By the pagoda,
Crippled gray and leaning now,
My old friend the tree.
- Shawn
Shawn used the word "pagoda" in his poem, but didn't draw one.
A pagoda is a several-story-tall tower with an ornamental roof - they're built
as temples or memorials. Instead, he embellished his windblown-tree painting
by drawing an "ishi-doro". Perhaps Shawn read about them in our
Traditional Japanese Home
ArtHouse decor kit. Ishi-doro look like miniature pagodas, but they're actually
garden lanterns that are traditionally carved from soft volcanic rock.
ArtHouse provides a focal point for Language Arts projects at all grade levels from
pre-literacy through the middle grades. As shown here, ArtHouse provides a lovely
place to display short poems in an interesting, thematically appropriate context.
The students envisioned a Japanese garden in winter, and imagined viewing its
weathered trees from the perspective of the original haiku poet, Matsuo Basho, who
lived in a humble gardener's hut.
Every ArtHouse decoration tells a story - that's why we call them "storyboards".
Sometimes the visual art comes first. Viewing it, kids are inspired to interpret and
tell stories. Or, like storyboards in the film-making and advertising industries,
making storyboards can be a tool for students to test and develop creative ideas
from the brainstorming to the writing stage. A third scenario is demonstrated here:
students wrote haiku poems and created visual artwork to aid presentation.
ArtHouse is a great teaching aid for Language Arts - it makes lessons more memorable.
Visit The Haiku Poetry Page To See The Class Project Assembled
You're invited to submit art to the ArtHouse Children's Art Gallery!
Kids' Art Gallery Submission Instructions
Return To The ArtHouse Children's Art Gallery