Shaping Poetry

Project Description

Join Daphne Cuadrado Andino and Emily Cinquemani to learn more about how poets can create calligram poems. Students will also look at how artists can use shapes to communicate feelings or ideas. They will then spend time writing their poem and selecting a shape that best fits their poem. The lesson will include a discussion about organic versus geometric shapes, as well as ways poets can use their sentences as lines in their design.

Suitable for grades 4-6.

Artistic Process

Creating, Connecting

A concrete poem in the shape of a flower that reads %22Thorns Bright round red petals rustle softly in the wind Remind me of warm fragrant tea On a cool spring morning Silky smooth petals Contrast against the protective mast Yet the sweet, welcoming perfume Gets me every time%22

What's Included

Guiding Question

Standards Addressed

Visual Arts Standards Standards

Artistic Processes: Creating- I can make artwork using a variety of materials, techniques, and processes.

Anchor Standard 1: I can use the elements and principles of art to create artwork.

Indicator VA.CR.NL.1.2 I can select some elements of art to construct 2D or 3D artwork.

Artistic Processes: Connecting: I can relate artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.

Anchor Standard 7: I can relate visual arts ideas to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

Indicator VA.C.NH.7.2 I can identify ways visual art skills are used in other careers or vocations.

ELA Standards

Written and Oral Communications

ELA.C.7: Organize and communicate ideas through a range of formats to engage a variety of audiences.

ELA.C.9: Evaluate and critique ideas and concepts interactively through listening and speaking.

This resource aligns with the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Perseverance

About the Project Creators

Daphne Cuadrado Andino

Visual Arts Outreach Teaching Artist

Daphne Cuadrado Andino is a returning Govie from the class of 2007, joining the Office of Outreach as the Visual Arts Teaching Artist. Originally born in Puerto Rico, Daphne grew up in Taylors, SC. Her experience includes teaching seven years at the collegiate level with Coastal Carolina University and the University of Idaho. Daphne has also collaborated with the Governor School’s Outreach Program as a Teaching Artist in Cheraw, SC, and Mullins, SC.

As a multi-media studio artist, her work focuses on the issues of overfishing. Through the use of interdisciplinary practices, she asks her audience how they can become more aware consumers by creating an evolving interactive experience where the passive viewer becomes an active participant. Daphne also enjoys working in ceramics and woodworking.

Besides being in the studio, she enjoys fresh and saltwater fishing, kayaking, biking, gardening, and hanging out with her cat Luna. In the past few years, one of her favorite side jobs was working as a guide at an adventure ropes course park in Myrtle Beach, SC. There Daphne enjoyed zip-lining and completing levels one and two of the obstacle course (She’s too chicken to go on level three).

Emily Cinquemani

Creative Writing Poetry Instructor

Emily Cinquemani’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry Northwest, Ploughshares, Colorado Review, Indiana Review, Southern Indiana Review, 32 Poems, Nashville Review, Cherry Tree, and Meridian. She joined the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in 2021 after teaching in the English Department at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing with a poetry concentration. While at UNC Greensboro, she also worked as a poetry editor for The Greensboro Review. She currently serves as a poetry editor for The Adroit Journal and is an alumna of Elon University.

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About the Governor's School's Outreach Programs
As a part of the Governor’s School’s mission to serve as a resource to teachers and students across the state, the Office of Outreach provides classroom resources and professional learning opportunities to enrich arts education in South Carolina. Learn more.

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