Learning the history and meaning of words breathes new life into old expressions. Students take the words from their acrostic poems and write a personal dictionary that includes the etymology, definition of the words, as well as synonyms and antonyms. Students' personal dictionaries help develop dictionary and research skills as well as lead students on a discovery of self. They also write an informative essay about themselves, learning to use language as a tool to inform and educate. Finally, Lydia invites each student to create a mask of artistic self-expression.
Students then write cinquain to accompany their masks.
These five-line poems explore the nouns, verbs, adjectives and synonyms that best describe the writer. These funny, startling and sometimes heart-breaking works of visual and literary art are on display at the school. It uses language to communicate through individual words, poetry, essay and art. A look at the writing that students produce in this study reveals a teaching approach with results nothing short of extraordinary.