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Week Six:
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Poems based off of Observational Drawing
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What is Observational Drawing?
Observational Drawing or drawing from an observation is where someone looks at an item and sketches the picture based off of details found. Observational Drawing can occur based off of any muse. Today we will talk about Observational Drawings from nature and the ordinary. This idea came from Georgia Heard who is the author of the book above. Heard invites other educators to try out her lessons for poetry. The lessons are not only extremely creative but also exciting and fun for students. Heard began by prompting her students with the note below.
Page 94 of Awakening the Heart
Heard describes students as bringing in their objects like someone would bring in treasure. The students were so excited to bring in their pieces and show them off to their teacher and friends. Once they had time to go through and show their object and explain how much this object meant to them, Heard read them the quote below by Karla Kuskin.
Page 94 of Awakening the Heart
Karla Kuskin describes the importance of observation above. She states that in order to really draw or write, you must really see your muse. Heard said on page 94, "If we ask our students to write with details, we must first teach them to notice the details" (Heard, 1999). This exercise does just that.
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After sharing time, Heard has the students take a minute to observe the object and then they begin to sketch it. She asks them to "make several sketches and to notice the smallest details of their pieces of nature" (Heard, 1999). While listening to her students present their sketches, she wrote down the impact made.
Page 95 of Awakening the Heart
Students then were prompted and shown how to take their observational details and sketches into details. Students listed details in their writer's notebook. These details would be included in their poems. Students were encouraged to dig deeper in their observations. Below Heard describes how to transform observations into poems.
Based off of the questions above and observations, students will be encouraged to write a poem in their writer's notebook based off of their object. The teacher is encouraged to go through these steps with the student and model with them. The Gradual Release Model is encouraged. Once students go through this process with a treasure from nature, have them try it with an object seen as "ordinary". This will increase appreciation for every little thing.
Examples from my Writer's Notebook
nature:
Resources:
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Heard, G (1999). Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School. Heinemann Publisher
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