I was going to share how it came about that we were listening to Mona Lisa by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole today, but i'll cut to the chase and tell you what happened when the children heard the words.
They were curious about who Mona Lisa was.... so I replied with a question to their question. Who do they think Mona Lisa is? There were a lot of answers:
It's a lady that a man loves.
It's a dog.
It's his daughter.
It's his friend.
We listened more to the words. 'Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? Or cold and lonely, lovely work of art.'
The children were right, it could be about any of those things. It would be nice to have a song sung about you. I asked the children if they knew anyone by the name of 'Mona Lisa' or just 'Mona', there was a unanimous round of 'no's... but some did tell me they knew a 'Lisa'. I asked the children if some of the words fit with the Lisa they knew. They decided that the 'real' part fit the Lisa they knew, and even the 'lovely'. One child even recalled the Lisa they knew was 'cold'... not in the sense that is implied in the song, but i'm sure at this time of year that can describe a lot of Lisa's. I then inquired as to whether these words fit with anyone they knew. YES, YES, YES was the response.
I am well aware that this conversation could have continued for a long time... day even. It did carry on for quite a while, and it was so fascinating having a small glimpse into the impressions that children get from people. I decided to let them in on the 'secret'.
I explained that this song can describe a lot of people, and that's how songs usually are. That's why we listen to different songs to accommodate our moods. I told them, just like the class favourite... 'I am a Pizza' by Charlotte Diamond made us laugh, music can make us feel many different feelings. The Mona Lisa in the song was a painting. A very famous painting for that matter!
I fetched a book, and showed them the painting. They were captivated! Some recognized it, some had never seen it. The children had lots to share about the painting.
Upon closer inspection, the children used some rather choice descriptions for the painting.
Black was one that kept coming up over and over again. Some children said it was sad, others said it was happy. Interesting...! I asked the common question. Is she smiling. It took a while for some to respond. Many said no, some said she's smiling but it's just a nice smile, not a 'cheese smile'. Some even mimicked the controversial smile. I did notice that there was a similarity between the children who said the word 'black' and that she was not smiling. I did find that interesting. I explained to the children that this painting reminded me of music, because sometimes I did think it was a happy picture and sometimes I thought it was a sad picture... usually depending on how I was feeling.
I wondered to the children if they thought she was a mommy. Some said no, because she looked mean and mommies can't be mean (eep, i'm hooped then, I guess I look mean... *mental note to smile more often). The ones that said yes decided it was because she looked tired (there you go mommies... I guess that's what it means to look like a mommy!) One child decided that she wasn't a mommy at all, and she wasn't even a 'she'. He explained that sometimes boys have long hair, and they wear dresses, especially for paintings!
This carried on for a little bit longer, before the children were off to focus their attention on something else. What a great insight into their thoughts and impressions!
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