Thinking Through the Arts
Look, reflect, write, repeat.
The students in Elizabeth Jackson’s fourth grade classroom gaze at images of art, reflect for a few moments, jot down thoughts, then repeat. Jackson reminds them that they are just getting ideas on paper; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
This is phase two of a creative experience that all Katonah Elementary School fourth graders are participating in called Thinking Through the Arts. The educational program offered by Katonah Museum of Art supports and stretches the fourth grade ELA and art curriculums.
Poet Pam Hart Visits
Starting with a Poetry Stretch!
Art Museum + Poetry Workshop
It started with a field trip to Katonah Museum of Art. It was one of many times that Katonah-Lewisboro teachers tap the area’s rich resources to enliven learning about art, history and the natural world.
The fourth graders stepped aboard a school bus and travelled 1.8 miles to see the work of four contemporary Black artists who engage with African art objects and connect them to their personal histories and collective memories. A docent-led tour encouraged the students to notice the artists’ choice of colors, shapes and materials.
The fourth graders jotted down observations in their notebooks. “This reminds me of a harp.” “This makes me think of a clock.” “I like the stars.”
Students' notes came back out a few days later
Pamela Hart, a North Salem poet and artist-in-residence at Katonah Museum of Art, visited their classrooms and led them through a writing exercise that combined their reflections on art with reflections on their own ancestry and family traditions.
One student combined the visual of metallic stars sparking in the sky with a family road trip and stopping for take-out!
The unit will culminate with a poetry reading at the Katonah Museum of Art, folding public speaking and presentation of their work into the experience.
