Murray Language Academy
2004-2005
Poetry in Color
Button 1
I.D.
ID
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Murray Language Academy
Poetry in Color
How does red smell? How can green have human traits?
Students w ere able to answ er these questions and more in
this extremely successful unit focused on learning about
poetic devices through exploring how color effects our
senses and emotions. Students then chose one color to
w rite creative and imaginative poems using metaphors,
similes, personification, the five senses, and emotion.
To display their poems, students w orked in groups by the
colors they w rote about to create altered accordion books.
They glued, painted, and sew ed their books as a place to
house their amazing color poems.
Teachers:
Kimberly Almanza (Classroom Teacher)
Joe Mills (Art Teacher)
Artist from the Hyde Park Art Center:
Jessi Walsh
Grade: 4th
Length of unit: 6 w eeks (2005)
Button 1.1
I.D.
ID
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Murray Language Academy
Vision Statement
Murray Language Academy's vision is to prepare and
inspire students to be life-long learners and active,
responsible citizens in a global society.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to offer a challenging and enriched
curriculum in a nurturing climate that develops student
abilities in all of the fundamental learning areas through
a comprehensive literacy approach and an integrated
world language program.
Murray has been a CAPE school since 1993.
Ms. Kimberly Almanza was the 4th grade teacher
this year during a maternity leave for another
teacher. Mr. Joe Mills has been the art teacher for
the intermediate grades at Murray for 2 years.
Student Demographics of Murray Academy
Caucasian: 10%
Hispanic: 3%
African American: 49%
Asian: 2%
Low Income: 22%
Button 2
I.D.
INQUIRY
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Teacher and Artist Inquiry Questions for this Unit:
How can students use visual images to enhance their
understanding of poetic devices like metaphors,
similes, and personification?
Student Inquiry Questions for this Unit:
What is a simile, a metaphor, and personification?
How are similes, metaphors, and personification used
within a poem?
Button 3
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
What is a simile? What is a
metaphor? What is personification?
CLICK HERE
Every day for the next week, students
where learning about these poetic
devices through a series of worksheets
and activities.
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Button 3.1
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
Similes, Metaphors, and
Personification (3/8-11)
To begin the process, students took a
pre-test to determine what they already
knew about metaphors, similes,
personification, and how color relates to
emotion and the five senses. Not
surprisingly, we got a lot of “I don’t know”
responses.
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Button 3.2
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Color and the Five Senses (3/10-11)
We dove into color next by learning
about primary and secondary colors. All
of the students mixed two primary
colors together to create one secondary
color. They didn’t mix just one shade of
green, orange, or purple, but produced
many different shades of the same
color to create a small, but quick
painting.
Click to hear sound
Button 3.3
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Color and the Five Senses
(3/10-11)
These paintings were used in
conjunction with a lesson on
how color can make us hear,
smell, taste, see, and feel
differently. They also learned
how color can be attached to
our emotions. The students
took their pictures home with
them to write down how their
particular painting related to
the five senses and their
emotions. This activity was an
important step for all of our
students because it helped
them to see the connection
between color and poetry.
Plus, as the example to the left
shows, they were using poetic
devices without even knowing
it.
Button 3.4
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Color Poems (3/14-18)
We then brought it all
together. We took what the
students learned about
metaphors, similes, and
personification and
combined it with what they
learned about color.
Button 3.5
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
Purple is grapes in a vineyard.
As purple as people when they are sick.
As purple as Sandy’s winter coat.
As purple as the back round of the carpet in our class.
As purple as my picture frame.
Purple is lavender flowers blooming.
Purple is my shawl.
Purple can be the sky saying goodbye.
Purple jumps around the page.
Purple never dies or sleeps.
Purple works its hardest everyday.
Purple is cold like ice when you touch it.
Purple smells like lovely flowers that if they smell as if
they were just picked.
Purple tastes as if it were sugar when in reality it’s lemon.
Purple is the ending of every good day.
