Introduction to Words and Images

Today the 3rd and 4th grade began their new unit - Words and Images. 

This unit will focus on the relationship between words and images in art. We will incorporate poetry, music, and modern artists who all work with words and visual art in some way. 

The next few classes we will work with poetry, analyzing poems and drawing our responses to them. We began today's class with a poem by William Carlos Williams called "Blizzard"

"Blizzard"

By William Carlos Williams 

Snow falls:

years of anger following

hours that float idly down --

the blizzard

drifts its weight

deeper and deeper for three days

or sixty years, eh? Then

the sun! a clutter of 

yellow and blue flakes --

Hairy looking trees stand out

in long alleys

over a wild solitude.

The man turns and there --

his solitary track stretched out

upon the world.

After reading the poem a few times, students identified and defined words they didn't know. Next, we put the poem in to our own words, selecting strong images and talking about the poet's choice of words.

Lastly, students were asked to draw images they found in the poem.