02-08-10 Lesson Plan

A Lesson in Imagery Development

All too often I find that my students do not think beyond an object, color, etc to develop the idea. For this poem activity I require students to think about colors in ways that they normally might not consider in order for them to push themselves into thinking more abstractly and developing vivid images.

Color Poem

Objective: Students will develop their abilities to write vivid images related to colors.
Time required: One class period
Grade level: Middle School

This lesson would fit well within a larger poetry unit, around a time in the unit when there is a need to develop visual imagery.

1. Students will be writing a color poem. Start by asking students to choose a color. Perhaps they will choose a color that is one of their favorites, or one that matches a mood that they are in on that particular day. Now, ask students to brainstorm a list of images using the following prompts.
What sounds does your color make you think of?
What smells does your color make you think of?
What tastes does your color make you think of?
What textures are related to your color?
What objects come to mind when you think of your color?
What mood do you think about when you think of your color?

Using these prompts hopefully the students will come up with an extensive list of images and ideas. Now, the next step is to develop these ideas into a poem that will better capture the color in a non-traditional way. I encourage kids to choose a mood for the poem before going forward because, for example, the color red can evoke feelings of love and sweetness (like at Valentine's day) or anger and hate. White could be innocence or emptiness.

Next, students choose some of the senses or images from their brainstorming and transform these into a poem format of two stanzas with five lines each. Use the following poem as a starting point.

Pink
Have you heard the color pink?
The quiet cry of a newborn baby girl
The sigh of a flower as it opens its petals to welcome the sun
The whispered dreams of little girls planning fairy tale weddings
That is the sound of pink.

Have you felt the terror of black?
Shadows lurking on a starless night
Swirling angry clouds banking in the west
A man with a mask at your front door
That is the terror of black.

Students go on to write their own color imagery poems. Poems can then be printed on the corresponding color and displayed or read aloud in class. The color poems that my students have written in the past become part of a poetry anthology that they create.