Clouds

Learning intention:

I can identify the use of imagery by an author and interpret it in my own way so that I can better understand how I can incorporate imagery into my own writing in a way that best suits my creative process.

 

Success criteria:

• I can identify the imagery used in a poem
• I can create an illustration based on my interpretation of the lines in a poem
• I can use my own creative process to compose a poem using imagery and create an accompanying illustration.

 

Essential knowledge:

Information about recognising and creating imagery can be found in the English Textual Concepts video Connotation, Imagery and Symbol.

 

Do not provide students with a copy of the magazine yet. Read the poem aloud, or if you have a digital subscription, you can play the audio version. Request that the students  close their eyes as they listen. Ask for examples of the imagery the poem created for them. Sample answers may include:

• Clouds spinning in the sky
• Houses and trees below the clouds
• White clouds moving through a light blue sky
• Trees in the distance blowing in the breeze.

Ask students to do a rough drawing (preferably in colour) of what they visualized from the poem, then distribute the magazines for students to look at. Ask them whether they think the poem, or the illustration was done first and discuss possible reasons for each option. Explain that we all have different ways of working creatively and one person’s process for creating a text and illustration may be completely different from another person’s process.

Inform students that they will be composing their own poem and drawing an accompanying illustration based on a scene in nature. Possible suggestions may include:

• Waves in the ocean
• Sounds and sights of the bush
• The feeling of a thunderstorm

Students should consider whether writing or drawing first would suit them best creatively. Explain that the key is in the imagery. For example, they may wish to imagine what their scene may look and feel like and write keywords to help them compose a poem, or they may wish to draw the scene first to help them describe what they see in their drawing, then use this description as a foundation for building imagery for their poem.

 

Ask students to identify the structure of the poem (single four-line stanza, AABB rhyme scheme) and explain that they should use this structure for their own poems. Once completed, students should share their poems and illustrations with the class.