Bedroom poem

• Kunst
• Primary Education

Introduction

Group activity, in a circle: making up eleven-word poems about a painting by Vincent.

Instructions

General learning objectives
The class will look at a famous painting by Vincent van Gogh and describe it in a group poem that is eleven words long.

Materials required
None. The attached colouring picture of Van Gogh's painting can be used as an extra activity.

Optional variations
1. The lesson 'A painting in eleven words' (age 7 to 12) includes slides of other paintings by Vincent van Gogh and sample poems that go with them. You can extend the lesson 'Bedroom Poem' by also making up poems about one or more other paintings.
2. Children seven and older can write their own eleven-word poems. For more information, see the lesson  'A painting in eleven words' (age 7 to 12).

Worksheets

Van Gogh Museum The Bedroom colouring picture.pdf

Tell the children that this is a very famous painting by a very famous painter named Vincent van Gogh. When you see a painting, it's fun to write a poem about what you see:
Bedroom – Two chairs – Big yellow bed – Window open a little – Goodnight!

The Bedroom, 1888

Bedroom
Two chairs
Big yellow bed
Window open a little
Goodnight!

Read the poem again, and tell the class that the words of the poem are also on the board. But look at those boxes next to the words! What could they be? Do the children see any similarity to the poem? The number of boxes is always the same as the number of words: one box for each word. So how many words are there in the whole poem? (11) Using the pencil function on the lower right, you can draw lines between the lines of the poem and the boxes or write the words in the boxes.

Ask: Can we make up another poem like that together, about this painting by Vincent? Let's think of a new poem with different words. What could it be about? Encourage the children to look carefully at the painting, with questions like: What do you see? What is it? How many do you see? What colour is it? Where do you see it? How do you feel about it? and so on. Use the pencil function to circle the details that they mention.

Then make up a new group poem about Vincent's bedroom. You can write the poem directly into the boxes with the pencil function.

BE CAREFUL! When you switch slides, the poem will not be saved. So copy it over or take a photo of the board.

The Bedroom in detail

Extra time? On the website of the Van Gogh Museum, you can zoom in to see details of Vincent's painting The Bedroom. By clicking on 'Explore the collection' in the menu, you can look at other paintings.