Q. You mentioned using your hands to work with “clay” in building the one word images. Can you elaborate on that?
A. In the same way that a sculptor puts her hands in water and then steps over to a big lump of clay and sculpts the image, we also craft our image right there in front of the kids. Building a successful one word image is very much like sculpting something out of clay, only the clay is the words. Not until working with teachers one summer did I become aware of the importance of this physical motion of taking “clay” in the form of words and walking over to the prominent space directly in front of the students where the potential “sculpture” sits. Then we start asking questions and we “sculpt” the image with precise and exaggerated hand motions and gestures and body language. Our students are able to “see” all the details together. They start to “see” the sculpture. It is our precise and exaggerated hand motions that make it work. The only thing is, few teachers actually do this, and then they wonder why the image isn’t all that great. The image of teacher as sculptor reminds me that I am a “person who crafts sound into meaning”. I could even extend that to read, when referring to the creation of an invisible character, “a person who crafts sound into meaning with my hands”.