EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH TOUR - FALL 2019 EDUCATION PACK — THE THEATRE

What is the Fall 2019 Educational Outreach Tour?

Every fall, the Montana Repertory Theatre, a professional theatre company in residence at the University of Montana’s School of Theatre & Dance in Missoula, MT, tours a short play and accompanying workshop to Middle and High schools across Montana. The plays we choose or commission are educational in nature, inspired by the Montana State Middle and High School curriculum, and, although, our target audience is Montana students, ages 11-18 years of age, it is not unusual for us to also perform for community colleges, arts organizations and local libraries across the state of Montana as well. For More Information Please Contact:

Teresa Waldorf / Educational Outreach Coordinator (406) 243-2854 / [email protected] www.montanarep.com

SPECIAL THANKS to the New York City Children’s Theatre for the use of their original education packet materials and for creating this beautiful play.

MONTANA REPERTORY THEATRE 2019-2020 SEASON

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 2 LOVE THAT DOG — THE SHOW

What was up with the snowy Hints on Theatre Etiquette woods poem we read today? Dear Principals and Teachers, Why doesn’t a person just keep going if he has so many miles to go before he sleeps?” In Love Thank you for this opportunity to perform for That Dog, a one-person play adapted from your students. Our actors will give a curtain the book by , a young student speech before the show. Because we want this ruminates on the confusing, pointless nature experience to be as pleasant as possible for of poetry and the complete impossibility of a you, your students, and the performers, we ask person writing their own poems. But, slowly, that you also please take time to cover these over the course of this 50 minute play, a young basic theatre- etiquette rules with your students poet emerges with the help of a teacher, a before they enter the theatre or performance pencil, some yellow paper, and, of course, a space. dog. As always, the Montana Repertory Theatre’s 1. Please remain seated for the entire Fall Educational Outreach Tour promises performance. Please use the restroom to bring a highly theatrical and innovative before you are directed to your seat. This experience to your student body audience. This performance is less than an hour long, with year’s offering is performed by one actor who no intermission. never leaves the stage, with numerous video 2. Please turn off your cell phone. Also projections and sound effects that enhance remember that the use of recording the two distinct settings: the young person’s equipment and cameras is not permitted. bedroom and the classroom. 3. Please do not eat, drink, or chew gum during the performance. 4. Please do not talk to the actors on stage, or Questions to ask before the show: to your friends, during the show. Has anyone ever seen a play before? • 5. LAUGH, CLAP, AND HAVE FUN! • What’s the difference between a play and a musical? Please let the stage manager and actors know • This play is based on the book Love That Dog if you would like to have a 10-minute question- by Sharon Creech –what do you think that and-answer period for your students after the means? Will the show be the same as the show. book or do you think it will be different? • Has anyone read the book Love That Dog? Thank you so much for your support in creating If so, what are you most looking forward to the future’s well-mannered and appreciative seeing live on stage? live performance audience members!

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 3 LOVE THAT DOG — THE CREATORS

Love That Dog by Anonymous (inspired by Jack) Featuring the poetry of Robert Frost, William Carlos In Love That Dog Williams, and Walter Dean Myers, Love That Dog is we are watch watch watching a contemporary story about a boy who discovers the as Jack power of his own voice. Based on the book by award- the ten-year-old winning author Sharon Creech. video game playing boy discovers something new - poetry About the Author and learns to express himself Known for writing with a classic voice and unique style, in a brand new way Sharon Creech is the bestselling author of the Newbery We watch as he learns that Medal winner , and the Newbery poetry Honor Book The Wanderer. She is also the first can be for everyone American in history to be awarded the CILIP Carnegie can be simple Medal for . Her other works include the can be fun fun funny novels Love That Dog, , Absolutely Normal and can be sad Chaos, , and Pleasing the Ghost, and Maybe this is the way you feel about poetry too? two picture books: A Fine, Fine School and Fishing in As the co -writers and directors of this the Air. These stories are often centered around life, little . . . 45 min . . . play love, and relationships—especially family relationships. Jason and I are experiencing something new too Growing up in a big family in Cleveland, Ohio, we have been friends for helped Ms. Creech learn to tell stories that wouldn’t twen. . . twen. . . twenty years be forgotten in all of the commotion: “I learned to and worked many times before exaggerate and embellish, because if you didn’t, as director and actor your story was drowned out by someone else’s more but never as co–writer and director exciting one.” so we are discovering something new a new way to collaborate together We think that everyone just like Jack should always be make make making time in their very busy days filled with school homework jobs bills family friends pets news politics food health exercise sports and all the things that keep our heads spin spin spinning to discover something new And if you can invite someone to join you because everything is always better when You come too. Sharon Creech, Dan Chung for The Guardian

