April is National Poetry Month – a perfect time to incorporate this engaging and enjoyable form of literature into your science classroom! We’ve suggested science poetry before, including writing diamante poems after viewing webcam images of polar animals and locations and “Where I’m From” poems. Haiku and acrostic poems are also popular in elementary school and can easily lend themselves to science class. However, these forms of poetry tend to be “cookbook” in nature and can limit student creativity. Poetry – even in the science classroom – can open the doors to powerful and compelling student expression, engagement, and understanding.

In honor of National Poetry Month, we’ve described a few techniques for moving beyond the traditional poems and effectively integrating poetry into your science instruction.

Teaching Similes and Metaphors to Improve Observation Skills

Similes (comparisons of two unrelated objects using the words like or as) and metaphors (implied comparisons between two seemingly unrelated objects) are powerful tools for description and comprehension. In fact, creating similes, analogies, and metaphors is one way that students can identify similarities and differences, one of Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock’s nine research-based strategies for increasing student achievement (Classroom Instruction That Works, 2001). Similes and metaphors are also commonly used in poetry and add richness to descriptive writing.

Identifying similarities and differences was the featured literacy skill in our March 2008 issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine. We included an overview of the strategy and specific resources for teaching the skill (including metaphors and analogies). These articles are a great place to start developing your own content knowledge. Additionally, ReadWriteThink has a lesson plan for introducing similes and metaphors to young students and another in which upper elementary students identify and nominate their favorite examples of figurative language.

Why take the time to include poetic devices such as simile and metaphor in your science class? While the two seem unrelated, the literary technique can actually help your students achieve in science. A crucial science process skill is observing, or using the five senses to find out about objects and events, their characteristics, properties, differences, similarities, and changes. When students create similes and metaphors for objects or organisms, they are deeply involved in observation – something repeatedly recommended in the National Science Education Standards.

How can simile and metaphor integrate with traditional expository lab reports? After students have had a chance to explore unfamiliar objects, have them write similes or metaphors describing the object using all five senses, if possible. These descriptive phrases can be grouped into a poem, used as captions for illustrations, shared with the class, or included in a more formal lab report. Images and video could also be used in conjunction with a simile or metaphor, as described in this iMovie lesson plan.

Poetry in Your Pocket: A Special Celebration

Poem in Your Pocket Day will be observed nationwide on April 17, 2008. The idea behind the day is simple – take a poem with you and share it with others! The Academy of American Poets web site has ideas for creating your own event and even downloadable pdf files of poems to share. For teachers, ReadWriteThink has a page of resources for celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day in your classroom or school community. Why not give your event a science, nature, or even polar theme?

Found Poetry

In a found poem, students “borrow” words from another genre (typically fiction) and re-arrange them to form a poem. As described by one ReadWriteThink plan, “This process of recasting the text they are reading in a different genre helps students become more insightful readers and develop creativity in thinking and writing.” ReadWriteThink features lesson plans for creating found poetry with K-2 and 3-5 students. Why not use outstanding science trade books or even nonfiction text as the basis for students’ poems?

Extended Integration: Poetry Collections

Integrating poetry into science doesn’t have to stop at the end of an individual lesson. Students could create a collection of science poems to document their learning during a unit. Extending the topic in this way gives students time to experiment with a variety of poetic forms and become more proficient in their writing. ReadWriteThink’s lesson Compiling Poetry Collections and a Working Definition of Poetry provides the resources and strategies needed in a longer unit.

Back to You

Of course, wonderful and creative ideas for science poetry abound. How are you celebrating National Poetry month? Do you have a favorite lesson plan or technique for using poetry in the science classroom? Post your ideas here – we’d love to hear from you!