Purple is spring dancing in the wind.
Purple makes you feel like dancing even if it’s to cold
outside.
Purple, purple, purple you’re the best.
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Color Poems (3/14-18)
For the next week, each student
needed to write a color poem that
used metaphors, similes,
personification, the five senses, and
emotion. The book Hailstones and
Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill was a
tremendous help for the students,
because it helped them to hear how
color and poetry mixed together. From
their final poems, it was obvious the
students really “got it” because they
did an excellent job. Their use of
interesting, creative descriptive
language was outstanding.
Button 3.6
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Altered/Accordion Books (3/31-4/15)
To really drive home the point about the
combination of color and poetic devices, w e had
the students w ork in groups to create
accordion/altered books. Plus, w e thought this
w ould be a fun, different, and interesting
process for the students. We did this over a
three w eek period. First, w e discussed how
creating an altered book is not a destructive
process, but rather a w ay of reusing, recycling,
and constructing something new out of
something old. We also discussed the similarities
and differences betw een poetry and visual art.
From there, the students w ere divided up
depending on the color they used for their poem.
Then, they used pieces of an old book to create
their accordion/altered books.
Click here
Next, the students added multiple layers of multimedia to their books. First, they painted each
side of the book w ith different shades and tints
of their color. Then, they drew designs over
their entire book using oil pastels. Next, they
added their poems w hich had been printed on
transparencies. Then, they added rubbings.
Next, they sew ed around the boundary of their
book. Finally they added covers to each side of
the accordion book.
Button 3.7
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Final Event (4/21-22)
In the final week. we ended the project
with an “exhibition”. The students really
enjoyed this part because they got to see
their creations hanging from the ceiling.
Plus, they got to eat cookies and just
enjoy the hard work they had put in. As
one of my students said after watching
the video we made to document the
process, “That was a long process. We
really did a lot of work.”
Button 4
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
REFLECT
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
For this project, w e used many different materials to create our mixed
media accordion/altered books including old books, thread, oil pastels,
transparencies, acrylic paint, and rubbing plates.
We used a few different resources from the Internet to get information
on color poems and personification.
Bosch, Nancy (2005). Color Poems. Retrieved March 3, 2005 from
http://w w w .adifferentplace.org/color.htm
Cress (2005). Color Poetry Page. Retrieved March 3, 2005 from
http://w w w .kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/Norte/cress/color/
Neha (2001). Color Poems. Retrieved March 3, 2005 from
http://w w w .fcasd.edu/schools/dms/color7A/colors.htm
Mitchell, Kathi (2005). Color Poems. Retrieved March 3, 2005 from
http://w w w .kathimitchell.com/color.html
(2005). Personification Lesson. Retrieved March 3, 3005 from
http://volw eb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/7lesson.htm
The last resource w as a great asset in understanding how to include
personification into our lessons.
I used one book that w as a tremendous help for the students in w riting
their color poems. It gave them great examples of descriptive language
and poetic devices used w ith color.
O’Neill, Mary (1961). Hailstones and Halibut Bones. New York: Bantam
Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Button 5
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Documentation through Pictures and Sound
For documentation, we tried to keep it simple.
Photographs were used to capture different
stages of the process. While we did forget
Click to hear sound sometimes, we took plenty of pictures to
document their work. We did not just snap
pictures, but really focused on what the
students were doing in class on a weekly
basis to show their progress. When it is
possible, some students were able to take
pictures of other students.
Button 5.1
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Documentation through Pictures and Sound
Click to hear sound
Also, each student was videotaped to explain
what we had done in class that day. Everyday
we worked on this project, two students were
taken out of class at the end of the day to
describe our activity. The pictures and their
words were compiled to create a multimedia
presentation that could be used for various
curriculum fairs. It was also used as a tool to
show students their journey through this
project. In reality, it was a test to see if video
could be an important tool for documentation.
