Nature Poetry
April is
National Poetry Month! Celebrate with a study of nature poetry!
Start your
by reading nature poems (see book list below). Depending on the age and level of students
make a study of the mechanics of poetry and how to write different kinds of
poetry.
Take
students to a natural area. Have each student find a quiet place to sit, reflect
and observe. Students should record their feelings in a notebook or a nature
journal created for nature observations (see below). While sitting quietly, students
may write poems to reflect their feelings/observations OR record their
feelings/observations to use to create a poem later. Allow students to draw
observations as well. Many nature journals and poems are illustrated with the
authors art work.
Creating
a Nature Journal
A nature
journal is a place to record your thoughts, feelings, and observations about nature.
It is a place to reflect and interpret your inner thoughts on the natural world
and to develop a greater awareness of both the natural world and your own
thoughts and feelings. Many nature journals contain drawings, pictures, and specimens
(such as leaves, feathers, or other small objects).
Learning
Table: DIY Homemade Nature Journals
Acorn
Naturalist: All Weather Student Journals
Book Lists
Educator Book List
Anderson, P. 1996. Henry David
Thoreau: American Naturalist. Scholastic Library Publishing.
Bosselaar, L., and E. Hiestand.
2000. Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife
in the City. Milkweed Editions.
Hass, R. and P. Michael. 2008. River
of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things. Milkweed
Editions.
Leopold, A. 1989. A Sand
County Almanac. Oxford University Press.
Leslie, C. W., and C. E. Roth. 2003.
Keeping a Nature Journal. Storey
Books.
Leslie, C. W. 2003. Nature Journal: A Guided Journal for
Illustrating and Recording Your Observations of the Natural World. Storey
Books.
Muir, J. 1997. John Muir: Nature
Writings. Penguin Group.
Shamir, I.
1999. Poet-Tree, the Wilderness I am. Better
World Press, Inc.
Children’s Book List
PreK-2
Florian, D. 2002. Insectlopedia. Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt.
Florian, D. 2005. Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Florian, D. 2004. Mammalabilia.
Voyager Books.
Florian, D. 2000. On the Wing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
George, K. O., and K. Kiesler.
2007. Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Glaser, L., E. Kleven. 2002. Our Big Home: An Earth Poem. Lerner
Publishing Group.
Harrison, M., and C.
Stuart-Clark. 1992. The Oxford Book of Animal Poems. Oxford University
Press.
Heard, G., and J.O. Dewey. 1997. Creatures
of the Earth, Sea, and Sky: Poems. Boyds Mills Press.
Paladino, C. 1993. Land, Sea,
and Sky: Poems to Celebrate the Earth. Little, Brown & Company.
Paolilli, P. and D. Brewer. 2001.
Silver Seeds: A Book of Nature Poems. Viking.
Peters, L. W., and C. Felstead. 2003.
Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up. HarperCollins
Publishers.
Ryder, J., and D. Nolan. 1990. Under
Your Feet. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
Sidman, J., and B. Prange. 2005. Song
of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Sidman, J., and R. Allen. 2014. Winter
Bees & Other Poems of the Cold. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
VanDerwater, A. L., and R.
Gourley. 2013. Forest Has a Song: Poems. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Worth, V., and S. Jenkins. 2007. Animal
Poems. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Yolen, J. and J. Stemple. Color
Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People. Boyds Mills Press.
Grades 3-5
Bradman, S., and S. Wintringham.
2002. Wild and Wonderful: Poems about the Natural World. Hodder
Headline.
Florian, D. 2002. Insectlopedia. Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt.
Florian, D. 2005. Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Florian, D. 2004. Mammalabilia.
Voyager Books.
Florian, D. 2000. On the Wing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Glaser, L., E. Kleven. 2002. Our Big Home: An Earth Poem. Lerner
Publishing Group.
Hamerstrom, F. 1985. Walk When
the Moon Is Full. Crossing Press, Inc
Heard, G., and J.O. Dewey. 1997. Creatures
of the Earth, Sea, and Sky: Poems. Boyds Mills Press.
Hoberman, M.A., L. Winston, and
B. Fortin. 2009. The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science,
and Imagination. Sourcebooks, Incorporated.
Kalman, B., C. Curtis, and M.
Jupp. 1982. Animals in Danger: Poems from No Man’s Valley. Random House
Children’s Books.
Mordhorst, H., and J. Reynish. 2009.
Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems from the Other
Side of Nature. Boyd Mills Press.
Nicholls, J. 1998. Earthways,
Earthwise: Poems on Conservation. Oxford University Press, USA.
Paolilli, P. and D. Brewer. 2001.
Silver Seeds: A Book of Nature Poems. Viking.
Peters, L. W., and C. Felstead. 2003.
Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up. HarperCollins
Publishers.
Sidman, J., and R. Allen. 2010. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Sidman, J., and B. Prange. 2005. Song
of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Sidman, J., and R. Allen. 2014. Winter
Bees & Other Poems of the Cold. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Vanderhorst, M.J. 2007. Pictures
and Poems: Introducing young people to NATURE in a poetic way!. Authorhouse.
Grades 6-8
Bradman, S., and S. Wintringham.
2002. Wild and Wonderful: Poems about the Natural World. Hodder
Headline.
Fleischman, P., and E. Beddows.
1992. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. HarperCollins Publishers.
Fletcher, R.J. 1997. Ordinary
Things: Poems from a Walk in Early Spring. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Hass, R. and P. Michael. 2008. River
of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things. Milkweed
Editions.
Hoberman, M.A., L. Winston, and
B. Fortin. 2009. The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science,
and Imagination. Sourcebooks, Incorporated.
Kalman, B., C. Curtis, and M.
Jupp. 1982. Animals in Danger: Poems from No Man’s Valley. Random House
Children’s Books.
Mordhorst, H., and J. Reynish. 2009.
Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems from the Other
Side of Nature. Boyd Mills Press.
Paolilli, P. and D. Brewer. 2001.
Silver Seeds: A Book of Nature Poems. Viking.
Grades 9-12
Bosselaar, L., and E. Hiestand.
2000. Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife in the City. Milkweed Editions.
Collins, B., and D. Sibley. 2009.
Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems about Birds. Columbia
University Press.
Felstiner, J. 2009. Can Poetry
Save the Earth?: A Field Guide to Nature Poems. Yale University Press.
Finch, R. The Norton Book of
Nature Writing College Edition with Field Guide. W. W. Norton & Co.
Inc.
Hollander, J. 1994. Animal
Poems (Everyman’s Library). Knopf Doubleday Publishing.
Hyett, B.H. 1996. The Tracks
We Leave: Poems on Endangered Wildlife of North America. University of
Illinois Press.
Muir, J. 1997. John Muir: Nature Writings.
Penguin Group.
Paolilli, P. and D. Brewer. 2001.
Silver Seeds: A Book of Nature Poems. Viking.
Nelson, H.
2010. Earth, My Likeness: Nature Poetry of
Walt Whitman. North Atlantic Books.