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 4 LOVE THAT DOG — ALL ABOUT POETRY

Poetry is a type of writing that stirs a reader’s Poetry Terms imagination or emotions by carefully choosing and arranging language for its meaning, sound and rhythm. Imagery: the name given to the elements in a poem that spark off the senses. Robert Frost, whose poems Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and The Pasture are featured in the Line: a single row of words in a poem. play Love That Dog said: Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things, “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and describing one thing as if it were something else. the thought has found words.” Meter: rhythmical patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. Questions to ask: Onomatopoeia: a blending of consonant and vowel • Do you agree with Robert Frost’s definition of sounds designed to imitate the activity being described. poetry? Personification: attributing human characteristics to • How would you define what a poem is? nonhuman things. • How is a poem different from a story? From a play? Rhyme: the repetition of identical concluding syllables of different words, most often at the ends of lines. Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of end rhymes in a poem, written out as letters (such as AABB). Simile: a direct comparison between two dissimilar things, using like or as. Did You Know? Stanza: a group of lines in a poem, separated by space from other stanzas (like a paragraph in prose). • Early poetry is believed to have been recited or sung. Poetry was used Syllables: a part of a word, usually a vowel and its as a way of remembering history, surrounding consonants, that makes a single word genealogy and law. when spoken. • The oldest poem in English is Beowulf. Written in the 8thCentury Types of Poems (AD), Beowulf tells the story of a Haiku: a short, unrhymed Japanese poetic form with Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, who three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables and 5 syllables. saves the Danes from two monsters— Grendel and its mother. Limerick: a humorous 5-line poetic form where the first, second and fifth lines have 7-10 syllables and rhyme, • The oldest written poem is the Epic of while the third and fourth lines only have 5-7 syllables Gilgamesh. It originated in Babylon and rhyme. around 4,000 years ago! Narrative: a poem that tells a story, written entirely in • The longest poem ever written is the metered verse. “Mahabharata”, an ancient Indian poem that contains 1.8 million words! Ode: a lyric poem usually marked by exaltation of feeling and style, varying length of line and complexity of stanza.

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 5 LOVE THAT DOG — ACTIVITIES

HAIKUS AND LIMERICKS Test your poetry writing skills with these practice examples:

Haiku a short, unrhymed Japanese poetic form with three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables and 5 syllables.

Example: Your Haiku:

I am first with five ______Then seven in the middle Five again to end ______

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Limerick a 5-line poetic form where the first, second and fifth lines have 7-10 syllables and rhyme, while the third and fourth lines only have 5-7 syllables and rhyme.

Example: Your Limerick:

There once was a wonderful star ______Who thought she would go very far Until she fell down ______And looked like a clown She knew she would never go far. ______

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Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 6 LOVE THAT DOG — ACTIVITIES

MAKE A SHAPE POEM!

You can make a shape poem just like John Hollander, Reinhard Döhl, and Jack by following the steps below:

Step One: Choose an Object It can be anything you want: your pet, an ice cream cone, a football –the options are endless!

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Step Two: Brainstorm On a separate piece of paper, write down words that describe your object? Be as descriptive as you can!

Step Three: Write your Poem Outline your object below then using your descriptive words from step two, write a poem that describes your object! Don’t forget that your words should create the shape!

