A High School Student Describes the Mature Years  

   

          William J. Small is Karen Topham's student at Lake Forest High School, Lake Bluff, Illinois. I matched his poem with one of my photos to create a page in my upcoming collection, Reflections: A Collection of Poems, Photos, and More. Then I added the quotation by Emily Bronte to help students generate ideas for their writing. Feel free to download this and other poems and photos in this blog for use in your classrooms.

          Small's poem is just one of more than 130 others included in Reflections along with carefully selected photos. The work includes not only poems and photos by students, but also contributions by teachers and other writer-photographers. You can see more samples at  www.starteaching.com. Click on "Latest Issue November."

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me./Fluttering from the autumn tree."  -Emily Bronte

Self-Identification in the Crinkling of Fall

 

The light glazes the treetops

                          A crisp crinkling ripple in my ear                                         

I splash in the wind,

I grasp for the aftertaste of the moment,

Left behind by the blink of my eye

Like a mossy rock it slips through my mind

Deeper and deeper away

In a crescendo it once again erupts

As I feel the light shivering of the grass,

Against my restful body

I spin along with the Earth

As it tells me all its secrets

                                               Of love, lost, and etc.                                                            

The only sounds trickle from a sparrow

Scatter from a squirrel

Tickle from a falling leaf

To create a stream of sounds

                                                                                   

Oh Fall!

Bring change and beauty, as I grow old!

And now as I bath in the angst of coming maturity

I pray to resemble the subtle whispery kisses of you.

                        -William J. Small

Poem Copyright © 2010 by William J. Small

Photo Copyright©2010 by Hank Kellner

Write What You See and Prufrock Press

Published by Cottonwood Press in 2009, Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner is now marketed by Prufrock Press, http://www.prufrock.com.  This thought-provoking collection contains photographs and a wide variety of inventive writing prompts to motivate students.

     Written by a veteran of the Korean War and retired educator who has served as an English Department supervisor and adjunct associate professor of English at the community college level, Write What you See includes a CD-Rom and a special section telling how teachers nationwide use photos to inspire writing. 118 pages, 8 1/2 X 11, Softbound, ISBN 978-1-877673-83-2, Grades 7-12, $24.95

A Poem about Trees

Julie Brown teaches English 11 AP, Journalism, Cinema Study, and Creative Writing at Bolingbrook High School, Bolingbrook, Illinois. I matched her untitled poem with one of my photos to create a page from my upcoming work, Reflections: A Collection of Poems, Photos, and More. I added the quotation that precedes the poem.

        This book is designed to inspire class discussion that leads to written compositions. Feel free to download  this combination for use in your classroom. By the way, you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

"I like trees because they seem to be more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do."                       Willa Cather

 

                                             every year, it's always the same

                                             the brown, rough statues stand tall

                                             feet firmly planted in the ground

                                             hoping to grow, reaching the sky

                                             just out of grasp

                                             then come the pesky green dots

                                             spots of color--until mid-spring

                                             then they are in full force

                                             waving, swinging, attracting attention

                                             the trees just sigh and stand

                                             by autumn, they've had enough

                                             they start to burn the leaves off

                                             slowly, one by one

                                             green to yellow to red to brown

                                             as they fall, the trees regret

                                             winter's here and they've lost their coats.

 

Photo Copyright © 2010 by Hank Kellner      

Poem Copyright © 2010 by Julie Brown

Write What You See and Prufrock Press

Published by Cottonwood Press in 2009, Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner is now marketed by Prufrock Press, http://www.prufrock.com.  This thought-provoking collection contains photographs and a wide variety of inventive writing prompts to motivate students.

