For Teachers Preparing Your Students for a Visit to the Monet Exhibition 1.
Art can elicit reactions that are difficult to put into words.
Sharing reactions to a painting may help us discover facets to it that we might otherwise not have seen. Have the students take turns coming up with adjectives and metaphors that describe the painting, as you write them down on the board. Then, try to group similar words and phrases together. Choose the words that seem to stand out from the others and have the students try to connect them with some visual element in the painting. By stirring up associations in this way, it becomes easier to put our reactions to art into words.