Button 5.2
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
Worksheets
Also, we made sure to include worksheets that
could be easily saved, read, and scanned in if
necessary. It allowed us to see how well the
students understood the concepts we were
teaching in class. Plus, all of the color poems
were typed into the computer so they could be
used for their accordion books and grading.
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Button 5.3
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Red is like a fire coming out of a dragons
mouth.
Red is like your face when you get mad.
Red is great just as a flower.
Red is like a raven showing its beauty.
Red is the fire yelling angrily.
Red the anger you have filled with in.
Red is the apple which is juicy and sweet.
Red is fire roasting my marshmallows.
Red reminds you of the good times.
Red guides you through life making you
choose right not wrong.
Red taste is a tomato delicious and ripe.
Red sounds like a screech close to your
ear.
Red looks like flames filled with sparks.
Red makes you feel glad when you’re mad.
Red gives you tears when you’re sad.
Button 5.4
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
Color Poems
We assessed the students in a formal and
informal way. The formal assessment was
the color poems. Each student was given a
rubric for their color poems. Their final
poems were graded based on that rubric.
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Button 5.5
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
“A Color that Lives”
Yellow, yellow, yellow, the color makes you glow.
Yellow is as frigid cold as the winter snow.
Yellow is the laser light flaring in my eye.
Yellow is the fire light and the sparks that are flying by.
Yellow is like the blinding brightness of the Summer light.
Yellow is like the harvest moon in the Autumn night.
You can hear it tinkling when you go to sleep.
And feel its comfy wooliness like a flock of sheep.
Yellow is the tulips in the springy Spring.
Yellow is the color that makes the heavens ring.
Yellow sings to me through the night and day.
And dances to the music, it never goes astray.
You can smell the sun sweet berries as yellow goes walking by.
It makes you feel so weightless like your worries took flight in the
sky.
Even in the darkest nights of winter yellow’s near.
To lighten up your spirits and to take away your fear.
Yellow gives you a feeling of comfort in your heart.
And once I go and find it we will never part.
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Button 5.6
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Pre and Post-Test
The informal assessment was a pre-test and post-test on metaphors, similes, personification, and color. On both tests,
students were asked to do their best work, but they were not graded. The post-test was given almost a month after we
talked about the poetic devices, and we were pleasantly surprised to see how many students did well.
Button 5.7
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
Button 6
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
ILLINOIS STANDARDS - FINE ARTS CONTENT
25.A.: Identify and describe elements of color
(intermediate colors, value, tint, and
complementary).
Identify and describe how elements and principles
of art are used to convey meaning (mood or
emotion) in a visual work of art.
ILLINOIS STANDARDS - ACADEMIC CONTENT
2.A.2a Identify literary elements and literary
techniques (e.g., characterization, use of narration,
use of dialogue) in a variety of literary works.
3.C.2a Write for a variety of purposes and for
specified audiences in a variety of forms including
narrative (e.g., fiction, autobiography), expository
(e.g., reports, essays) and persua-sive
writings (e.g. editorials, advertisements).
Button 7
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
This w as a very process-and-materials-heavy project from its
inception and I am happy that it turned out so w ell, both visually and
conceptually. I w as really personally excited to talk about this project
and all its labyrinthine components and opportunities because my ow n
w ork is very dependent on process/repetition and use of
(unorthodox) mixed media. I think the kids picked up on that and w ere
able to make that energy their ow n - both in form, in text and in overall
comprehension of the entire project. At the outset, I w as mildly
concerned that the project might be a little too obtuse or open-ended
for the kids to fully grasp, but this group of kids w aylaid my concerns
w ith their high-spirited creativity and w illingness to explore this
particular facet of the melding of visual and language arts.
I w as incredibly impressed that the kids had a w orking understanding
of the reasoning behind the concept of recycling. We w orked hard on
being open to redefining and reclaiming things w e assume to be a
certain w ay in order to leave our marks on this collaborative project.
For example, w e redefined w hat constitutes a book. Does it alw ays
have to be made of paper? Is there only one w ay to read a book?