     Written by a veteran of the Korean War and retired educator who has served as an English Department supervisor and adjunct associate professor of English at the community college level, Write What you See includes a CD-Rom and a special section telling how teachers nationwide use photos to inspire writing. 118 pages, 8 1/2 X 11, Softbound, ISBN 978-1-877673-83-2, Grades 7-12, $24.95

From Film Images to Digital Images

After using film to create photographs for more than forty years, I've finally gone digital. Yep! I  plunked down big bucks for a Leica M 9. Of course, it took me a while to adjust to the differences between film and digital images, but I finally got it right.
        Here's an example. I was strolling through town here in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on my way to my favorite coffee shop when I spotted the scene shown in the photo reproduced below. I shot just one frame. Later that day, it inspired Elizabeth Guy to write the accompanying poem.
        If you've been reading this blog regularly, you know where the poem and photo ended up. You're right! "The Blue Door" and its accompanying photo will appear in my upcoming collection of poems and photos submitted by students, teachers, and others nationwide.
        When it's published, Reflections will contain 122 poems, 22 haiku, 100+ black and white or color photos, and more. Here's a sample page from the manuscript. I added the quotation and Creative Concepts words to help motivate students in their class discussions and writing.


CREATIVE CONCEPTS: Unexpected, Mystery, Serenity, Secret

"Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Diety to be a source of delight."   John Ruskin

The Blue Door

Right there
In the middle of the city
High above the alleyway
A blue door

A balcony haven
Bedecked in flowers
Beckoning the sun
A promise of warmth
Serenity
Behind that blue doorway
A cool and calm retreat
What secret pleasures
Linger there inside
Above the street

Behind
A multi-paned
Azure stained                                                            
Unexpected door                    
                   Elizabeth Guy    

Write What You See and Prufrock Press

Published by Cottonwood Press in 2009, Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner is now marketed by Prufrock Press, http://www.prufrock.com.  This thought-provoking collection contains photographs and a wide variety of inventive writing prompts to motivate students.

     Written by a veteran of the Korean War and retired educator who has served as an English Department supervisor and adjunct associate professor of English at the community college level, Write What you See includes a CD-Rom and a special section telling how teachers nationwide use photos to inspire writing. 118 pages, 8 1/2 X 11, Softbound, ISBN 978-1-877673-83-2, Grades 7-12, $24.95

A Powerful Photo-Poem Combination

      

        Mignon Self  created the poem shown below. When  not writing poems or creating artwork, this outstanding educator teaches art, grades 7-12, at the Round Rock Opportunity Center, Round Rock, Texas. 

       Together, Self's poem and the accompanying photograph can provide inspiration for classroom discussion that leads to the creation of imaginative written compositions. But that's not all. Considered separately, either the poem or the photo can inspire students to exchange ideas and express them in writing.

      Feel free to use this  poem and/or  photo in your classroom. You can copy and paste the poem, and you can right click on the photo to copy it. If you do so, I'd love to see the results for possible inclusion in Reflections.

    

"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without." - Buddha

           Quiet Entities

When there are quiet times,  

Thoughts in between crowded spaces in my mind,

I think of the entities that bind the time in packages

Wrapped with colored twine.

Bubbles, spheres of rainbows floating in the air.

Laughter, sounds from happy children playing.

Butterflies, minimus drifting softly in the golden wind.

Violets, blooming vivid among the greenery lie.

Kisses, a touch of love from deep within.

Glances, eyes that sparkle to say, "I'm here!"

Wine, the soothing taste that tickles as it goes down.

Clean sheets, crisp rough smells of speckled drops of sun.

Stars, shooting through the evening skies.

Hands that hold the secrets of the brownie's past.

Sunlight drifting dots of dust giving life,

The entities of a crowded mind.

                                            Mignon Self  

Poem Copyright © 2010 by Mignon Self        Photo Copyright  2010 by Hank Kellner

         There's Still Room for More 

        At this writing, I've received poems and/or photos from thirteen students, eighteen teachers, and fourteen others for possible publication in Reflections. With a total of more than one hundred poems and almost as many photos, that just about completes the collection.

        Even so, there's always room for a few more entries before I end the project and intensify my search for a publisher. If you'd like to contribute work and haven't received the Guidelines for Submission, please contact me promptly at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com.

