UNIT PLAN TITLE
The Origins of Us: Connections between Science and Poetry
TEACHER(S)
ARTIST(S)
Cory Worzala
Jenn Morea
SCHOOL
GRADE
ART FORM(S)
Pulaski Fine Arts Academy
7th
Poetry
OVERVIEW & BIG IDEAS FOR UNIT
This unit will focus on the ways that the origins of things (words, traits, names) can be
viewed through both a scientific and poetic lens.
GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR UNIT
Students will explore these three questions: What is inheritance? What is poetry? Where did you see the
connection between poetry and science?
INTENTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING
AS A RESULT OF THIS UNIT, WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR STUDENTS
TO KNOW AND BE ABLE TO DO IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS?
ART FORM(S) AND PROCESS:
ACADEMIC CONTENT AREA(S):
SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
To be able to:
Learn poetic devices and be able
to recognize them and put them
into practice. (see content
vocabulary)
Develop a greater awareness of
the possibilities of poetry.
-To be able to understand:
Inheritance
The difference between
genetically inherited and learned
behaviors
-Classification
Genotypes and Phenotypes
General Classification
Recessive and Dominant Genes
To:
Be receptive to different styles of
poetry and expression.
Increase their confidence in
expressing their ideas.
Learn more about and be proud
of their origins and family history
PLANS FOR DOCUMENTING THIS UNIT
[ x ] journals
[x ] photos
[] audio
[ ] video
[ x ] pre/post examples of student
work-answers to three questions
[ ] other:
©Columbia College Chicago, 2010
PLANS FOR ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING/DEVELOPMENT
Pre and post Questions, and Botanical Poem/Artwork Checklist
TEXT & IMAGE SOURCES OF
INSPIRATION / MODEL ARTWORKS
Word Playgrounds: Reading,
Writing, And Performing Poetry
In The English Classroom by
John S. O'Connor
Arabic Botanical Drawings
House on Mango Street, by
Sandra Ciscernos
ART AND ACADEMIC CONTENT VOCABULARY
EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS
Notebooks
Pens
Folders
Model poems
Model botanical illustrations
Water colors and paper
1) INHERITANCE
2) ORIGIN
3) METAPHOR
4) SIMILE
5) STANZA
6) CLASSIFICATION
7) ANAPHORA
Book of Questions by Pablo
Neruda
8) PHENOTYPE
9) ETYMOLOGY
ENGAGE
10) CONTOUR LINE
WEEK
1
2
3
IMMERSE
4
CREATE A SAFE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS | LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF THE ARTS
Students respond to the question “What is inheritance?” and “Where is the origin of voice?”
Students write autobiographies.
Each student writes a list of things they've inherited (including physical characteristics, skills,
interests, material objects, dispositions) along with who each thing was inherited from
(including family, friends, teachers, and others).
Read excerpts from The Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda.
Warm-up activity: 4 ways of looking at a letter.
Introduction to types of metaphor.
Read “My Name” from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Students take home Name Questionnaire to discuss with their families and fill out.
Review “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros. Write “My Name” poems using information
generated on Name Questionnaire and metaphor.
WEEK
5
6
IMMERSION IN THE BIG IDEAS
Students write responses to Questions about Questions.
Read “Natalia's Questions” by Myriam Moscona.
Each student writes a question poem.
Discuss word origins. Provide definitions of etymology, science, and epistemology.
Write a story about the origin of a word.
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©Columbia College Chicago, 2010
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REFINE
8
Guest Artist Visit: blind contour drawings of a classmate and a family member or a close
friend. Read excerpts from “I Remember” by Joe Brainard. Write poems using lines beginning
with the phrase “I am from” using the following exercise: Writing Part 1: Respond to the
following questions based on parents/grandparents: provide a physical description related to
hair, eyes, face, hands, height; What are things they do? (ex: drinks coffee every morning, or
what do they do at their job, or reads a bedtime story to your little brother every night); What
is something you always hear them say?
Blind contour drawing of a memory of a place. Read “Abuelito Who” by Sandra Cisneros.
Complete writing poem from week 7 using the following prompts: Writing Part 2: Respond to
the following questions about your memories. Remember to use lines beginning with the
phrase “I am from” in your poem. What was a beautiful, magical place you visited? A memory
that took place during the summer? What is something that at first you struggled with, but
then you were successful in? [others]
WEEK
9
10
11
12
REVISE & SHARE | PERFORM & EXHIBIT | REFLECT & ASSESS
Read “We would like you to know” by Ana Castillo, build a vocabulary word list, and discuss
poem.
(Introduction to classification system in science class.)
Review Castillo poem. Writing in three parts: use I/we would like you to know as a refrain for
each. Part 1: What is a phenotype? Write about your dominant, physical, visible
characteristics. (Think about describing yourself as accurately as possible for someone who's
not seen you before – as though you're sending a photograph of yourself in words.)
Part 2: What you show/reveal about yourself. Are you shy? Funny? Studious? Does
everyone know that you love soccer? What do people think about you who just see you?
Part 3: What you carry inside of you/is invisible unless you tell it. Write 1-2 for yourself and 12 about your family. What's a family story that no one knows unless you share it? Use a
range of tones.
Students looked at models of Botanical Classifications. Students revisited the idea of
Metaphor. They looked back in their journals to find all the ways that they had described
themselves and the things (characteristics and objects) that they had inherited.
Students used the structure of botanical classifications to write their botanical self portraits.
Guest Artist Visit (2/23): Students worked with guest artist, Cynthia Weiss to create a
watercolor flower image that illustrated their botanical self-portraits.
Students shared their writing and final project with each other.
