Instructional Design by Don Becker

Think-Pair-Share:

How would you define poetry? What is your favorite poem? Why?

Why Use Poetry in Science?

From “Approaches to Successful Cross-Curricular Application” by Jordan Catapano

“But that’s English work, not science!” students might be overheard saying when their upstart science teacher incomprehensibly decides to teach her students about how to read their textbook better. It’s funny when we notice that students often think about subjects in rather rigid terms. History is history, science is science, and math is math. No crossover between them.

Can we blame students for this perception? We teachers may be the most culpable for fostering an environment that encourages this disconnect between subjects. Often teachers have little understanding of what students are working on in other courses. Often teachers take little time to speak with colleagues from other disciplines. Often teachers host hints of cynicism about what other teachers tell students, feeling like they need to “fix” the misinformation their fellow educators have disseminated.

The Ode

An ode is a longer type of poetry. There doesn’t have to be a rhyming scheme, but odes were traditionally meant to be sung or chanted. During the Romantic Era, odes were used to express the deepest emotions; to show the utmost, complete, and total love for a person, place, or even a thing.

Our ode will be to our special star – the Sun.

Ode Activity

Starting Research

• Characteristics of the Sun (PBS)

• Earth’s Sun (space.com)

• The Sun: Our Star (NASA)

The Haiku

A haiku is a short poem that uses sensory language to capture a feeling or image. They are often inspired by an element of nature, a moment of beauty or a poignant experience. Japanese poets originally developed haiku poetry, and the form was adapted to English and other languages by poets in other countries.

For this assignment, your haiku will follow the structure of electron clouds. There will be three lines. The first line will have two syllables, as the first electron cloud can hold a maximum of two electrons. Therefore, the second line will contain eight syllables, and the third line will contain 18 syllables.

Shaped like an Atom. You will use concentric circles and write the each line in the correct circle or “electron cloud” using the correct number of syllables, as explain earlier. You are welcome to use the template provided or create your own but your haiku should have shape of an atomic structure.

Colors and pictures. There should be color on your page. Your poem should be visually appealing as well as containing correct content. Finally, there should be a couple pictures/diagrams/images that relates to your element. Below is an example of a good (not great though…can you spot the 2 errors?) Element Haiku. No, you can’t use this one.

Haiku Activity

Additional Resources

• Inklewriter

• Additional Styles of Poetry