Green Eggs and Iambs
Explain to the students you're going to read something which has a repetitive beat to them. Tell them when you say a word loudly, they must stomp heavily; when you say a word softly, they are to pat the floor with a foot. Explain the rhythm will be "footed" while they're being read to. Then have the students stand in a circle, faces looking at shoulders in front of them. You're in the circle too. Read GREEN EGGS AND HAM in the soft/hard, soft/hard beat. After you've read a bit, drift into the prologue of R&J. Students will maintain the beat without realising you've changed script.
Now comes my adaptation. I stop reading, whiz around the circle setting up pairs looking at one another ( a triad's fine if you have uneven numbers). Ask the partners to choose to be a or b. You call out, "Who's a?" The A's yell, "As", "Who's b?" The Bs respond. You say, "Will the Bs please tell the A's how walking the rhythm made them feel?" Give a minute or so for the answers. You say, "Will the A's please share their thoughts on the rhythm with the Bs." As you stroll around the circle eavesdropping you're bound to hear comments like, "Made me feel everything is pretty much the same", "Felt like nothing is different", etc. You then ask if anyone wants to share interesting comments they want to share with the group. After you've thanked the budding shuffle band, ask them to return to their chairs. Then you might want to show them a visual of the feet etc. on the blackboard, or on the overhead. Then read a couple of lines (from R&J) in which one or two of them aren't in the i.p. Tell students to turn to the person sitting next to him/her and comment on what they heard, etc. Students will flush out that a change in rhythm signals a change in meaning, or a change in mood, etc. You now have the opportunity to share with them what the Bard does with rhythm.
