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12.08.2009
The pupils should learn how to write a poem The pupils should work creatively with language via their experiences during play. They can experiment with words, language and texts. The pupils work with the aesthetic aspects of language, for example, with rhymes, rhythms, word-games and symbols The pupils can submerge themselves in the task of describing a tree.
Grade: Kindergarten to Grade 2.
Purpose
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The pupils should learn how to write a poem
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The pupils should work creatively with language via their experiences during play. They can experiment with words, language and texts.
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The pupils work with the aesthetic aspects of language, for example, with rhymes, rhythms, word-games and symbols
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The pupils can submerge themselves in the task of describing a tree.
Preparation
You should find a place in a forest, where there are different species of trees.
You should find a place in a forest, where there are different species of trees.
Things to bring
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Paper and pens
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Something to sit on if the forest bed is wet (such as a plastic bag stuffed with a newspaper)
How long should this activity take?
Approximately two hours in the forest and two lessons in the classroom.
Approximately two hours in the forest and two lessons in the classroom.
How to do it
You'll start by practising vertical poems in the classroom. As an example you could make a poem about your pencil, by finding words that start with each letter in the word PENCIL.
You'll start by practising vertical poems in the classroom. As an example you could make a poem about your pencil, by finding words that start with each letter in the word PENCIL.
P (Please do)
E (Enjoy)
N (Nature’s own)
C (Classroom)
I (It makes)
L (Learning fun)
E (Enjoy)
N (Nature’s own)
C (Classroom)
I (It makes)
L (Learning fun)
In this way you can make simple poems about anything, and it will teach children to play with language.
By now you should be ready for a trip to the forest - preferably to a place with different species of trees. You could start by making a poem about a tree together with all the pupils, but later on each of you should find your own tree, for which you will then invent a name! The normal names of trees (like oak or spruce) are quite short, so you can invent you own nickname for your favourite tree. If you find an old and bent oak tree draped in vines you could call it "Treebeard", and then make a poem like:
Depending on the maturity and age of the pupils, you can let them find their own tree or you could select one for them. The pupils can work in pairs or alone. When the pupils have finished their poems, they will gather at the place where you started the activity. You should then select a partner for each pupil, and send both of them back to their trees to read their poems to each other.
Some teachers like all pupils to read their poems to the others in the classroom. An alternative is to make them read their poems in smaller groups. In the end you could then ask the pupils to choose the ones which should be read to everybody. Usually a couple of pupils will have some good examples. It can be a great relief not to have to read a truly horrible poem to a large forum, and the poem will usually not improve by being read to the whole class.
The poems can be improved by a drawing of the tree and by writing the real name of the tree. The poems and the drawings can then be made into an exhibition back at the school.
Background
For many people it is easier to get going with writing poems if somebody sets a task for you. This educational exercise is constructed as a task where you will use the name of the tree as a vertical guideline. But there is also room for improvisation, and you don't have to follow set traditions of making poems.
For many people it is easier to get going with writing poems if somebody sets a task for you. This educational exercise is constructed as a task where you will use the name of the tree as a vertical guideline. But there is also room for improvisation, and you don't have to follow set traditions of making poems.
Much of our view and understanding of nature is influenced by the songs and poems that we sang and heard as children. By letting the pupils express their understanding and impression of nature in poems, you have a greater chance of making these impressions last in the minds of the pupils. This exercise can make children, and adults, appreciate many aspects of nature that we do not normally notice.
