Painting poet trees - poetry-based art projects to celebrate Arbor Day

A poetry-based art project to help you celebrate Arbor Day

Trees help us breathe, keep us cool in summer, and provide us with wood for fuel and housing. But they also inspire our creative instincts--after all, some of the world's loveliest poems and paintings are about trees. On these pages, you'll find suggestions for incorporating poetry writing with simple tree-painting techniques that yield impressive results.

START WITH POETRY

Begin the project by reading the wonderfully descriptive poem "Birches" by Robert Frost. The poem presents images of birch trees in a variety of seasonal settings as the poet reflects on childhood memories and the passing of time. Try the version illustrated by Ed Young (Henry Holt, 1988).

Read the poem several times so that children can relish the poet's use of metaphor and description. Then ask kids to jot down adjectives or phrases that specifically describe birch trees, such as many-colored, enamel, bowed, unbreakable, arching, and snow-white, as you read the poem again.

Next, ask kids to look carefully at photographs of birches in encyclopedias or nature books to generate their own descriptive words. Kids can then use a thesaurus to find replacement adjectives for those on both lists. For instance, substitutions for snow-white could include bleached, blanched, and white-hued. Kids can now write their own poems about birch trees.

Extension:

To give this activity a local flavor, take a hike to any nearby tree--a street tree near the school or one growing in a local park. Use nature books to identify the species. Ask kids to write at least ten phrases or adjectives to describe how the tree looks, smells, and feels. Back in the classroom, list the adjectives on the board then have kids use the thesaurus once again to generate new descriptive terms and write a new poem, this time about a different kind of tree.

Seek out other poems about trees common to your geographic area. Two excellent collections of tree poems can be found in The Earth is Painted Green: A Garden of Poems About Our Planet (Scholastic, 1993) and Monkey Puzzle and Other Poems by Myra Cohn Livingston (Macmillan, 1984).

THE ART LESSONS

Birch Tree Paintings

Grade level: primary and intermediate

Time two 30-minute lessons

Materials: ice-cream stick or 2-by-6-inch piece of cardboard, 12-by-16-inch white construction paper, brown and black tempera paint, crayons, paper plate, watercolor paint and brushes

Directions for Students

1. Pour black and brown tempera paint onto a paper plate.

2. Dip the long edge of the cardboard or ice-cream stick into the paint and scrape off excess.

3. Position the painted edge of the stick or cardboard onto the white construction paper where you want the tree to appear, then lightly drag the stick across the paper for the desired tree trunk thickness. Repeat several times to replicate birch tree markings.

4. Repeat the previous step, this time dragging stick upward to create the height of the tree.

5. Using the same edge, repeat steps to print branches.

6. Use the short edge of the stick or cardboard to print smaller branches.

7. Let paint dry.

8. Primary grades: color in leaves, ground, and sky with crayon. Intermediate grades: watercolor the leaves, ground, and sky.

Birch Trees in Tempera

Grade level: intermediate

Time: one 15-minute session and one 30-minute session

Materials: white, black, brown, green, and yellow tempera paint; sky-colored construction paper; sticks; sponges

Directions for Students

1. On the construction paper, paint a white birch tree trunk and main branches.

2. Let dry.

3. Using the process described in the lesson above, add black and brown tree texture.

4. Sponge paint leaves and grass.

MORE TREE-PAINTING TRICKS

Kids may want to experiment with the following methods--and need to be prepared for some surprising results--as they work toward their own best true paintings.

* Have kids place tracing paper over photos of trees, then trace the contours. This stencil will help them outline the shape of a tree before they paint it.

* Using watercolor on wet (not moist) paper is a good way to create the look and texture of evergreens. Students can also paint the basic shape of a tree onto wet paper, using tissue to lift out shades and patterns. When the paper is dry, students can use a pen to draw branches and other details.

* Let students sponge-paint or splatter leaves onto branches using fine shades of greens, yellows, and browns.

* Rough-textured "rag" watercolor paper, when torn into tree shapes, pasted on other paper, and "washed" with watercolor, approximates the textures of many common trees. It also adds a nice three-dimensional effect to paintings. Kids can add background detail with colored ink or watercolor.

TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

Extend your students' study of trees with A Field Trip to the Rainforest, a software package that lets kids explore all the flora and fauna of the endangered tropical forests. Have kids create new poems and paintings based on their findings! (WINGS/Sunburst, Apple II and Macintosh, $99; |800~ 321-7511).

MARY PARKS has taught art to students in grades K-12 for 17 years. She currently teaches in Naperville Community School District 203 in Naperville, illinois.

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