Painting With Words: An Experiment

I recently read a book called I Am a Pencil by Sam Swope. Sam Swope, it turns out, is a children's book author and not actually a pencil. As he explains, he stumbled on teaching creative writing to third graders in Queens after struggling through an extended writing slump. His book is a research project turned novel that chronicles the three years he spent with the same elementary school class teaching story and poetry. It's well-written, honest, heart-on-your-sleeve stuff. I really liked it.

But this post isn't about I Am a Pencil; it's about why I read I Am a Pencil. I read I Am a Pencil because I was looking for Wishes, Lies, and Dreams by Kenneth Koch, who taught first through sixth graders in Manhattan how to write poetry some 30 years before Sam Swope, but the library didn't have it. Sam Swope was as close to Kenneth Koch as I could get until my order came into Barnes and Noble.

But this post isn't about Kenneth Koch, either. I was trying to find Kenneth Koch because I decided to teach a children's poetry class. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to teach a children's poetry class, but I can tell you how it happened. Sandy (of Magnolia Hill fame) asked me what I thought of my teaching experience overseas. I told her that while I was teaching, I found it absolutely draining and that I felt that it was not something I could do for the rest of my life. But, I continued to explain, now that I'm back in the US and not doing it, I miss it a lot. She told me that if I wanted to teach that she'd be willing to loan me the studio and help me find students.

A few days later while I was riding in the car or wiping tables at work or spacing out on the couch or something, I thought, "I'll teach poetry to children."

So since I decided to teach poetry to children, I also decided I should learn how to teach poetry to children. Hence Kenneth Koch and Sam Swope. I also read parts of Stories, Songs, and Poetry to Teach Reading and Writing by Robert and Marlene McCracken and The Art of Teaching Art to Children in School and at Home by Nancy Beal with Gloria Bley Miller. And I have, I think, learned a little. And in my usual fool-hardy way I'm going to attempt something big with only very little.

I talked to Sandy about it again yesterday and sent her a course description I'd written up. This is how it goes:

Like acrylics and watercolors and oils, words can be used to paint powerful and expressive works of art. More than just a means to communicate our needs or ideas, words can be beautiful and breathtaking, dynamic and impressive. This eight-week course designed for middle school students (ages 9-12) will focus on developing a love for language and an understanding of its versatility. By exploring the work of modern poets and experimenting with our own language, we will discover how to paint new pictures with words.

It's ambitious and I am simultaneously excited and terrified. (Sandy seems excited and a bit more confident of the class's success.) If any kids sign up for this class and I actually get to teach it, I'll let you know how it goes.