Artwork in the Classroom

I became a huge fan of art in high school thanks to an art history class I took. My art history class helped me to become a more critical and analytical person not only of art, but of literary works as well. I am very interested in incorporating artwork into my future classroom. When I took a creative writing course in high school we chose a piece of art that we enjoyed and wrote a short story based on what we thought was happening in the work. I chose a piece by a Pop Artist named Roy Lichtenstein. I ended up writing a far-fetched story about an astronaut. I found this assignment to be very interesting and fun. It also caused me to use the analytical skills I had learned in my art history class. This assignment is one I would like to incorporate into my classroom. I think that this assignment would help my students utilize their critical thinking skills to first analyze the painting and then, they would need to be creative. It's important to have fun with this assignment and get as creative as possible.

On another note, I have begun reading the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I had three friends that recommended that I read this book. So far, I can't put it down! I have been sick for the majority of the week so I have had plenty of time on my hands to read. I have read a little over one hundred pages of this book and hope to have it finished soon.

Multi-Genre Project

So far I have really enjoyed completing my multi-genre project. This project has caused me to reminisce about my past. I went back through a lot of the old books I used to read. I was a big fan of Chris van Allsburg's picture books as a child, so I have gone back and re-read a few of them. My all time favorite book by him was The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. It contained about fifteen pictures each with a little caption. I remember being so intrigued by this book that I would write my own stories to go along with the pictures.

Besides books, I have also gone through my collection of movies and found many of the movies that I would watch over and over again as a child. One such movie I stumbled across was an old animated Scooby Doo movie. I remember watching it countless times as a child. It was really great to see the movie again, and it brought back many memories! I have so far spent half the weekend watching old movies and T.V. shows. I watched a few episodes of one of my all time favorite shows as a child The Outer Limits. It was a scary show, and I can't believe I watched it as a four-year-old!

I am really enjoying going back through all my old favorite books, movies, music, and t.v. shows. I think that this would be a great project to assign to my future students. I think that they would have a good time reminiscing about their past, because I know I am!