Elm Tree Poetry: Library, Identity, and FAILE Exhibit!

Evenin', Elm Tree Families! Thursday started off rainy but warm, so we met at Grand Army Plaza as usual and suited up in our rain ponchos. Then, we moved under the tree, and, because it was too rainy for hide and seek, we played some movement and rhyming games instead. After finishing, we moved to the library to read and work in a dry area.

We quickly settled in at a table in the children's section and played a few more games before Romy read us "My Name," from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. In this story, she uses similes and metaphors to discuss the many meanings of her name, which the Elm Tree children decided was really a way of talking about herself. One of our favorite metaphors occurs early in the story when she says her name is like, "the Mexican records my father listens to on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing."

We talked about how she uses color to describe her name, how she talks about her family, and how she explains that she doesn't like the way some people mispronounce her name (Esperanza... ask your children to pronounce it!). Then we brainstormed different qualities about our names and ourselves to use in our own poems. Below you'll find photos of the Elm Tree Troop at work/ their writing and art:

by Ulysses

by Esmee

by Oona

by Jacie

by Audrey

As an extension of thinking about ourselves, we painted on flags made of cheesecloth and yarn that Sally and Romy prepared the night before. The children included elements from their poems as well as representing themselves through pattern and color. Here are photos of your children at work and proudly displaying their identity flags:

The children then had a chance to look around the library and select two books to check out.

Next we made our way back to Mount Prospect Park for lunch and a quick playtime. Oona read two poems from a book she brought from home: Kenn Nesbitt's The Tighty Whitey Spider. We encouraged the rest of the children to bring in poems or short stories to share with the rest of the group tomorrow!

Finally, we made the trek over to the Brooklyn Museum to see the FAILE exhibit. To prepare them, we discussed the meaning of the word "fail" and how, to be an artist and a person, you have to be willing to experiment and sometimes fail. The children brought up the point that sometimes their favorite drawings are accidents. Then we talked about how the artists added an "e" to the word "fail" to make it an acronym for "a life." We looked at the large-scale collages, the ruined temple, a statue of a woman holding a skateboard, and played in the arcade.