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Friday, March 28, 2025

Art and Poetry

The 1-2s have been working on a special poetry project that adds a layer of art! The first step of this exciting project was to have each student create a collage of images from magazines on a large piece of paper. These pictures were ones that each student was drawn to based on some connection or memory that it represented. For example, favorite animals, colors, foods, places, activities, toys and nature. The selected images were arranged and then glued down on their papers. 

Step two was to create a self-portrait outline using a sharpie marker and a piece of transparent acetate. The acetate was clipped to a mirror on a clipboard to allow each child to use their own reflection in capturing their image by tracing their features with the sharpie marker. This piece was then layered onto the images on the collage.

The final step was for kids to create a poem about their collage. Some kids wrote a list poem which catalogued the most important images in their collage. Other kids wrote a poem that provided a context for why the images in the collage spoke to them or captured their interest. A few kids reflected on what these collages say about all of us - they are all different and they each represent one person but that each one matters. 

The finished pieces will be displayed for "the big reveal" at our Poetry event next month, so we didn't want to give too many spoilers here.  For now, enjoy the pictures below of the kids at work on their poetry masterpieces!



























Friday, March 14, 2025

March Town Forest Walk

Mother Nature sent us beautiful weather for our Town Forest walk today! The sun was warm and we saw signs of a swiftly approaching spring. An especially good find (as we continue to study poetry) was a haiku poem inscribed on a stone bench. 

Other discoveries included ducks on the water, the call of the red-winged blackbirds back from migration, coyote scat, the drilling percussion of woodpeckers. and the tell-tale "dragon toes" of skunk cabbage sprouts just pushing through the soil by the creek. 

Enjoy the pictures below of kids making the most of nature's playground!