Run a Recitation Contest [1]
[2]Poetry In Voice runs two recitation competitions:
- a junior competition [3], for students in grades 6-8, which takes place in the Fall and
- a senior competition [4], for students in grades 9-12, which takes place in the Winter and Spring
If this is your first year, you might work with one student or a small, enthusiastic group as an extra-curricular activity. Our hope is that eventually, the competitions will become anticipated events in your school’s calendar.
Do your students want to compete in teams? You can check out this lesson plan [5] and contact Poetry In Voice [6] to see if a Team Regional event is planned in your area.
When you’re planning your classroom contest [7] and school contest [8], keep these points in mind:
DOUBLE-CHECK THE RULES AND DEADLINES
Review our general rules, the rules that apply to your contest (junior or senior) and this year's deadlines [9]
Feel free to adapt our materials for your students, but in order for students to compete in the Junior Online Finals or the Online Qualifiers and National Finals, their participation will be governed by our rules and their recitations will be judged [10] using our Scoring Rubric [11] and our Accuracy Score Sheet [12].
Schedule your classroom contest:
- anytime between September and the end of November for the Junior Competition
- anytime between December and late winter for the Senior Competition
If you have any questions, contact us [13].
DETERMINE THE SIZE OF THIS YEAR'S CONTEST
Depending on the level of interest at your school, you can run a contest in just one class or you can work with other educators to run the contest across several classes or grades. If there are students in grades 6 through 12 at your school, you can also run a junior competition AND a senior competition.
Drama teachers, debate coaches, librarians, and language teachers have all run the competition. See if anyone at your school is interested in working with you.
DETERMINE YOUR SCHOOL'S STREAMS
In both the Junior Competition and the Senior Competition, we offer students three competition streams: English, Bilingual, and French.
Check with the French teachers at your school to see if they would like to run the competition as well.