poems on a specific passage in the book, or make their writing a more general reflection of everything that they’ve read so far.
• Might give a voice to a character who doesn’t speak often or is silent. This allows creative license as a writer. For example, what would Bob say if he could speak to Johnny or Pony about what happened in the park? What would Johnny say to the children he rescued from the church in Windrixville?
• “Steal” lines or word choices from the book such as a favorite Again and Again, or golden line
• Sound like the character being represented
• Decide which lines will be read in unison, and which ones will be read individually
• Include important details from the novel to illustrate close reading
The end of the year is the perfect time to utilize poetry as an analytical tool.
Elizabeth Oosterheert teaches middle school language arts and directs the 8th Grade Theatre Troupe at Pella Christian Grade School in Pella, Iowa.
She loves reading and writing with middle schoolers.
Objective
Big Idea
Being able to analyze a poet's choice of words and structure leads to deep comprehension of the poem.
Jody Barnes
Columbus, OH
Grade Level
Third grade
Fourth grade
Fifth grade
Subjects
English / Language Arts
Poetry
poetic technique
poetic style
Standards
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Going Over Homework
20 minutes
When students enter today (hopefully with completed homework), we begin by going over the homework. The poem, "If I Were in Charge of the World" by Judith Viorst is a good poem to use to look at the use of punctuation by a poet. In some instances, she uses commas to separate thoughts and at other times she uses periods. The point I wanted my students to glean from the poem and the homework that went with it was the periods were used to create emphasis on the things she REALLY wanted to get rid of.
I have students take out their homework and we begin to go over it. The students were not great poet analysts, but they tried and I didn't really think they would get it on the first shot!! They had some good insight and seemed to really like the poem so that's a step!
Meet the Book!
40 minutes
Once we go over the homework, it is time to introduce my favorite poetry book- Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman. I open to the first poem and show the students how the book is set up for two people to read.
I call two brave volunteers up to the ELMO to show the class how it's done (try to choose your best readers or thinkers here). I just have them read a few sections so kids can see how it's done. After they "get it", I tell them that they're going to be allowed to choose a partner, practice a poem and then perform it in front of the class.
Today I just want them to read through the poems so they can get a feel for how it goes and then at a later date they can choose the poem they want to perform.
At this point I let students choose their partners, grab a book and find a spot in the room to practice reading poems.
Video: Student Practice
Class Wrap Up
10 minutes