Why are w e “destroying” a perfectly good book? We spent a healthy
amount of time discussing the difference betw een “destruction” and
construction in order to instill a sense of ow nership and
empow erment. In the end and throughout the process, the kids w ere
really energized and attentive to instruction and to detail in their ow n
groups’ w ork, so much so, in fact, that occasionally I w ould overhear
little mini-arguments over w ho gets to do w hat to their accordion book.
Music to my ears, really.
-Jessi Walsh, artist
Button 7.1
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
The only thing that didn’t w ork w as some bunk gel medium I bought that didn’t do anything
near w hat it w as supposed to do w hen w e tried making gel medium transfers w ith
magazine pages. Because my art (and my life) is a study in this kind of trial-and-errorness, I w asn’t much affected by the failure of the gel medium to perform as optimally as it
w as meant to do. My real disappointment w as that the kids w ouldn’t be able to share in
the sheer joy of having made a w eird and slightly rubberized version of an image. I
explained it aw ay like this: making art is like planting seeds in a garden. Seeds are like
the really cool ideas you come up w ith and get all excited to try. Sometimes, the ideas
that you plant just don’t sprout, no matter w hat you do. The point is to accept it and move
on to strengthening the ideas that are truly thriving. And eventually, you w ill have a
beautiful homemade garden.
I kept getting all kinds of new ideas from doing this altered book poetry project. I even
tried introducing it to my after school kids, w ho, not surprisingly, took great pleasure in
disassembling the books.
I have learned just how much my ow n excitement, attitude and direction in a project has
an effect on how the kids w ill respond to it. It only makes sense, really- that if you w ant
a topic to come across effectively and respectfully, you have to treat it that w ay from
the beginning. If the ideas you are trying to get across are important to you, then let them
be important in the w ords that you use. Let your actions show you care- about the
project and the kids. Take the time to explain and re-explain until you see that “aha!”
moment in the child’s eyes. Never forget to ask questions of the kids so that they know
they are not anonymous to you. I love learning about the w ay kids w ork (the inner
w orkings of their gears, etc) and they w ay kids work. Constant creative problem solving
in the art room. Amazing. It never ceases to inspire me to w ork harder, consider longer
and be ever thankful that I really do have one of the greatest jobs I could have ever
imagined.
- Jessi Walsh, artist
Button 7.2
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
Overall, I w as EXTREMELY happy w ith the success of this project.
And w hen I say success, I mean a lot of hard w ork by the teachers
and students involved led to outstanding outcomes. One of the main
contributors to the success of this project w as the planning. We did
this project in the spring of our school year, so w e w ere able to
effectively decide w hat w e w anted to do. Ms. Walsh and I had
multiple meetings leading up to our official start, and w e continued to
adjust our plan throughout the project. Ms. Almanza w as also very
flexible and w illing to provide w hat w e needed for this project. As a
team, w e made sure to make this project w ork.
As I mentioned above, the other main contributor to the success of
this project w as the students. They really rose to the challenge on
this project. Ms. Almanza, Ms. Walsh, and I asked a lot from them, and
they responded. When w e started, the students knew next to nothing
about similes, metaphors, and personification. Within a tw o-w eek
period, almost all of them w rote fantastic color poems that correctly
used the poetic devices, emotion, and the five senses. After I graded
them, many of the students w ere thanking me for “giving” them a
good grade. As I told them, they all earned the grade they got, and
they should be proud of their w ork. Also, the students w orked
extremely effective in their groups to make their altered/accordion
books. They w ere grouped together by color so it w as a very
random grouping. In many cases, that can lead to problems. The
students, though, w ere very focused on the task at hand. Whether
they w ere sew ing, painting, or draw ing, every different layer they
added show ed they understood the process involved.
-Joe Mills, teacher
Button 7.3
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
At the end of the project, I had all of the students answ er these tw o questions:
“What w as your favorite part of this project? Why? Be specific.”
