Name of Project: Visual Poems
Classroom, School: Seward Montessori
Cooperating teacher: Nancy Norwood
Grade Level: 11-3rd grade
Presenter's Name: Emily Zimanski
Subject: Language Arts
Curricular Link: Reading Language infused with art
Overview of Project
The project is based on haiku poems that the children have written using their writing tools.
My intent in teaching this lesson is for the children to recognize the patterns of haiku,
use all the writing tools they have learned, and to create a visual collage.
Essential Question
How can we create meaning from poetry?
Subsidiary Questions
What images appeal to this age student?
How many images do students need to tell a story or create a different composite image?
Prior Knowledge
The children will need to understand haiku poems.
It is also helpful if they understand the writing tools, such as zoom in,
scissors, the senses, the colors, metaphors, zoom out.
Examples Artist Works
I created an example of the project that I will be showing them.
I will also be reading them haiku poems from children at Jones Elementary School.
A wonderful book on collage, called Creative Collage Techniques by Nita Leland and Virginia Lee Williams will
give the children some nice examples of collage. A book called Haikus by Mary Dawson Hughes is helpful for
the children to recognize the 5-7-5 pattern of haiku.
Assessment
The assessment tool is essential to recognize what the children learned. For our assessment we will hang the artwork on the wall, and have a critique. This critique will include positive feedback, pointing out successes in the artwork, and having children try to depict the haiku in the collage.
Materials
A selection of haikus for each child. I provided 10 haikus, written by their age group. At lease 2 magazines per child. Multi-media paper (Reeves BFK is good) cut to 6.5 inches in white or off-white to make the collage on. A good sturdy paper to glue the collage onto; white or off-white. PVA (at least 8 oz.) .5 inch glue brushes, water containers, containers with a cover to hold the glue. Baby wipes, and scissors.
Procedures Day 1
Day 1 We will gather on the rug to discuss haiku poems, their meanings, origin, and the pattern.
I will introduce vocabulary (Haiku, collage, PVA, overlapping, mixed media, abstraction).
Having 2-3 children read their haiku would help other children who are somewhat confused on haikus have a
better understanding. I will give a brief overview of what we will be making, and show an example of the collage
I made. I will talk about torn collages, and give a small introduction to the lesson.
Our main focus on day one is to recognize our own haiku poems, and make sure the things are clear and precise.
After editing and making changes in our haiku poems, the children can begin looking in magazines for words
and letters, along with colors of their haikus. At this point, a detailed overview of the collage is essential.
It is important to demonstrate how to tear the bits and pieces of the magazine. It is important to show the steps
of the collage. For example, explain that you must have you haiku near you when you are looking through the
magazines, so that you can find your words as you go. The children will need to find big "chunks" of color for the
background of the collage, and rip and tear small pieces to overlap the collage. The words will be cut out to
create a haiku on the collage.
Day 2
Finish looking though magazine to fins your words and "chunks" of colors. Give a demonstration on how to
glue the magazine cut outs. It is important to show how to hold the brush, how to use the brush, and how
much glue they will need. Begin gluing down the pieces on the multi-media paper (cover the tables when
doing this step—it is very messy!)
Day 3
Finish gluing the collage together, getting all the words to make your haiku. Do the assessment tool
after everything is cleaned up, and children are able to focus on their successes.
Teacher Reflection
Some problems that may arise are having some of the children having trouble to hold the brushes,
and applying too much or not enough glue. Also, when their fingers get sticky with glue, they become
frustrated. The younger children get frustrated trying to find the words or letters of the haikus.