Using calligrammes to practice adjectives
The term calligramme was invented by Guillaume Apollinaire, French writer and poet of the early 20th century. His collection of calligrammes demonstrates the art form of turning words into images by manipulating their size and form. My favorite is the lady with a hat, but he's also known for his Eiffel Tower and horse poems. I just love how whimsical they are!
My 4th and 5th graders were learning adjectives to accompany their study of the verb être and I realized it would be the perfect occasion to whip out Apollinaire's calligrammes. The assignment I gave them was to use only words to create a self-portrait, including "Je suis" with a list of adjectives describing themselves.
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I had them go over in sharpie and add color to add some finesse. They had just selected their French names, so I backed the portraits on construction paper and labeled them with the new names. The result was a beautiful display that hung outside their classroom for the better part of the year. I was so happy with the way they came out!
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Lots of kids struggled with the challenge of not using traditional lines for their contours, but they were all happy in the end with their likenesses. It was a practice in refuting the notion of "realistic" in their art—some of them could just not deal with it and included lines anyways! Next time I may have them prepare the list of adjectives ahead of time, as some of them were having a hard time scrounging for words as they went on in the process.
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