Wood_cover.qxd (Page 1) - National Council of Teachers of English

Interdisciplinary Connections 89the sole to show that it is “gently drumming” on the sole. I didn’twant to include anything that could move like “my palms” becausea still life isn’t supposed to have movement. I just wantedto show what was being held.Still sweeping slowly as the sunsets before I walk to the plazato watch the stars come out,to watch the girls.Spring again.Artist Statement for Stanza Five:VeronicaI thought that it would be interesting to create a still life of whatthe room looked like after the speaker left to go to the plaza. Thebroom is left alone in the corner, and you can see the stars throughthe window. I knew that the broom had to be part of my picturebecause that’s what the speaker is still doing before the stars comeout. I used clay and toothpicks to make the broom, and I usedPopsicle sticks, toothpicks, Model Magic, and a black marker tomake the window.Classroom Snapshot: While my students worked on this project, I noticedthat they were learning to pay attention to detail without muchprompting. My goal was for them to see the poem in new waysthrough their artwork, and by focusing in on single images, they wereable to make the kinds of connections that they had missed whenstudying other poems. For example, several students noticed that PatMora mentions hands in three of the six stanzas in this poem. Thisled to a discussion of the different reasons Mora might have repeatedthis image. The ideas they came up with are as follows:The speaker is trying to describe herself/himself by showingwhat the hands do. The hands are weathered and stubborn andneed to be kept warm.