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Description:
Michaels (1999) says that poetry is about "our capacities
for dreaming, remembering, and play" (3). Art, too, touches on these human
abilities. When students write poetry, they take risks that hold the promise
of deepening their engagement with curriculum (Kane, 2004). This can also
be true when students create art to show what they've experienced or learned.
In this session, I will share two high school classroom-library collaborations,
which developed students' gifts for self-expression and gave them the
opportunity to discover their own voices through poetry and through art.
Both lessons were co-taught by Sabino High School classroom teachers and
myself in 2003 when I served as one of the school's teacher-librarians.
Works Cited
Gendler, J. Ruth. The Qualities. New York: Harper
& Row, 1984.
Kane, S. & Rule, A. C. "Poetry Connections Can Enhance Content Area Learning."
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47 (2004): 658-669.
Michaels, J. R. Risking Intensity: Reading and Writing Poetry with
High School Students. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1999.
Behind the Masks:
Ceramics Classroom-Library Collaboration |
The Qualities:
Language Arts Classroom-Library Collaboration |
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Description:
Studying the connections between artistic expression
and cultural practices can build an appreciation for the meaning
behind artifacts. Before making personal masks, students researched
a cultural mask, drew a sketch, and made notes that highlighted
the connection between the mask and the cultural practices of the
people who made it. Using this information, students recreated cultural
masks in clay. Students then created personal masks with complete
freedom of expression. After hearing and analyzing published poetry
on the theme of masks, they composed original
poems to reveal the meaning behind their personal masks. Students
displayed their poetry and masks for each other and the learning
community in the school library. Selections of student work were
compiled in a PowerPoint
presentation.
Lesson Plan published on ReadWriteThink.org
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Description:
After hearing examples from The Qualities
by J. Ruth Gendler (1984), students brainstormed qualities, such
as anger, joy, hope, and participated in a shared writing experience
in which the class composed a piece of writing similar to Gendler's
prose poems. Students then webbed ideas and wrote their own prose
poems, which they illustrated. Selections of student work were compiled
into a PowerPoint presentation and shared with the three participating
junior language arts classes.
Lesson Plan -
in pdf file
format
The Qualities
PowerPoint
- Temporary only
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