 

Write What You See

Although Cottonwood Press was acquired by Prufrock Press recently, Write What You See: 99 Photos to Inspire Writing is still in print. You'll find it at Prufrock Press's website, in bookstores, at Amazon, and at many other Internet sites. This thought-provoking collection of black-and-white photography is accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts to motivate students. Includes A CD-ROM of all photos and writing prompts. Grades 7-12 $24.95.

        "This book will launch  a thousand essays. Never again will students complain, "I don't know what to write about."

                                  Derri Scarlett, English faculty, Bismarck State College

 

 

 

        

        To date I've received more than 100 poems for possible inclusion in my upcoming anthology, Reflections. Submitted by teachers, students, and others, these poems range from pithy haiku to eloquent odes. Here's a poem I received from eighteen-year-old Rose Scherlis, a student at Beacon High School, Newton, Massachusetts. Her teacher is Doug Holder.
        In addition to "Skateboarding," Rose submitted two other poems  titled "The Dog with No Name" and "The First Morning."
        If you would like to submit poems for consideration, please contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com for guidelines. I welcome submissions from students, teachers, and others.
        By the way, Reflections isn't one of those buy-the-book-after-we-publish-it deals. Rather, it's an anthology designed to be used in the classroom. My goal is to provide a series of poems and photos that will serve as inspiration for class discussions and follow up writing activities.

Skateboarding

Sometimes I skate,
Glide, soar, weave, jump,
Duck under heavy, mournful branches
Decorated in fragile autumn leaves
Like so many brilliant orange faeries
Until I reach my destination:
An abandoned bridge to read under,
A coffee shop or candy shop,
Or just an empty lot to carve across.                                                                   
Sometimes I skate
As fast as I possibly can
Until the world blurs into a colorful blend
Of distractions, possibilities, ideas.
Until day turns to night and,
Sunsets sparkle across the horizon like
Vivid necklaces of pink and red.
Until I lose track of time,
Lose track of everything,
Lose track of myself.
Sometimes I skate.

Write What You See

Although Cottonwood Press was acquired by Prufrock Press recently, Write What You See: 99 Photos to Inspire Writing is still in print. You'll find it in bookstores, at Amazon, and at many other Internet sites. This thought-provoking collection of black-and-white photography is accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts to motivate students. Includes A CD-ROM of all photos and writing prompts. Grades 7-12 $24.95.

        "This book will launch  a thousand essays. Never again will students complain, "I don't know what to write about."

                                  Derri Scarlett, English faculty, Bismarck State College

Poetry Is Alive and Well

      Judging by the many excellent submissions I've received for possible inclusion in my upcoming anthology, poetry is alive and well in the nation's classrooms.
      Here's an example by eighteen-year-old Kristen Dawn Wilson, a student at Allen County Scottsville High School, Scottsville, Kentucky. Kristen's teacher is Lisa Logsdon. The photograph is by Julia Stein, a recent graduate of Blake High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. Julia's teacher is Kerri Blankenship.

Destroying the Walls

I was trapped there.
Trapped in the nothingness.
Trapped behind the walls
that were built to guard my heart.
I was my own prisoner,
ignoring my own screams,
lost in a fictional land,
trapped in disillusioning dreams.
Last night I awoke
from the fire in my soul,
and each thought fed the flame.
The walls had to go.
With my bare hands.
with my healing heart,
with this new anger,
I tore those damn walls apart.
Now I feel.
Now I weep.
Now I scream.
Now I run.
Now I fly.
Now I escape,
ridding myself of both
sorrow and hate.

        At this writing I've received 103 submissions for possible inclusion in my upcoming anthology, Reflections. If you and/or your students would like to submit work, contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com with the words Poetry Guidelines in the subject line of your e-mail. Please don't submit work without having read the guidelines. The deadline for submissions is 10/30/10.

Write What You See

Although my publishing house, Cottonwood Press, has been sold to Prufrock Press, the book is still available at www.amazon.com, elsewhere on the Internet, and in bookstores everywhere. What's more, you can ask your school or public librarian to order it for you.

