More Artwork by Jesse and Nathan

The following pieces are artwork created by Jesse and Nathan during their independent reading. I encouraged them to envision and make mental movies in their minds and draw what they 'see' on a piece of paper. When they were doing this activity, they were eager to pick poems that they loved. For instance, Nathan picked the poem, My Baby Brother because he could really relate the poet's message to his own life. The following is part of our conference transcript.

Me: What do you have here Nathan?
Nathan: Well I am writing this poem out because I love it so much.
Me: Really? What do you like about it?
Nathan: You know I have 2 younger brothers and 1 little sister right? Well, this poem reminds me of them. Except the author here is writing about his baby brother, and I only have a baby sister, and she is really not a baby any more.
Me: How old is she now?
Nathan: She is 2 years old now. But you know this part about chewing toes? She used to do that.
Me: (Smiled at him) That's cute! What else does this poem remind you of?
Nathan: A lot! Like the soft skin, and curly hair. My little sis have [has] that too!

Evidently, Nathan was indisputably into the reading process, where he re-read the poem over again, and then copied it down on a piece of paper, and drew out what the envisioned. Similarly, Jesse did the same thing with the poem, First Book, although his artwork does not really reflect the image of the poem, he had a strong engagement with this poem that made him copied it down for his own collection. He said to me, 'I want to write it out so that I can have my own collection of poems to read.' When I heard this comment, I immediately felt happy that Jesse was taking the initiative and showing passion for something that he enjoyed reading.

Exhibit 28
Exhibit 29
Exhibit 30
Exhibit 31