Friday, April 29, 2016

Science + Poetry = Earthworms

Here is the final installment in my series of science poetry tied to science-themed picture books. My graduate student, Elizabeth Zelenak (in my "Poetry for Children" class) selected the focus on “earthworms from the series of professional resource books, "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (and published by the National Science Teachers Association). Here are her three infographics centered around learning about earthworms. The focus picture book pair is:
  • Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
  • Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
The poem that works perfectly with this book is “Reliable, Pliable Worms” by Celia Warren from her book Don’t Poke a Worm till it Wriggles. Below is a graphic featuring this book pair and others, followed by the featured poem, and then the Take 5 activities to accompany the poem along with a "bonus" poem, “Soil Inventory” by Kate Coombs from The Poetry of Science. Enjoy! Also, don't forget to check out the rest of the Poetry Friday posts all hosted by Buffy at her blog here.















Science of poetry graphics created by Elizabeth Zelenak

Image credit: dialoguealumninews.wordpress.com

8 comments:

Maria Gianferrari said...

I just love worms--they're such great recyclers and so important! Another great new title to supplement these is We Dig Worms by Kevin McCloskey :).

Buffy Silverman said...

This has been a terrific series, Sylvia--I've enjoyed following it this month!

Linda B said...

I just saw Diary of A Worm reviewed earlier, it and the additional information would be great for a class keeping a worm bin. My class did the one at our school one year, and it was wonderful to do, and good for the squeamish middle schoolers to learn about worms. Many had already lost that "dig in and be dirty" curiosity, so a great activity. Thanks, Sylvia.

Sylvia Vardell said...

Hey, y'all, thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments and tips! It's been fun to "dig" into science through poetry all month long!

Molly Hogan said...

Wow, I've just been scrolling through this series and am so impressed -- what a rich, wonderful resource! I've shared your link with some of my colleagues--we're always looking for ways to incorporate literature in our science work and you have fantastic ideas. Thanks so much for sharing!

Sylvia Vardell said...

Thank you, Molly, I'm so glad this is useful to you. I'm a big fan of sharing poetry across the curriculum and science is the easiest connection of all! Be sure and look for THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE, full of 200+ poems for science by the top poets today. Plus every poem is accompanied by a mini-lesson tied to the NGSS. And it's an "NSTA Recommends" book too! Spread the word...

Anonymous said...

A great resource, Sylvia. And I love that worm poem! Fun and fabulous.

Mary Lee said...

Hooray for earthworms!