-
Tell your view of the narrative that is playing out in the artwork
from the point of view of each character. Encourage a great
deal of observation.
eg 'An
Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump'.
-
Write from the point of view of the artist - What are you trying
to show? What do you hope to achieve? Why are you painting this
artwork? What do you wish to say?
-
Write the whole poem from the point of view of (choose a SINGLE
character or object) in the artwork
-
Ask questions from the point of view of one of the characters
-
Provide a snapshot of the single moment by hypothesising the
thoughts of each character.
Teaching
Points
While
working through the above possibilities I constantly have the
students reflect on 'word choice'
-
'What would be a more "poetic" word to use here?'
- "What words make this text sound more like poetry and
less like a shopping list?"
- Demonstrate using a thesaurus (book & computer) to help
find words that tell 'more exactly'
- 'Which of these words would make the most vivid picture in
the minds of the reader?' - try three different examples &
discuss
- Discuss the use of 'mundane' words e.g. fun, happy, sad, got
etc - our language is rich in colour and variety - experiment
with and harness it
- Rather than say 'choose a better word' try - 'Which of these
words creates a more vivid image in the mind of your reader?'
give examples
- Avoid the use of 'mundane' words - choose the 'best' word
for your purpose.
- Choose words that create an image - examine a poem and identify
the words a poet uses - How can you use this in your writing?
- Choose words that elicit a feeling or thought - (as above)
- Discuss the transfer of this learning - What aspects of this
lesson can you use to write 'better' :) poetry in the future?
Possibilities
for Publishing and Displaying These Poems
-
use graphics software with Creative Commons images
- photocopy the artwork on a light setting and use water colour
pencils to colour artwork
- create a podcast of your poem
- use PhotoStory 3 to publish your poem
- upload your poem to your blog or to TeacherTube
- publish a poem in the school newsletter