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DESCRIPTION OF CULMINIATING EVENT
4/16/10-Students went on a culminating field trip to the Old Town School of Folk Music. They participated
in the Chicago Public School Poetry Festival hosted by the Office of Arts Education.
Date: 4/16/10
Location: Old Town School of Folk Music
Number of Students Participating: 10 students read their work and 27 students participated in the
culminating file trip event.
ILLINOIS STATE FINE ARTS STANDARDS
State Standard/Goal #
Fine Arts 25.B.3
Compare and contrast
the elements and
principles in two or more
art works that share
similar themes.
State Standard/Goal #
Fine Arts 25.A.3d
Visual Arts: Identify
and describe the
elements of value,
perspective and color
schemes; the principles
of contrast, emphasis
and unity; and the
expressive qualities of
thematic development
and sequence.
State Standard/Goal #
State Standard/Goal #
ILLINOIS STATE CORE CURRICULUM STANDARDS
State Standard/Goal #
Science12.A.4a Explain
how genetic
combinations produce
visible effects and
variations among
physical features and
cellular functions of
organisms.
State Standard/Goal #
Science 12.A.3b
Compare characteristics
of organisms produced
from a single parent with
those of organisms
produced by two
parents.
State Standard/Goal #
Language Arts 3B.3a
Produce documents that
convey a clear
understanding and
interpretation of ideas
and information and
display focus,
organization, elaboration
and coherence.
State Standard/Goal #
Language Arts 3.B.3b
Edit and revise for word
choice, organization,
consistent point of view
and transitions among
paragraphs using
contemporary
technology and formats
suitable for submission
and/or publication.
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DESCRIPTION OF UNIT DOCUMENTATION
AND/OR STUDENT ASSESSMENT
We created a Checklist that incorporated the poetry, classification and visual arts components. We looked
at all the finished and completed the checklist. (See attached checklist).
WHERE ARE ARCHIVE MATERIALS CURRENTLY STORED?
(INCLUDING STUDENT ARTWORKS, UNIT DOCUMENTATION, ARTIST JOURNAL/BLOG, ETC.)
Unit and Assessment turned into CCAP on disc and file.
TEACHER’S REFLECTIONS
I think that the students became much more confident in what poetry is and what it is not. I think that my
students were more introspective and honest about themselves and their families with each other than I
thought they would be. They usually are much more private about their families, but through the poetry we
could get a vision of what is important to them in their home and family life.
I learned a lot about them in listening to their conversations with Jenn. I personally learned a ton from Jenn
about how to draw out more from my students; she taught me how to get them to talk and think more
reflectively. I was happy to see how happy they were with everything in the residency, they loved
everything they did in class and loved the poetry festival. The students now have new aspirations for their
own poetic expression.. They have a new found appreciation for performance and poetry and want to
pursue an after-school program next year to prepare for the Poetry Festival.-Cory Worzala
ARTIST’S REFLECTIONS
The students’ openness and honesty taught me a great deal about courage. The sincerity with which they
express themselves through the written word, as well as through visual art, is refreshing and inspiring.
They intuitively know what matters in poetry; they know a poem is a site for meaning-making, bearing
witness, and being honest with one’s self. Even though, as a teacher of poetry, part of my inherent
responsibility is to ask students questions that will guide them towards reflective thinking, it is always at the
discretion of the student the depth of the gaze they bring to the mirror.
Cory was completely present in every moment of the residency. She was an integral part of it and so often
was a lovely bridge between the students and me. What we asked the students to do in terms of abstract
thinking and translating from the literal to the metaphorical was quite complex. The success of the
students’ botanical poems, and the watercolor paintings they made from these poems, expanded my own
sense of the possibilities of poetry.
-Jenn Morea
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Project AIM introduces public school teachers and students to the authentic arts practice of artists by
partnering teaching artists from Columbia College Chicago and community-based art organizations with
public school teachers. The talented Project AIM Teaching Artist Cadre brings professional expertise in:
creative writing, spoken-word performance, theatre, music, visual arts, book and paper arts,
photography, dance and film to the classroom.
Artists and teachers work together to infuse the classroom with creativity and experiential learning that
connect arts processes and personal experiences to the core curriculum. Using inquiry-based teaching
methods, these teams guide their students through each step of the creative process from
brainstorming, writing first drafts, revision and rehearsal, to exemplary performances, exhibitions, and
documentation of their work.
INTEGRATION
Focusing on the integration of word and image, Project AIM explores the parallels between arts and
literacy learning. Artists and teachers jointly create arts-integrated curriculum that promotes reading
and writing through the arts. Classrooms are transformed into studios and performance spaces where
students are engaged in a powerful learning cycle in and through the arts. As a result, students learn
higher-order thinking skills by translating their ideas across mediums.
MENTORSHIP
Project AIM provides many opportunities for mentorship between teachers, artists, students and
college faculty. It establishes reciprocal learning communities that provide professional development
through hands-on workshops, cooperative classroom learning laboratories and summer institutes.
Monthly artist meetings are a key feature and an invaluable opportunity for teaching artists to share,
and learn from, their peers. Project AIM works with principals, school-based steering committees, and
local school councils to develop arts programming that supports positive, whole school change. Project
AIM also enriches the arts-integration practice of participating faculty at Columbia College Chicago.
For more information, please visit www.colum.edu/ccap or contact (insert applicable
person)
The Arts Integration Mentorship Project (Project AIM) is supported in part by the U.S. Department of
Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination program, National Endowment for the
Arts, Chicago Public Schools, the Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation,
Leo S. Guthman Fund, JCCC Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Kraft Foods, Polk Bros.
Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art, and an anonymous foundation.
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