NovemberIntegrating English and Visual Arts for Senior Classes

November

November is a grey roadCloaked in mist.A twist of wood smokeIn the gathering gloom.A scurrying squirrelHoarding acornsA steel-grey riverGlinting in the twilight .A grey rope knotted around a threadbare tree

John Forster

Oral LanguageChildren listen to poem and respond by

a. identifying and listing all the images/pictures they can see in the poemb. naming all the colours both named and suggested in the poemc. reciting the poem with sound effects or background musicd. recording the above as either a sound poem or as a soundscapee. creating still images in groups ( e.g. the scurrying squirrel, the twist of wood

smoke, the threadbare tree)f. creating visual art pieces (as outlined below)

Vocabulary expansion and concept development

Talk about the colours we associate with November weather – usually greys and whites.Create a word bank to describe the different tones/hues/shades of grey – e.g. ash grey, gunmetal grey, mouse grey etc. This is a good opportunity for children to use a thesaurus.

Brainstorm all the images, activities, feelings etc. we associate with November e.g. skeleton trees, snuggling under duvets, the smell of wet coats in the cloakroom

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Compose:

Use the structure of John Forster’s poem to create a class poem or group poemse.g.

November is skeleton treesPointing to a gunmetal sky,The damp smell of coats In our cloakroom,Hot chocolate in mugs ………

Encourage children to compose their own November poems using this or a similar structure. These could be displayed with some of the artwork, or a class anthology of November poems could be compiled and displayed in the library.

Identify some of the Festivals associated with November:- St Andrew’s Day ( Nov. 30th)- Remembrance Day (1st Sun. of Nov.)- Guy Fawkes Day (5th November)- All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day (1st and 2nd Nov.)- Other cultures e.g. Feast of the Dead ( Mexico)

Research: Working in groups of three, children research these feast days with the intention of making oral presentations to the class. It may be helpful to teach the children a framework to use for their report e.g.

The type of framework you choose to use will depend on the children’s confidence and language level.It would also be helpful to revise with the children what makes a good speaker ( e.g. looks at audience, speaks clearly and audibly, introduces topic in an attention getting way, makes the points clearly, has a strong ending)

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Before we researched this topic, we already knew…….However, we learnt several new things. Firstly we read that…A second important/ interesting thing we learnt was….Thirdly….However, what we found most interesting was……

Television Review: When the evenings are dark, we are more likely to have time to watch more TV and videos. Working in pairs, encourage the children to talk about the programmes they enjoy watching and choose the funniest, the most exciting, the spookiest. Ask them to choose one that made them feel sad or angry and one that made them want to find out more.

Games: Play Twenty Questions based on characters on current TV programmes. Before playing the game it is worthwhile brainstorming the types of questions that can be asked, especially if children have not played this game often.

Reading for pleasure and enjoymentEncourage the children to search for and read other poems with a Winter theme. Perhaps a class scrapbook or notice board of these poems could be created.

Reading for information

Internet, CD Rom, Encyclopaedias, reference books, etc. will be sources of information for the children’s oral language presentations. However we do not want them repeating the information verbatim. It is important to ensure that they make their own of the information. The KWL technique would be a useful one to teach here. It ensures that children are active in constructing information before, during and after reading.

What I KnowK

What I Want to knowW

What I have LearntL

WritingNovember Poems - already described.Word banks – colours and adjectives evoked by the November themeReport Writing on the oral language topicsProcedural Writing – How we constructed our bird table (VA construction strand)

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Visual ArtsDrawing from observation

Draw from imagination

Look closely at and draw from the skeletons of trees from observation. Learn to identify a few of the more common trees by looking at the shapes made by its trunk and branches. Illustrate the scene suggested by the John Forster poem using crayons and chalk on a sugar paper or brown paper background.

Paint and ColourLook at the list of Nov. colours created in oral language. create a colour wheel of the various shades and tones of grey. Paint a moody misty November painting suggested by these colours.When you have finished swap paintings with a partner. Look at your partner’s painting closely and compose a name for it.

ConstructionWorking in pairs can you design a feeding tray or bird-table. Make a model of it using card/cardboard. If there is adult supervision/parental involvement perhaps the children could construct and erect sturdy bird tables and feeders for the school garden.

Print Keeping in mind the symbolism of the Remembrance Day poppies, the children could explore making poppy stencils and printing them using various tones of red. Perhaps they could cut out their prints and use them as part of a collage on the theme of On Flanders Fields.

Fabric and Fibre Investigate the Scottish tartan. Using the internet/ encyclopaedia identify a few of the more common patterns. On St. Andrew’s day, Nov. 30th, invite the children to wear something tartan, scarf, hat, skirt, hair band. If they don’t have any, get them to create it from using paint/crayon and newsprint!

The theme of November’s skeleton trees could also be explored using invented stitchery on hessian. Children could also be encouraged to add natural items such as seed heads, light twigs to their work.

Clay Create tiles to represent November. Either use incised decoration or relief to suggest the spiky skeletal lines of the trees, plants and grasses. Try taking impressions of twigs, fern skeletons, winged seeds ( e.g. ash/sycamore)

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