Blooming for Poetry

You know how there are some lessons that are just magical? Well. . . Poppies and Pantoum Poetry by my friend, Tracy, at Wild Child Designs is one of those lessons! 
We started by reading a bio on Georgia O'Keeffe (provided in the product). My kids were fascinated by her life and her perseverance, overcoming physical hardships. We also read My Name is Georgia and  Georgia O'Keeffe: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists.
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After studying her style of zooming into a flower, we closely examined our own photos of flowers. Starting at the center of the image, students decided which shapes and types of lines made up the flower. The hardest part (but most fun) was encouraging them to draw LARGE, right off the edges of the paper! Oil pastels really made the colors pop!

April was National Poetry Month and Tracy taught me a form of Malaysian verse form called pantoum poetry. Again, examining their particular photo, students focused on adjectives, verbs, and prepositional phrases to describe their flower. Following the guidelines for pantoum verse, students plugged in their descriptions. Oh my goodness. . . every poem was rhythmic and beautiful. Even my students gasped when reading their poems aloud; they couldn't believe they wrote such lovely poetry!
Lastly, this fabulous packet has a template and directions for making 3-D poppies, a la Georgia O'Keeffe. All my fourth graders, with varying levels of fine motor skills, were successful in making their poppies. And voila! The most amazing display ever! (It was perfect for Open House!)
 Click on the image below for the Poppies & Pantoum Poetry product. You definitely want to browse around in Wild Child Design's store. All her products are so creative, beautiful, and student-friendly.
 
Happy Mothers' Day to all you moms! In honor of my amazing mother, I have a flower freebie for you! 
Click HERE or on the image below to download gorgeous close-up shots of flowers to inspire your students.
What are some successful units or lessons you've used that are easy to teach at this point in the school year?

4 comments

  1. Kathie! These flowers and poems are gorgeous!!! Thank you for the shout-out too. Your students poems are amazing. Xo

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    1. The poems were awesome!! I agree; their flower art is stunning! Thank YOU for the easy to implement lesson!!

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous! Those flowers!!! The poetry is amazing, and your display is perfection! What a great lesson!

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