        Write What You See is a collection of photographs and writing prompts for the classroom. The book presents 99 black and white photographs accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts to motivate students. In the book I provide not only my own suggestions for using photography in the classroom, but also ideas from real teachers across the country who have used photography successfully to inspire writing. At just $24.95, Write What You See includes a CD-ROM. Order today!

Nature As Seen by a Young Boy

        Here are a poem and photo I received for possible inclusion in my upcoming anthology, Reflections: 99 Photos and Poems To Inspire Writing. I added the quotation by John Keats. The poem is by nine-year-old Erick Moore, a student at Muhlenberg South Elementary School, Beechmont, Kentucky. Angela Todd is Erick’s teacher. The photo is by sixteen-year-old Taylor Dennhy. Taylor is a student at Horizon High School, Scottsdale, Arizona.

       It’s easy to see that you can use the quotation, poem, and photo together to inspire class discussion that leads to writing assignments. But that’s not all. You could use just the quotation, the poem, or the image individually to motivate your students. Or you could use any combination of two of the items for the same purpose.

       Feel free to download the poem, photo, and quotation for use in your classroom. If you do, I’d be delighted to read samples of the results. You can contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com.

 “The poetry of the earth is never dead.”  John Keats

                            

In the Wild I See

In the wild I see, I see a great blue sky hanging over  me.

With clouds as white as snow, at night I see a soft glow.

In the wild I see, I see cute little birds singing to me.

With beautiful songs they sing with glee.

In the wild I see, I see a fawn and its mother dancing around a tree.

With gentle grace so lovely.

In the wild I see, I see……….Nature

                              

                                                         Erick Moore

Write What You See

Write What You See by Hank Kellner (Cottonwood Press, 2009) is a collection of photographs and writing prompts for the classroom. Written by a successful photographer and former teacher of English, this book presents 99 black and white photographs accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts to motivate students. The author gives his own suggestions for using photography and also shares ideas from real teachers across the country who have successfully used photography in the teaching of writing. Includes a CD-Rom. $24.95. Available from the publisher, at bookstores, and on the Internet.

A Challenge for Your Students

Three Photos with Quotations    

         This week I'm presenting three photos, each of which is accompanied by a quotation. Click on any image to enlarge it. Each combination of a quotation and an an image is designed to inspire students to create some form of writing. I invite you to use these prompts to inspire your students to create poems or other forms of writing.
        You can easily download one or more of the images from this blog, but if you have problems doing so, please contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com and I'll send them to you. Please cite "Photo Request" in the subject line of your e-mail, as well as the number that appears in the appropriate quotation.
        Although I'm primarily interested in discovering poems for my upcoming anthology, Reflections, I'd love to read any works your students create. When you send samples of student writing to me at the  address shown above, please cite "Student Writing" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Clouds, Sunset, Intolerance

44 Clouds  "You must not blame me if I talk to the clouds."  Henry David Thoreau



  

29 Sunset  "If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset."            Jiddu Krishnamurti



  
27 Intolerance "I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate."                                                  Booker T. Washington




 

Write What You See

Write What You See by Hank Kellner (Cottonwood Press, 2009) is a collection of photographs and writing prompts for the classroom. Written by a successful photographer and former teacher of English, this book presents 99 black and white photographs accompanied by a wide variety or writing prompts to motivate students. The author gives his own suggestions for using photography and also shares ideas from real teachers across the country who have successfully used photography in the teaching of writing. Includes a CD-Rom. $24.95. Available from the publisher, at bookstores, and on the Internet.