“What w as your least favorite part of this project? Why? Be specific.”
In hindsight, I w ish I w ould have asked more specific questions because some of their responses
w ere not particularly deep, but I did w ant to include some particularly interesting student thoughts.
My favorite part w as w hen all the books w ere on display. I liked it because I thought it w as cool
because I got to see that hard w ork pays off.
My favorite part w as painting and sew ing the books because I’ve never sew n in my life until now
and that w as a nice experience.
My least favorite part w as doing the tests on similes, personification, and metaphors.
My least favorite part w as gluing the papers because I can glue papers everyday and it’s boring.
My favorite part w as the poem because I got to express how I felt.
My favorite part of the project w as w riting the poems because it w as challenging and it w as very
interesting w atching other people w rite the poems.
My favorite part of the project w as seeing the books hanging. It w as my favorite because it w as
fun seeing all the designs that w e made and the colors mixed up w ith the w hite and black to see
w hat they made.
- Students
Button 7.4
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
Findings
After thinking about this project over the past month, I’ve concluded that there really is one main finding: color and
poetic devices are a natural combination. When w e began this project, matching color and poetic devices w as
unknow n to everyone involved in the project. Now , I know I w ould never do it any other w ay. It is not a new idea,
but it w as to the teachers and students involved. When I started researching poetry and color, I knew w e w ere on
to something w hen I saw other teachers had done similar activities. And after finding the book “Hailstones and
Halibut Bones”, I knew color and poetry w as s a combination that w ould w ork.
Our students picked up on the relationship betw een the tw o almost immediately. From know ing nothing about poetic
devices to creating exquisite poems in just tw o w eeks w as a shock to me. The students really “got” the connection.
I believe that they understood this connection because of the pow er of color to naturally w ork w ith metaphors,
similes, personification, emotions, and the five senses. The poems the students w rote really spoke to this
connection
The one thing I have been concerned about is the post-test the students took. Before the students took their posttest, the last time w e had discussed poetic devices w as a month earlier (3/18 to 4/22). While I w as pleased over
half the students w ere able to give correct definitions of metaphors, similes, and personification, I w as still w orried
about the ones w ho w ere not able to answ er the questions correctly. As I thought about it more, though, I believe
that if you reintroduced the students to color in conjunction w ith poetic devices, they w ould immediately remember
the connections they made w ith this project. In turn, they w ould remember the definitions and how to use them in
their w riting correctly.
Button 7.5
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
Findings
The findings from this project also relate to the larger
inquiry question of, “How can integration of an art form
influence reading and writing literacy?” I believe that color
can be used to impact many other types of creative,
descriptive, and narrative writings. Since color is such a
rich medium that so many children are familiar with, it
can be used in a number of ways. Through this project, I
saw so many students easily grasp the connection of
color and poetic devices, it only seems natural it could be
combined with other types of writing.
Overall, this action-research project has really opened
my eyes to how an inquiry-based arts integrated unit can
focus the teachers and students. It also showed me that
if used correctly and connected to the right curriculum,
arts integration can positively impact student learning. If
the goals are specific and the students are challenged,
the sky is truly the limit.
Button 7.6
I.D.
INQUIRY
Murray Language Academy
PROCESS
RESOURCES
TOOLS
STANDARDS
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
& FINDINGS
FINDINGS
&
“A Color that Lives”
Yellow, yellow, yellow, the color that makes you glow.
Yellow is as frigid as the winter snow
Yellow is the laser light flaring in my eye.
Yellow is the fire light and the sparks that are flying by.
Yellow is like the blinding brightness of the Summer
light.
Yellow is like the harvest moon in the Autumn night.
You can hear it tinkling when you go to sleep.
And feel its comfy wooliness like a flock of sheep.
Yellow is the tulips in the springy Spring.
Yellow is the color that makes the heavens ring.
Yellow sings to me through the night and day.
And dances to the music, it never goes astray.