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This resource was compiled by the AAAS review journal, Science Books & Films (SB&F). It contains an essay by Davi Walders about how poetry can complement science instruction and make it richer. The resource also contains selected poems from Margaret Atwood, ee cummings, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Adrienne Rich. Finally, it includes lists of poems and poets in science, SB&F reviewed and recommended poetry resources, and poetry websites.
For Educators
You can use Poetry Across the Science to identify poetry resources that cover a wide variety of content areas. These resources can be used as supplemental material for lessons, as motivation ideas for lessons, or as ways to introduce students to certain science topics. The lessons listed in the section below provide examples of how poetry/or literature can be used in science instruction.
The poetry resources suggested can help to reinforce these concepts found in the Common Core State Standards:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to agrade 2 topic or subject area.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6 Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
An Egg Is Quiet
K-2 | Hands-On
Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life
3-5 | Hands-On
The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs
6-8 | Video
Mental Health 3: Mental Health through Literature
9-12 |
Poetry Across the Sciences
K-12 | Website
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