Spotlight on Student Writers: Pound Ridge Third Grade Poets

Chairs at the Katonah Museum of Art were full of proud and smiling family members as third-grade poets from Pound Ridge Elementary School read rhythmic, lyrical poems inspired by the art on display.

Through a collaborative program with the museum, students had the opportunity to explore works of art from an exhibit called Shen Wei: STILL / MOVING and create poems in response to them with guidance from writer-in-residence Pamela Hart.

The experience took place in multiple stages. It started with students visiting the museum, taking notes and brainstorming ideas about She Wei’s work. Next, Hart visited their classrooms to guide them in creating pantoum poems (poems composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza). Finally, each class met at the museum to read their poems aloud before showing their families the art that had inspired them.

“Shen Wei took the energy and activity of his work as a dancer and moved it into his work as a painter,” Hart explained to the crowd. “Pantoum poems have a pattern of repeating lines that give them a flow. Writing them gave students an opportunity to think about rhythm.”

Principal Dr. Stephanie Bell has worked with this program at various times in her career and was thrilled to bring the experience to PRES each year.

“What I love about poetry is that there’s an access point for all,” Dr. Bell said. “And I think the public speaking component of this program is so important.”

After the readings, students were able to show their families the pieces their poems were inspired by.

You can read two students’ poems below and we encourage you to read all of the poems written by third graders in Sarah Sachs and Jacqueline Guglielmo’s classes.

Everlasting

By Grayson Douglas (3G)

Inspired by Brush Movements in Blue and Black by Shen Wei

 

Sweet spinning spider silk

Round and round they go

Sweeping waves and twilight threads

Bending to and fro

 

Round and round they go

A giant dragon twirled

Sweeping waves and twilight threads

In an everlasting glow

 

A splash of water in the dark

A blue colored true

Black brushstrokes, a two-colored lullaby

Each string sparkles like crystal dust

 

A blue color, true

A black one, too

Black brushstrokes, a two-colored lullaby

A lasting image on my eye

 

Red World   

by Miles Friedman (3S)

Inspired by Movement No. 4 (Piano, Guqin, and Voice music, Black, Red, and White)     

 

A huge fire raging

Boiling lava moving     

A red racecar zooming

Fast and furious

 

Boiling lava moving

I feel dramatic

Fast and furious

A big, red electric guitar

 

I feel dramatic

A big fire tornado

A big, red electric guitar

A big explosion

 

A big fire tornado

Red racecards come zooming

A big explosion

A huge fire raging