“There’s a smile on the flower and a smile on the fruit,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea.” W. C .Bryant (1794-1878)
Angelis Heredia represented her classmates in her Teaneck High School ESL 3 class when she visited Ms Lawson’s Kindergarten class at Bryant School on May 31st to educate the students about William Cullen Bryant, the school’s namesake and a nature poet. The students in Ms Mootoo’s ESL class created the Bryant School Project after a study of the British Romantic poets- Keats and Wordsworth. Bryant was an American Romantic poet.
Angelis presented a slide presentation on William Cullen Bryant created by her ESL class, led the students in the writing of an acrostic poem on N.A.T.U.R.E., and gave out packets of summer flower seeds to each student. Angelis also read her poem, influenced by the Romantic poets of the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s, “By Myself” to the students.
Ms Lawson’s kindergarteners were an excellent ‘audience.’ As expert readers, they took turns reading the slides out loud. They listened attentively and responded enthusiastically to all questions. The students shared their poems with each other, listed ways to take care of nature and vowed to plant the summer flowers at Bryant or at home.
It was an enjoyable and educational experience for all involved.