Poetry in motion
Marshall students learn to add visual elements to writings
MARSHALL — Getting kids to dissect a poem and create images that illustrate the poem takes creativity — which came in the form of Saara Raappana, a Marshall poet, who was a guest at Marshall Middle School in two seventh-grade language arts classes. She was in Cathie Crouse’s classroom last week and Amber Meulebroeck’s this week.
On the first day, the students formed small groups and picked three poems out of selections that Raappana provided from the Poetry Foundation — “ones that kids might like,” she said.
Raappana then selected one poem for each group so they wouldn’t overlap. Cristel Duenas, Tannette Hall and Mikayla Ulrich got “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye, which mentions fish, a cat and a river, among other common things which interact with each other and are important to one another even if it’s just for a moment.
They will make images of fish swimming in a river, a boot stomping on the ground, and for the line about a “loud voice is famous to silence,” they will show a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. who projected his voice for everyone to hear and spoke up when others were silent.
The students were tasked with making short films, about two to five minutes long, using different elements such as music, voice over, stop motion, acting, drawing or cutting out pictures from magazines. The students used an iPad and watched an iMovie tutorial to learn how to make a short film.
Blake Weedman liked assembling the images that represented the poem.
“Putting the pictures together is fun,” said Weedman.
Raappana said the process was a way for the students to “engage deeply with the poem.”
The results can be seen at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Cathie Crouse’s classroom during the Marshall Middle School Premiere and Award Show.
“Parents and family members and kids are invited to come,” said Meulebroeck. “Popcorn will be served.”
Meulebroeck said the motionpoem class was a great way to get kids interested in poetry.
“The students have been really excited to do this,” she said. “They love being creative. The fact that they’re engaging with the poems is awesome.”
Raappana is the author of chapbooks including “A Story of America Goes Walking” (in collaboration with artist Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton, Shechem Press, 2016). She was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is a founding editor of Cellpoems, and works as communications director for Motionpoems.
The two-week artists’ residency is courtesy of a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council.