MEMBER VOICES
photo by s te v e smith
Tim Needles describes the power of infusing art into learning.
Video poems bring a creative interdisciplinary approach to any lesson By Tim Needles
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EMPOWERED LEARNER
How would you describe the first five minutes of your day in 10 words? This is one of the questions I ask my students as a way to inspire them to begin writing as part of a video poem project. After writing about a series of topics in different styles and sharing some of our favorites, each student chooses one to elevate with visuals, such as photos, film, handwriting, audio or any other creative tools at our disposal. Writing and art has always helped me process my own thoughts and feelings, and I’ve seen it help students in the same way. I find that students often get more in touch with their own emotions as a result of the process and are able to produce more creative works as a result. The first-five-minutes prompt is one of many I use that focuses on exploring our feelings in a non-invasive way and articulating them in words, which we later use as a basis for a short poem. I’ve been teaching this STEAM project for over 20 years and it has evolved into a number of variations that cater to the students
I’m working with, their skill levels and interests. That’s where my signature video poems lesson comes in. These poems are a great way to infuse a creative interdisciplinary element into what you’re teaching. And thanks to their versatility, they’re also great for distance learning. The flexibility of the medium is key in making it work in so many different situations. The poetry can be a three-line haiku, a song (which is just poetry set to music), a short story or even a rhyming limerick. The visuals are just as adaptable because they can be drawings, photographs or film clips. The video poem projects range from a simple four-frame video poem that uses four images with writing on them to a more advanced animated or pixilation video poem, which is more collaborative and great for advanced students. One example is the project I did in April to celebrate National Poetry Month where students worked together to write a poem in a shared Google Doc while they were home
