RANSOM NOTE PROSE/POETRY

Eight times a term (or so) we have a special class where we get the kids into some hands-on fun stuff that we normally wouldn't be able to do in class time.  Random rosters are handed out to teachers, and my two English pals and I rotate our groups throughout the eight-class session. So far, I've moved about eighty kids through my activity, including the group I have now.

My kiddos are working on Ransom Note Prose/Poetry.  It involves newspapers and magazines along with scissors, glue, rulers, colored pencils, Sharpie markers, and construction paper.  Oh, and stickers.  Lots and lots of stickers.  The object is to cut out phrases, words, or letters, then arrange these random cut-outs into syntactically and grammatically coherent final products that we can decorate to our hearts' content.

The results have been spectacular and run the gamut of short verse to long prose to clever turns of phrases to some really interesting contemporary art.

I'm not much of a color-er, so when I see people with those coloring books for grown-ups (the complicated mandalas, the flower art, the elaborate landscapes), I start twitching and get the heebie-jeebies.  But, I have no problem sitting down and writing for hours and hours and hours, so every time I get a new crop of students, I start a new Ransom Note project of my own.  It's like freewriting with someone else's brain: until I start putting the phrases and words together into some kind of order, I truly never know what will come to fruition.

The best part is I've finally found a use for all of those magazines and newspapers I read.  I simply pull out anything that might be offensive or too mature (menstrual pad advertisements, articles about breasts, and anything that might deal with alcohol, tobacco, impotence, or illegal activity) -- Yes, I censor the material to a point, but, so far anyway, it hasn't stunted anyone's creativity.

I'll keep you posted on the progress once the more political articles come out closer to the primary.  Now, THAT might prove censor-worthy.