  




  

A Brief but Powerful Poem

The Absence of Color

Does sadness have a color?
Muted blue perhaps tinged with gray.
White layered throughout like Morbier cheese?
No! Black is beautiful,
As are gold, brown, and green.
They indicate life.
Sadness equals absence
of light and color and warmth.
Arctic white, then, yes.
That's the color of sadness.
                    Cynthia Staples

        Thank you, Cynthia, for submitting "The Absence of Color" for inclusion in my upcoming anthology, Reflections. Either alone or in company with the accompanying photo, this poem offers almost endless possibilities for discussion that will inspire students to express themselves in writing.
        Here are just a few examples of questions that will challenge students. (1) What responses  does the question in the first line of the poem trigger? (2) What does the poet imply when she writes that white is the color of sadness? (3) Is it possible for emotions to be expressed as colors? If so, what are those emotions? (4) What feelings do you experience after reading the poem? (5) Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen Crane, William Shakespeare, and many other authors have used color imagery extensively in their writings. Discuss the use of color imagery in a work by any author of your choice. (6) Write a character description or other brief work in which you use color imagery. (7) Other than sadness, what emotions could the color white trigger?
        Cynthia Staples is a writer/photographer based in Massachusetts. To see more of her work, visit  wordsandimagesbycynthia.wordpress.com.

Work on Reflections Continues

        Once again I'd like to thank everyone who submitted work for possible inclusion in my upcoming anthology of poems and photographs by students, teachers, and others. If you would like to receive guidelines for submission, please contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com. I'm especially interested in receiving poems and/or photos by students of any age. I'll be reading submissions until the end of October, but I'd appreciate those that arrive before then.
        Because Reflections will contain more than one hundred poems, I'm interested in receiving as many submissions as possible from which to choose. Luckily, a few of my colleagues have offered to help me make the final decisions.

Write What You See

W

 Write What You See by Hank Kellner (Cottonwood Press, 2009) is a collection of photographs and writing prompts for the classroom. Written by a successful photographer and former teacher of English, this book presents 99 black and white photographs accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts to motivate students. The author gives his own suggestions for using photography in the classroom and also shares ideas from real teachers across the country who have successfully used photography in the teaching of writing. Includes a CD-Rom. $24.95. Available from the publisher, at bookstores everywhere, and on the Internet.

Brevity Is the Soul of Wit

        "Brevity is the soul of wit." So said Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Of course, Polonius' advice to his son Laertes was anything but brief. But that doesn't negate the truth inherent in his words.
         Here are two brief poems I received for possible inclusion in my current project, an anthology of poems accompanied by photographs. The working title for this collection is Reflections.
         If you would like to learn more about  Reflections, please contact me at hankpix(at)gmail(dot)com.
        The first piece is by Cynthia Lee Katona, a retired professor of English and nationally known freelance photographer-writer. The author of several books, Katona is currently developing a collection of haiku for publication. Visit her website at www.photomerchant.com.

           The Identity Dilemma

                                                                Burka

                                                        Woman in Burka
                                                        Hands her license to a cop.
                                                        Does the picture match?

                       A Brief Poem about Hate

           The second poem is by Timothy San Pedro, a Ph.D candidate who works with student teachers at Arizona State University. As with the combination shown above, this photo-poem combination speaks for itself and is a powerful incentive that can lead to spirited discussion and different kinds of writing assignments.

                                              
                                                      The Mathematics of Hate

                                                      Hate,
                                                      When matched with more hate,
                                                      Does not cancel out.
                                                      It only doubles. 

A Word about Copyright

        Please feel free to use the words and images shown in this blog in your classroom, but note that they are protected under the copyright law and may not be used for any other purpose.

Use This Book To Inspire Writing in the Classroom

Hank Kellner's Write What You See (Cottonwood Press, 2009) is a collection of photographs and writing prompts designed to inspire your students. The book presents 99 black and white photographs accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts. Kellner gives his own suggestions for using photography in the classroom and also shares ideas from real teachers across the country who have successfully used photography in the teaching of writing. Includes a CD-ROM. $24.95. Available from the publisher, at bookstores, at Amazon, and everywhere books are sold. Ask your school or public librarian to order it.

Poetry Is Alive and Well in the Classroom

         I've been delighted by the responses I've received to my call for poems by students and teachers. Reflections (working title) will be a unique anthology because it will feature poems accompanied by photographs. This powerful combination of written words and graphic images never fails to stimulate viewers' imaginations.         

        Teachers will find that Reflections will help to trigger lively class discussions that can lead to interesting writing assignments. If you would like more information about Reflections, please contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com with the word "Guidelines" in the subject line.        

