Guide students in building a deeper connection to nature through poetry! This activity helps students enhance their descriptive writing and expressive skills while strengthening their connectedness with nature. Students read/listen to one or two poem examples and discuss how poets use sensory language and other poetic devices to bring their work to life. Finally, they go outside and create their short nature-inspired poems.
Objectives
| Learn about poetic language and devices |
| Use sensory descriptive words |
| Work on writing and expressing creatively |
| Develop observation skills |
Recommended Materials
Copies of age-appropriate poems such as:
• “Don’t Be Bored Rock” by Zaro Weil (text and audio)
• “Inside A Shell” by John Foster (text and audio)
• “The Leaf’s Lament” by Andrew Fusek-Peters (text and audio)
• “Wind on the Hill” by A.A. Milne (text)
• “The Grass” by Emily Dickenson (text)
Blank paper/notebook and a pencil/pen
Word Bank for a reference (Link)
School Signals My Acrostic Nature poem worksheet (PDF)
Grade Levels
3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade
Details
Step 1, ENGAGE
Engage with poetic devices and sensory descriptive language (10 minutes)
Introduce students to the topic (poetry, specifically nature-inspired poetry). Discuss how poetry can express feelings, paint pictures with words, or play with rhythm and sound. Choose which poetic devices you want to highlight (sensory descriptive language, repetition, alliteration, rhyme, simile, etc.). Pick one or two poems to share with students (see resources or pick your own). Read chosen poem(s) aloud or have students read along as they listen to audio. Do this twice.
Guiding questions:
• What do you picture when you hear/read this poem?
• How does this poem make you feel?
• What words stand out to you?
• What descriptive/sensory words did you notice?
Step 2, EXPLORE
Explore nature, get inspired, write a short poem (25-30 minutes)
Now it’s time to apply and create! Take students for a nature walk or to any outdoor space and allow them to explore the area. Instruct them to consider sights, smells, sounds, and feelings. Tell them to take note of anything that stands out to them (a flower, a line of ants, colors, clouds, etc.). Encourage students to explore the space with their senses by feeling and observing the ground level and looking up to the sky. Once students have gathered inspiration or chosen an object to focus on, give them time to write their poems. Poems can be short, 4-10 lines.
Provide a sensory descriptive word bank and/or some poem ideas. Here are a couple of poem types:
5-SENSES POEM
This type of poem is usually 5 lines long and describes an object using the five senses (tip: advise students to either leave “taste” out or describe this in a non-literal way e.g. “The sun tastes like golden honey”). A 5 senses poem typically includes similes and doesn’t have to rhyme.
[Object] looks like ___description__. Grass looks like a big green blanket.
[Object] smells like ___description__. It smells earthy and sweet.
[Object] sounds like ___description__. It sounds like the ground whispering beneath my feet.
[Object] tastes like ___description__. It tastes fresh and crispy.
[Object] feels like ___description__. Grass feels like a thousand tickles.
ACROSTIC POEM
Create an acrostic poem by spelling the name of the object you’re writing about vertically, then starting each line of the poem with that letter. You may choose to write one word, a full sentence, or a string of adjectives–let your creativity guide you. Make sure the words/sentences are related to the object in some way.
Tall, timeless, thriving
Radiant, resilient, resource
Enchanting emerald eyes
Everyone’s earthly elder
Free Resource: School Signals My Acrostic Nature poem worksheet (PDF)
Step 3, EVALUATE
Share and reflect
Have students pair up to read their poems to each other. Remind them about active listening and how to give positive feedback before starting this phase. Encourage them to share how they chose their words and what their poem means to them.
Reflection
What was the easiest or hardest part of writing your poem?
Have students write 1-2 sentences on what they learned about poetry.
Resources
| My Acrostic Nature Poem Worksheet School Signals My Acrostic Nature poem worksheet (PDF) |
| Poem ideas and prompts https://thrivewithoutdoorlearning.com/nature-poetry-with-kids/ |
| Five Senses Word Bank Word Bank by Secondary Solutions |
By Abbey Banta for School Signals
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