Picture Writing

Classroom Activties

Activity One: Reading a Picture

Objective: Students will observe a primary source to gather information about eighteenth-century Boston.

Materials: projector, graphic organizer, chart paper, postcards

This lesson begins with projecting a portrait from the Yale Art Gallery:

John Singleton Copley's Elizabeth Storer Smith, 1769.

Observations. I will ask the students to take a few moments to look at the picture. Then they should write down their observations on the left side of a graphic organizer where they see the words "What I notice." I'll ask them to make a list of things they see in the picture and give them a few minutes to make their observations.

John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), Mrs. Isaac Smith (Elizabeth Storer) (1726-1786), 1769. Oil on canvas, 50 1/8 x 40 1/8 in. (127.3 x 101.9 cm). Yale University Art Gallery.

Students will turn to their elbow partner and share observations, answering the question, "What do you see?" Allow three minutes for each partner to share. Then ask for a scribe to create a class master list on chart paper. Give each student a postcard of the portrait. Take down a master list interjecting more observation questions. "What do you notice?" allows students to interpret the details. "What else do you see?" encourages closer observation. "What is going on in this piece?" implies that there is more complexity to the piece than may be apparent at first glance or that there may be a narrative to the piece. "What do you see that makes you say that?" makes students accountable for their observations by citing visual evidence.

Questions. Next take another few minutes for quiet think time to fill out the right side of the graphic organizer where they see the words "What I wonder." Again, share with elbow partners before sharing with others. Walk around the room while students engage in this task. Spot some good questions, and ask if you might call on the student to get the discussion going. Call specific students to explain what their partner wonders.

Symbols. Students will wonder who Mrs. Smith is and why she was important enough to have her portrait made. She is the wife of a prosperous Boston merchant named Isaac Smith. Note the evidence in the portrait of her wealth: pearls in her hair and around her neck, rich colors, and upholstered armchair. Why did Copley chose to paint grapes in her lap? These particular grapes are a rare variety, therefore making her special. Grapes are also a sign of fertility. She had six children and is expecting a seventh. What can you guess about her personality? What is she thinking? Is she happy? At her age in that era in colonial America, childbearing was life-threatening. This portrait was made before her baby was born. Do you have an opinion of what's on her mind? She did have the baby, and all was well. Still, we can compare her portrait with her husband's and imagine what she might say to him.

Creative Writing Narrative. Have students write a diary entry from Elizabeth Storer Smith's perspective. Describe your life based on the information you gained from analyzing the painting. Explain what is expected of you from your family and society. Describe how you felt posing for this painting. ²⁰

Activity Two: Summarizing a Picture-Book Biography

Objective: Students will read and summarize a picture book demonstrating an understanding of both words and pictures.

Materials: Two copies of picture book biographies for side-by-side partner reading. Post-it? notes. Projector.

The first day choose a biography to demonstrate such as The Story of Stagecoach Mary Fields by Robert H. Miller. Show how to distribute post-its? about every three pages. Begin to read. Stop and summarize at each post-it. Write so students can see and place the post-it on the page. Talk about the pictures as you go and include information gleaned from the pictures in your post-it summaries. After the reading is complete, re-tell the story using the post-its and pictures. This could be a break point. Next take the post-its and project on a screen to the whole class as you write the summary of the entire book together.

Begin the following lesson with introducing the class to the collection of biographies. Do a quick picture walk and hint at who each person is and what makes her life great reading. Students then choose a book to read side-by-side with a partner. They each read their own copy of the same book. They follow your example making post-it note summaries every few pages and discuss the pictures and words as they go. Walk the room and check in on partners. When students finish reading, have them practice re-telling the story to their partners before writing the summary.

Activity Three: Side-by-Side Poems

Objective: Students will understand the emotional content of an inspiring American woman's life.

Materials: Two copies of picture book biographies for side-by-side partner reading. Post-it notes in two colors such as yellow and blue. Large sheet graphic organizer divided into fourteen sections, seven on each side.

Demonstrate the procedure by reading aloud a picture book biography. Stop to note on a yellow post-it words from the text that grab you. Ask the students to choose phrases that they like. Discuss the language, metaphors, word choices, and how they appeal to you. Write the words or phrases on individual post-its and place in the book. When you finish, go through the book again making a chronology of events. Write a brief statement of each event on a blue post-it on the page. Narrow it down to about seven main events. Now you are ready for the side-by-side part of this activity.

Create a chart divided vertically in half. On the left side, place the blue post-it events one at a time in order from top to bottom. Then, go back to the page in the book for each event and see if you have a phase or word on a yellow post-it. Put the coordinating yellow post-its on the right side of the chart. You may need to write the words from the post-its in bigger print for your chart paper so that the whole class can see. When you are done, test out the poem. It is read from left to right in blocks: first the event phrase, then the found poem phrase. Revise as a class. Then ask two students to volunteer to read. One reads the left side. The other reads the right side.

The next day children work in pairs with a biography they know well. Follow the same procedure. Give students a large sheet for placing their post-its. Have them copy the post-its onto the sheet. The next step is optional: cut the organizer at the horizontal lines and stack the parts of the poem. Now students can manipulate the order. This gives them the freedom to re-tell the story in a fresh way. Finally they glue the pieces in the order chosen on a new large sheet. The teacher takes these and types them into a table in a Word document like the one below.

Students practice reading their poems. Teach them how to use emphasis, to pause, and to practice good methods of oration. Perform the poems for another class. ²¹

Here is a poem written by student and teacher using Molly Bannaky.