BD300
Where Art Meets Poetry
(In partnership with The Flint Institute of Arts Department of Education) Matthew Osmon, Director of Education
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Time
12 hours
3 hours in art making
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Skill Reinforcement
literacy enhancement, reading/comprehension, critical thinking, writing, art making, imagination expansion, public speaking/presentation
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Utilization
English Language Arts, History, Social and Political Science, Ecology and Environmental Studies, Geometry, Science/Ecology, Afrofuturism, WAGE: Women and Girls Empowerment, History, Math, Art creation, Theater, Dance, Social justice studies, Stratification Studies
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Education Levels
4th grade – high school
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Description
In this course, we will answer the question: How did students from an under-resourced urban area with reading and writing scores many grade levels below the state average learn to write poetry and narratives, and deliver public presentations in 10-weeks? Participants follow the circuitous path of the pedagogy, PSL/ POETRY AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: THE SEMAJIAN METHOD™ created by Flint Poet Laureate, Semaj Brown. The lessons for the young scholars are reflexive, crisscrossing, circling back as reinforcing strategies.
From the onset, we begin to imagine poetry as a verb, something active, something we do, or as a 3-dimensional entity. Poetry is compared to almond butter and jam spread on two pieces of toast. Poetry is like this new exciting thing called a sandwich, something to be consumed, something delicious with great nutritional value. A poem is no longer confined to a page in a book; it is an active force.
What happens when art meets poetry? Marvelous, magical things happen, literary art gives rise to synthesis or “sandwiching.” The jam and almond butter on toast is analogous to a newly created art collage, a new entity. There is a synthesis. Collage creation is an extension of literature. The collages are representative of a melding of themes found in student response poems, which were written commentaries on the origin poem, “Black Dandelion.” Given ample time, we return to the collages to write prose, narratives based on the emblems and symbols contained. The Semajian Method techniques of “Linking” and “Replacement Therapy” assists students in fluid writing.
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Insight
Our Scholars learned how to delve into the written prose and create poems connected to their life, beliefs, and experiences. Mrs. Brown empowered our Scholars to go beyond their fears to freedom in public speaking!
Richard Kerry Thompson
Greater Height Academy Principal/Superintendent