Students in Lower School and Upper School recently connected through written word and performance when Georgia Googer’s Grade 10 American Poetry class visited a Grade 3 Performing Arts class to share pieces of poetry.
The younger Mustangs performed their poems for the Upper School students, and then they in turn shared a series of poems with their Grade 3 peers. Students asked each other questions and shared stories from their personal experiences, as well.
There was maximized impact through this experience for all involved as Lower School students had the opportunity to hear and experience the beauty and power of written verse by seeing their Mustang role models appreciate and celebrate literary art.
Georgia shared, “The day was an enriching exercise in the praxis of performance and poetry. The little Mustangs performed a group reading of a Shel Silverstein poem for us, then my G10 students took turns reading poems they selected.”
During the activity, she heard her students posing questions to the younger learners:
“Do you like poems that are long or short?”
“Do you like poems about nature or people?”
She went on to say, “The question-posing was an adjusted form of the inquiry we often do in class – asking how our personal preferences, experiences, and interpretations affect the reading process.”
It was a meaningful event of cross-campus connection and opportunity to share this form of art together.
Relationships are foundational to learning. From student to teacher relationships to peer-to-peer, Mount Vernon faculty foster the mindsets of collaboration and sharing the well for each student to succeed.
