Poetry for Two Voices: Reading, Writing and Performing

Lesson Introduction

Using poets Phil Kaye and Sarah Kay’s YouTube performance of “When Love Arrives” as an inspiration, students will perform and write comparison poems for two voices. After a discussion of the unique structure of these poems, students will choose two things: people (like: teacher and student), things (such as: computer and typewriter) or ideas (ex. childhood and adulthood) to compare and contrast when writing their own poems. Finally, student will choose, prepare and perform their peers’ poetry in pairs for the class and the student author to see. 

Learning Objectives

In this lesson, students will have opportunities to:

  • View performances of poems for two voices.
  • Focus on tone and tone shifts, voice, contract.
  • Write poetry from different perspectives.
  • Use a template as a structural framework for a poem for two voices.
  • Advise and receive feedback on their poem and the poem they are performing.
  • Work collaboratively with student author and another student on performance.

Materials and Resources

To teach this lesson, you will need:

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