Painting Poetry

A little while back, I had the opportunity to co-design and co-teach a week long course at a local charter school.  My co-teacher and I decided to teach a class about art and poetry, with the enduring understanding that you can interpret things in many, many ways. 

Students worked on a number of projects including a cut-out word poem, making art inspired by famous poems, and making a poem inspired by a famous piece of art.  The unit culminated in a "gallery opening" during which students presented an original poem and an interrelated original part piece.

I was amazed at the insights these students had!  The art and poems they created were terrific, and the whole unit was a blast. 

I felt like the lesson really came through one day when I was instructing the students to make a piece of art inspired by a poem.  One student said to me, "but how can you make a piece of art inspired by the poem when the poem is already a form of art?"  (A fifth grader, friends!)  Well said!  Art can be poetry and poetry can be art!

Welcome!

Hi everyone!  This is a brand new blog for me, and I'm so excited to start it!

The name, I know, looks a little weird.  So, let me tell you about it.  I am on track to become a licensed English teacher, 5-12, in Minnesota by summer, 2014.  So, the blog title is a combination of my last name (yes, it starts with K-v-i, and no, I'm not forgetting any letters) and my subject area, English: Kvinglish!  Pronounced: Kuh-VING-glish

Welcome!

I'll be posting sporadically here with various course design ideas, projects, assignments, etc. as they come up in my classes.  Please feel free to use these ideas as you instruct your own classes!  I just ask that you do not reproduce my work on your own blog or other publication without permission.

Stay tuned...