Connecting Art and Poetry Lesson Plan

Poetry inspires artwork and artwork inspires poetry. There are many ways to engage students in a project that includes both. 

Start with the idea of connecting the imagery of poetry to art.

During a unit on poetry, take time to concentrate on imagery as a way to create mental pictures.

Choose poems to share with students that include imagery. It is recommended that when introducing the first poem and topic of imagery this is done as a whole class activity. Read the poem aloud to the class, then re-read a verse with imagery to the class and ask students to share what they see in their minds. Try to steer students away from just the literal meaning of the words but instead be more abstract. This could be done with the whole class or as a think, pair, and share activity.

Small Group Activity:

Give each group a poem with imagery to read and then share what they see in their mind with each other.  It is suggested to have each group of students read different poems, and after sharing their thoughts about the imagery, pass the poems to different groups. Repeat this activity so each group shares at least three different poems.

For each group's last poem shared with them, students should individually read the poem, choose a verse or line of imagery, and illustrate that in art. Then have students share their illustrations. You could create a bulletin board display and see if students can identify illustrations from some of the poems they had read earlier when in small groups.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY:

Have students individually choose a poem with imagery and descriptive language to illustrate. This can be done as an in-class assignment for an English or Art class, or as a homework assignment.

Have students write their own original poem using imagery/descriptive language and then illustrate parts of it. 

FOR EXTENSION ACTIVITY:

Pair students. Have each student write a poem using descriptive language and imagery. Then trade their poem with their partner.  Now students illustrate their partner's poem using only the words in the poem, with no communication with the poet. 

Share your original poetry and artwork celebrating the best of Humanity with MY HERO's Global Audience using the Create Program.