MOVING ART
Students create works based on journal entries
"It’s interesting because what we harp on with them is that you think you’re living sort of everyday lives, but just like the writers we read, your life has meaning." — Daniel Van Winkle, English teacher
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Eighth-graders at Maple Avenue Middle School recently brought stories to life during a project.
Nicole Monroe and Daniel Van Winkle, both English teachers, required students to keep a journal about various subjects, based on the Holocaust diaries students read in a given day.
The students knew the journal would be read, but they didn’t know who would read it.
After the unit ended, Monroe and Van Winkle asked the eighth-graders to gather up at least six journal entries, creating a packet. Then, Monroe gave Van Winkle her students’ journals and vice versa. The teachers handed students a journal to create a piece of art, but the students had no idea who wrote the journal.
“It’s interesting because what we harp on with them is that you think you’re living sort of everyday lives, but just like the writers we read, your life has meaning,” said Van Winkle. “And somebody else, another student, can look at your life and make something actually really inspiring and meaningful, just by reading your entries.”
Over 260 students deployed journal entries to depict their fellow classmate’s interests and thoughts. Students had four ways to present: found poem — in which students took words written in the
entries to create a piece of poetry — a collage, a 3-D piece or a painting.
Some students, like Sarah Trimmings, approached the teachers about another way.
“The person that I was writing about really likes country music, and music is a shared passion of ours,” said Trimmings. “I thought I’d just express it through music.”
Trimmings said she saw the value of the whole project.
“I thought it was a really cool idea. Just anonymously, not having any biased opinions about who it is,” said Trimmings. “You’re just learning about someone without preconceived judgments.”
Aside from the writing and artistic aspect to the project, Monroe said students learned even more.
“This teaches about respecting other people, this teaches about being kind. I had kids that couldn’t understand the writing, and they didn’t know how to reflect that,” said Monroe, who has taught at the middle school for 13 years. “… This is multi layered. It really teaches how to be a good person, too.”
The project culminated Tuesday at the middle school library for a pop-up art show. Parents, administrators and teachers alike viewed the various projects, while students tried to guess what project was based off their journal entries.
Devin Kim found his project during the session, discovering a tennis racquet representing the sport he loves. Kim created a collage of pictures based on the journal he read.
“Getting to know the other people that you’re writing about, or making the project about was a good experience,” said Kim.
Van Winkle, who joined the staff last year, said this project is something the English teachers will continue to do.
“The students were inspired by their fellow students, and it was cool for students to come in and see their life through a new set of eyes, so to speak,” said Van Winkle.