Free Inquiry Post 6
The art and poetry behind and beyond the photo:
Today we are taking a look at art and poetry! There are tons of examples of poetry related to different art pieces, whether it be paintings or photographs; there are options to teach students about it. For example, we have the Ophelia Shakespearean Tragedy, some students may already know about Ophelia but it is still a good example. Below you can see a photo of Ophelia and a poem by Sir John Everett Millais, he wrote the poem about Ophelia’s fate. When teaching students about art pieces like this, they can learn about how poetry works, how it can be made, and what was going on during this era. It links the language arts aspect and some social studies as well, making it a cross curricular activity.
There is also another fun element to this type of lesson, which is music. There are (school appropriate) songs that some students may even know that are teaching about the art pieces and their stories. For example, “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift!
Now let’s take some time to look at this
This is a photo from Cobourg to Marmora Railway in the 1860’s by author George Parker and Marmora Historical Foundation. ( https://cdhs.ca/cobourg-to-marmora-railway/ )
If there are photos or art pieces that do not have poems or stories attached to them, they can be brought into the classroom for students to create poems or stories about the photos. This gives them the opportunity to be creative and integrate those language arts and social study elements into the lessons. Although, if this is something you are hoping to do in your classroom, it is important that you discuss with your class about expectations and limits, make sure that they understand what stereotypes and assumptions are and how that can be harmful. Once you feel your students are understanding feel free to introduce this as a assignment or project!
A couple other places you can get your students to explore to find photos is through national archives! Check out the two links below for them:
https://www.archives.gov/research/still-pictures/american-landscape