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 7 LOVE THAT DOG — ACTIVITIES

Write a Poem about Montana!

We live in one of the greatest places in the world! There is so much to see, hear and do in Montana. Write a poem about our state. Be descriptive; write about what you see, the noises you hear, the smells that fill the air, etc.:

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Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 8 LOVE THAT DOG — ACTIVITIES

An Ode to Pets!

Use the space below to write a poem about your pet, or if you don’t have a pet, about a pet you wish you had. It can be any kind of poem you want!

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Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 9 LOVE THAT DOG — YOUR REVIEW

What did you love about the show? Using Jack’s poem as inspiration, write a poem about the show you saw today! Love That Dog, Love that ______, like a bird loves to fly ______I said I Love That Dog ______like a bird loves to fly ______Love to call him in the morning ______love to call him ______“Hey there, Sky!” ______

What else do you love? Pick a person, place or thing and write another Love That poem in the box below:

I love that ______,

I give the show:

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 10 LOVE THAT DOG — READING LIST

BARNES AND NOBLE READING LIST

Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech Best for ages 8-12 years old ”Sharon Creech invites emerging poets to commiserate with Jack as he learns to navigate the world of poetry…Figurative language, poetic devices and visual word manipulation abound in this book of poetry.” —Children’s Literature

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge Best for ages 12-17 years old ”This funny and poignant novel celebrates the power of writing to help young people make sense of their lives and unlock and confront their problems.” — School Library Journal

Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out by Ralph Fletcher Best for ages 8-12 years old ”Budding poetry writers will receive plenty of encouragement here for both the creative process and the crafting of a poem…Teachers will find many helpful tips in working with students and their poetry efforts. The book is very approachable for the students themselves.” — Children’s Literature

Stone Bench in an Empty Park by Paul B. Janeczko Best for ages 9-12 years old “This well-designed book looked carefully at city streets, people, and activities to produce enormously appealing selections... Students and teachers alike will be drawn to this book again and again.” —School Library Journal

Voices: Poetry and Art from Around the World by Barbara Brenner Best for ages 8-12 years old “A remarkably visual collection of world poetry, reminding readers of their humanity, their oneness as people, and their delight in the unexpected beauty of nature...An enriching experience.” —School Library Journal

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 11 LOVE THAT DOG — POST-SHOW REFLECTION

Questions to ask students after the performance: • Why does Jack feel differently about poems at the end of the play? • Do you feel differently about poetry after having seen the show? • At first, Jack doesn’t want to share his work with his class – do you ever get nervous about sharing your work with your classmates? How do you handle it? • Jack is inspired by poet Walter Dean Myers. Who inspires you? • If you could invite anyone to visit your school/class, who would it be? Why? Love That Dog, New York City Children’s Theatre

Derek Christopher Murphy, Love That Dog, New York City Children’s Theatre So Much Depends Upon… Give your students the prompt “So much depends upon…” and choose an item to finish the sentence. Once everyone has completed the prompt, have your students read William Carlos Williams poem and use it as inspiration for their own “so much depends upon…” poem.

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 12 LOVE THAT DOG — FOR THE PARENTS

Dear Parents, Today your child attended a performance of the Montana Repertory Theater’s Love That Dog with their class! We hope they enjoyed the performance as much as we enjoyed having them. Montana Repertory Theatre stands at the cross-section of educational and professional theatre, producing work that celebrates, engages and challenges the people of Missoula and the state of Montana. To learn more about what we do, visit montanarep.com. Questions to ask your child about the show • What was your favorite part of the performance you saw today? Why? • Jack is inspired by poet Walter Dean Myers. Who inspires you? • Tell me about Jack’s teacher: how did she help him realize that he was a good poet? What do you think makes a good teacher Activities to Do • Ask your child: If you could invite anyone to visit your school/class, who would it be? Why? • Help your daughter/son write a letter to someone they admire asking them to visit their class. • Have them tell the person why they love his or her work and what it means to them, then mail it! They may even get a response.

Montana Repertory Theatre | montanarep.com | page 13