         Here's one of the poems I received for this project. Its author is Kym Sheehan, Secondary Literacy Specialist, Port Charlotte Public Schools, Port Charlotte, Florida. Kim is also the creator of the accompanying image. I added the quotation.

"I stood on the bridge at midnight/As the clocks were striking the hour."                                                Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  

The Bridge

We named it The Singing Bridge.

Its small expanse connected and divided us.

It spanned the creek

That led to the marina and to sleepy coastal towns.

It's been silver, gray, and green.

Today its layers of paint are speckled with rust.

The rivets that hold it together

Are surrounded by starbursts of burnt sienna.

Oh, but it still sings!

When we drive across the fine-tuned 

Metal floor, it serenades us.

As we bounce, it hums louder and louder.

Then SMACK! We hit the pavement.

Once across the bridge,

A quick left and we park by the docks.

The odor of brackish water fills our nostrils.

We ignore the "Live Lobsters"  sign

And trudge down the bank to the water's edge.

High tide--no boat traffic.

Water glistens on top; but a closer look

Reveals only darkness below.

A soft wind pushes the water

To meet the underside of the bridge

As it sings while travelers

Drive to and fro to make the music.

Photo Essays Tell Stories        

In a review of Write What You See in VOICES OF YOUTH ADVOCATE, Joyce Doyle wrote "Possibly the most helpful feature is a special section in the back of the book where high school and college teachers share how they have helped to inspire creative writing through the use of photos."
        Here's an example that tells how you can use photo essays to trigger your students' imaginations.      “Photo essays tell stories with pictures in ways that words cannot,” writes Kathy Miller, a teacher consultant at the Prairie Lands Writing Project. In one of her photo-related writing exercises, Miller directs her students at West Platte High School, Weston, Missouri to select three photo essays from the Internet, study them, and analyze them in terms of written responses to such questions as (1) Do the photos in the essays stand alone? (2) How much narration supports the photos? (3) How does the narration complement or support the photos? (4) What are your responses to the essays? In another exercise, Miller uses Brian Lanker’s I Dream a World as a source of photos of African-American women. “I direct students to select a photo, study it, and relate how the woman in the photo they chose is like them or different from them,” she concludes.

More about Write What You See 

         Hank Kellner is the author of Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing. Published by Cottonwood Press, Write What You See includes a supplementary CD with photos.
         Here's what Valerie A. Reimers, Professor of English, Southwestern Okalhoma State University said about  Write What You See. "This delightful collection of photographs and accompanying writing prompts offers a smorgasbord for imagination and critical thinking."
        Write What You See is available at the publisher, at bookstores and on the Internet at www.amazon.com. Ask your school or local librarian to order it.          

Inspiration from Photos and Poems

   

Look Beyond the Ocean

          You can always use photos without text to inspire writing, and you can always use text without photos for the same purpose. But when you combine the two, you present a powerful combination of words and images that never fails to encourage students to write. And when you add a relevant quotation, it gets even better. Here's one example.

"As for the future, your task is not to forsee it, but to enable it."

                                                        Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Look Beyond the Ocean

Alone, I face the sea

As waves rush toward the shore

Carrying messages unheard.

What will they say,

Those silent thoughts,

When at last

They whisper to the sand

On which I wait?

“The world awaits,” they cry.

“Look beyond the ocean,

Past the clouds

And out beyond the sky

Where you will find yourself.”

                                          Elizabeth Guybo

        For an anthology due out next year I'm on the lookout for poems by students, teachers, and others. This anthology will be unique because it will combine poems and photos. For more information and guidelines for submission, contact me at hankpix(at)gmail(dot)com  with the word Poetry in the subject line.
        Photo courtesy Megan McCarty. Megan is a graduate of  The University of Central Florida. Visit her blog at meganerdruns.com

Comic Strips, Cartoons, and Working Lunches

          There seems to be no end to the ways in which you can use photos to inspire writing. Here's one example. Mary Lee Meyer is a teacher consultant at the Prairie Lands Writing Project. See http://writingwithtechnology.edublogs.org for examples of some of the activities she demonstrates at her writing workshops for teachers. Contact Mary Lee at lucki13(at)grm(dot)net for more information.

