Motivating Students into Creative Writing through Art and Literature

Enter the painting

Enter Cezannes Painting

The house was so mysterious, it was built between high trees that no one had planted. In the dusk the mountains looked like dark giants that everyone was afraid of. The wind was blowing so hard that the leaves of the trees were falling down, and as a consequence, the trees were stark-naked. This place really scares me

Athena, ( individual work)

2

Motivating Students into Creative Writing through Art and Literature

Maria Barberi

International House John Haycraft Classroom Exploration ScholarshipIATEFL 2016

3

How can the teacher motivate learners into Creative Writing by encouraging them to respond to selected works of Art and Literature?

GREEK STATE SECONDARY SCHOOLLENGTH OF PROJECT10 weeksAGE15 years old LEVEL OF COMPETENCEB1 B2 in CEFR (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages )NUMBER OF STUDENTS25

THE PHASES

PHASE I Art as stimulus to literary narratives

PHASE II Literature as stimulus to poemsAbstract Art and Poetry

SELECTED MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES MOTIVATIONATTITUDENOVEL RESPONSESPositive emotionsEnthusiasmEffective group workConcentrationPersistenceSensitivityIngenuityNew insightsAuthentic creative self expression

Selected materials

The ShipwreckedDay 30Its been a month since the ship sank. I wonder where the rest of the crew is. They might be dead. Im on the west side of the Island. There is a statue here just like the one on the east side. These statues work like a compass. I think I can draw my own map and find my way back to Spain.

(Group work, inspired by R. Magrittes painting The Sirens )

PHASE II Literature as Stimulus to Poems Abstract Art and Poetry

To give an Author to a text is to impose upon that text a stop clause, to furnish it with a final signification, to close the writing ( Barthes,1967)

11

Poems out of Prose New Years Day The poets view

2016 Haiku

Here's your haikuPlease give me your good wishesI am running short

(Konstantinos, individual work)

Abstract Art and Poetry

VALUABLE OUTCOMESSTUDENTSStudents were made aware of their Creative Thinking potentialCreative writing is a high form of Autonomy in its own right

NEW PERSPECTIVE IN STUDENTS TEACHER RELATIONSHIPTolerance towards Experimentation Non judgmental attitude on the part of the teacherThe text as a location of an on going dialogue (Dunlop, 2007) )Creativity , a sensitive process

It has been an incredible journey of exploration.

Thank you

Paintings by E. Papayiannisused after kind permission of the artist

Questions?

[email protected]