Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Streamschool: Poetry + Animation

Poem & Illustration by Rosie, age 6
April is National Poetry Month. We don't get enough poetry in our lives do we?  I know I don't. Reading & writing poetry together with kids help build  creative thinking & literacy skills. In The Atlantic article entitled Why Teaching Poetry Is So Important, Andrew Simmons writes,
"poetry enables teachers to teach their students how to write, read, and understand any text. Poetry can give students a healthy outlet for surging emotions. Reading original poetry aloud in class can foster trust and empathy in the classroom community, while also emphasizing speaking and listening skills that are often neglected in high school literature classes."
Today I was delighted to stumble upon a lovely animated Hungarian poem called Zsolt Miklya. Artist Peter Vacz created a visual interpretation of the poem Streamschool by layering character animation over stop motion backgrounds. The artist writes about his creative process here.

Streamschool (Patakiskola) from Péter Vácz on Vimeo.

Poetry + animation.  Something we will no doubt be seeing more of as different kinds of digital books for kids emerge. What do you think?

RELATED

30 Ways To Celebrate Poetry Month
Poets.org
The Poetry Foundation
Digital Poetry Interfaces by Jason Nelson 
Poetry Beyond Text  
Building Literacy Skills With Poetry