         In one activity, Meyer suggests using comic strips or political cartoons from newspapers and magazines to inspire student writing. “Scan an image into Microsoft Paint™ or another photo editing program and erase the words in the bubbles,” she writes. “Then print copies and ask the students to discuss the cartoon or comic strip in small group settings.” Meyer points out that this exercise helps students develop writing assignments that use dialogue          In another activity, Meyer asked workshop participants to take a working lunch during which they recorded at least five digital photos that they thought they could use in a writing assignment. “This was a two-day class,” she writes, “during which participants were required, among other things, to use one of their images appropriately in a written piece.”  This assignment could easily be completed with students at any level in just one day if the students are directed to come to class with photos they had already taken.

 Another Pitch for Write What You See
 

          Hank Kellner is the author of Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing. Published by Cottonwood Press, Write What You See includes a supplementary CD with photos. Available at the publisher, at bookstores and on the Internet at www.amazon.com. Ask your school or local librarian to order it.          

Summer Storms and Las Vegas

             Stormy Weather

           Cynthia Staples' poem "Summer Storms" appeared in Dead Mule of Southern Literature. We've paired it with a photo and reproduced it here to illustrate, once again, how powerful a photo-poem combination can be when it comes to inspiring writing.
           To see more of  Cynthia's photos and inspirational comments, visit her interesting and exciting blog at wordsandimagesbycynthia.wordpress.com. Other work by Cynthia has appeared  in African Voices, Creativity Portal, and the Seattle Times.   


Summer Storms

I miss summer storms,

Deafening noise, blinding light.

You know—the ones with rolling thunder,

Trailing white lightning in their wake,

Sheets of rain falling like milk from the sky.

We were trembling children.

As we peered past drawn curtains,

The storm seemed unending,

But then poof! Like magic it would stop

Leaving silence in the air.

Darkness would part for the sun. Birds sang.

All that remained of the storm

Was puddles and leaves strewn across

The front porch. We’d step outside

Into a golden light as though

God had scrubbed the world clean

Just for us.

We would play until sun set

And lightning bugs came out

To dance with the stars.

And Then There's, uh, Las Vegas

                           

Las Vegas

O Las Vegas, you tawdry queen in old sequins and greasy spangles,

A boiling cauldron of iniquity.

A devil’s den of sin and vice.

Vegas, that dark electric empire.

That dream within a dream.

A thousand white candles of hope burning and singing to that old devil moon.

Uniquely American, the beauty of Las Vegas-

The swing and swank of neon, fast cars, and hot sex.

Eternal promise, hope and hype-

O glittering golden dream.

                                                                                                     Molly Anderson-Childers' "Las Vegas" seduces us in a voice that's different from that of Staples' "Summer Storms." Rich in imagery, it speaks of "sin and vice," of "greasy spangles," of "hope and hype."

        Although this photo-poem combination wouldn't be appropriate for younger students, it would certainly inspire upper level students and adults.

      What's more, you could easily use the storm photo or the Vegas photo without the accompanying poems to inspire writing.

      Thanks to Molly Anderson-Childers for "Las Vegas." Molly is a freelance writer, photographer, artist, and creativity consultant. You can see more of her work at creativity-portal, ediblesanjuanmountains, addictivefiction.blogspot.com, and stealingplums.blogspot.com

Call for Poetry

           I'd been teaching  for just a few years when Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle was published back in the 1960s. Consisting of a collection of poems accompanied by photos, Reflections became a favorite not only with the general public, but also with teachers of English. As I recall, it went through many editions before going out of print.

          What a great idea, I thought at the time. Now, more than forty years later, I still feel the same way. That's why I've decided to create another poetry-photo combination. But this time, instead of using poetry by well-known poets, I'd like to use poems by students, their teachers, and other adults.

