Finding the Right Words: Art Conversations and Poetry

Generative thinking is explored in this article by chronicling the development of middle school English language learners’ poetry writing through their interaction with visual art. The author explains how art conversations (Reilly & Cohen, 2008) were used to help students engage in dialogue about the topic of journeys and how students’ paintings were then used as a starting point for poetry writing. Drawing on research from Christine Leland and Jerome Harste (1994), Shirley Brice Heath (2000), David Perkins (1994), and Eliot Eisner (2001, 2002) the author advocates for transmediated instruction as a means for enhancing students’ thinking.