The Art of Poetry

A standard-based, tech-supported learning activity

KID PIX

As school technology facilitator, I recently worked with a second-grade teacher to create an activity for her ocean-animals unit using Kid Pix Deluxe 1.0 (Broderbund). First, the teacher had her students research an ocean animal of their choice and then, armed with facts, write rhyming couplets about it. Next I introduced the idea of shape poems by showing the class examples from Doodle Dandies: Poems that Take Shape, by J. Patrick Lewis (Atheneum, 1998). The students drew outlines of their animals on drawing paper and then traced those outlines onto transparency film using markers.

Standard: Effective Use of Visual Arts Media, Techniques, and Processes

In the computer lab each child opened a new Kid Pix document and chose the Wacky Brush" from the toolbar on the left and the 'ABC" button from the options bar at the bottom. Then they pulled down the toolbox menu and selected "Alphabet Text." I helped the kids tape their transparencies to their monitors while they typed in their poems, one line at a time. By beginning on the left side of the screen (so the text always flows from left to tight), they each traced their animal outline with the mouse. The kids were delighted as the words of their poems appeared along the lines as they traced.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Scholastic, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group