         If you're interested in learning more about this exciting project, please contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com. Finally, if you don't have photos, we can provide them..

Buy My Book  

Hank Kellner is the author of Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing. Published by Cottonwood Press, Write What You See includes a supplementary CD with photos. Available at the publisher, at bookstores and on the Internet at www.amazon.com. Ask your school or local librarian to order it.                                                            Here's what Darien Public Library teen volunteer Katie Farren wrote about Write What You See. "Do you ever have trouble writing stories for your English class or on your own? Well Write What You See is packed with 99 intriguing photos, writing prompts, and key words that will surely motivate you to write stories that will blow people away. The ideas and stories these pictures can help you come up with are endless. You'll never have trouble writing again!"       

The Man in the Green Shirt

         You really must click on this photo by Minneapolis-based photographer Michael A. Shapiro to enlarge it. That's when you'll experience the full impact of this powerful image. A former writing instructor, Shapiro is the well-known creator of photographic images who has completed and exhibited five major projects since 2000; published the book Paris; is finishing the final edit for his next book, American Fair; and is working full time on another project. You can see more of his excellent images at his website www.michaelashapiro.com.

           I doubt if you'd  find a student anywhere in the the world who won't respond to this photo in one way or another.That's why I suggest that simply showing the image to young writers without comment will trigger many different poems, essays, character sketches, recollections, and more.

           Alternatively, you could show the photo accompanied by several key words designed to inspire writing. For example: shirt, mood, eyes, pensive, or many others. Ask the students to describe, in writing, what comes to mind when they match the words to the photo.

          But if you thrive on class discussion, you could challenge your students with such questions as: (1) What do you think this young man is looking at? (2) If you were to meet him, what would you discuss? (3) Why is the subject of the photo alone? (4) What is he thinking?

How Some Master Teachers  Use Photographs To Inspire Writing

             In a review of Write What You See in Voices of Youth Advocate, August, 2009, Joyce Doyle wrote: "Possibly the most helpful feature is a special section in the back of the book where high school and college teachers show how they have helped to inspire creative writing through the use of photos." Here are two examples.

     At the University of Mississippi Writing Project, Co-Director of Special Programs Allison Movitz’s students use their own photographs to spark various kinds of writings. The students also incorporate their photos into multi-genre presentations and portfolios.  “Most recently,” writes Movitz, “we’ve used Microsoft’s Photostory™, a digital camera, and a microphone to recreate a ‘who done it’ from a mock trial in speech/debate classes.”

     Mary Birky is an English teacher at the Papillion-LaVista High School, Papillion, Nebraska; a Nebraska Writing Project Advisory Board member, and a contributor to a forthcoming book on place-conscious education. Birky uses student-generated photos to stimulate writing assignments based on the content of the photos, the mood of the photos, and the imagery of the photos. “I tell my students to ‘paint the photographs with words,’” she writes, before she asks them to create free verse poetry based on the photos they have selected.”

    Justin Van Kleeck’s very successful writing activity with students he tutors involves a seagull that simply can’t get enough Doritos. A former adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Piedmont Community College, Van Kleeck shows his students a video of a seagull that steals a bag of Doritos from a store in Scotland every day. In the first part of his assignment, he directs the students to become the thieving seagull and write process papers in which they tell their fellow seagulls how to steal, open, and eat the Doritos. In the second part of the assignment, he tells the students to write from the point of view of a shopkeeper who, in a creative, non-violent way, is telling other shopkeepers how to prevent the seagull from stealing Doritos. “The key to the exercises,” writes Van Kleeck, “is for students to use the process approach while also using their imaginations.”

    

Call for Submissions

 

    Do you have a photo-related writing activity you’ve used successfully in the classroom? Would you like to share that activity with other teachers at many levels nationwide? If so, I’d love to hear from you.    Please send approximately 100 words describing your activity to me at hankpix(at)gmail(dot)com as a WORD attachment to your e-mail. Don’t forget to include your name, title, school or college, city, state, and a brief statement granting permission to use your submission in my articles. Thank you.

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