2022 Post #8 -- Writing Outdoors

by Sarah Gross

“Scratch” by Jody Gladding is a great mentor poem for students of all ages and teachers can use the poem either in the classroom or in the schoolyard. Spending time outside is beneficial to students’ health, both mental and physical, so if possible do this activity outside!

Hand out a copy of the poem. Ask the students to read the poem through once. On the second reading, ask them to mark up what they notice. Who is/are the speaker(s)? How does Gladding use fonts and bolding to tell the story of her poem? Have students highlight the two voices in the poem and read it out loud.

If students are not familiar with the junco, a sparrow common in most of North America, have them look up photos of the bird. Why might Gladding have focused on this specific bird in her poem?

After discussing the poem together, pair students up to write their own poem using Gladding’s text as a mentor. Students should pick a season and write two sets of lines: one set of lines should be from the perspective of a plant or animal they are familiar with and one set should be from the perspective of a human. Gladding focuses on the actions of the speaker and the junco in spring. What else can students write about? Challenge students to keep their poems short, like Gladdings’, and focused on small actions taken by the two voices in the poem. Students can also illustrate their poem.

This activity can be a lot of fun to do outdoors, whether sitting on the sidewalk outside the building or in a forest/field near school. If necessary, spend some time brainstorming a list of animals and plants in the area that students are familiar with to help them get started with the non-human voice in the poem.

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Sarah Gross is one of the co-organizers of NerdCampNJ. She teaches in central New Jersey and loves spending time outdoors.

2021 Post #21 -- Murmuration

by Sarah Gross

British poet Linda France created “Murmuration”, a collective poem, as a way to celebrate the natural world and help people recognize the ongoing climate crisis. Hundreds of people submitted lines of poetry and France joined them together into a stunning poem that celebrates nature. The five hundred submissions, married to each other line by line, create the language equivalent of a flock of birds diving and soaring, rising and flying, floating together; it’s a murmuration. Artist Kate Sweeney then created an animated film that brings the poem to life.

A celebration of nature, “Murmuration” is a gorgeous collection of images and language that reminds readers of the interconnectedness of the environment. Despite the climate crisis we are facing, readers are left with a sense of hope and wonder after reading/watching.

After watching the animated poem, explain to your students how France and Sweeney worked with lines submitted by the general public to create a poem celebrating nature and the environment. What would the challenges be in this kind of work? What are the benefits of creating a collaborative poem to address our relationship with nature?

Then challenge your students to create their own class “Murmuration”. Ask your students to compose a few lines using France’s original prompt.

Students should compose 1-3 lines of any length. The lines must celebrate the natural world and can begin with either “Because I love…” or “What if…” If they need inspiration, tell students to think about their favorite outdoor spaces. It could be their yard, the schoolyard, a lot on their street, or even a tree, flower, or bird in their neighborhood.

Have students submit their line(s) to a shared document or survey form. Together you can combine all of the lines into a collaborative class poem. Depending on how much time you have, you can revise the poem, mix lines together, and maybe even create illustrations! You could even create an animated slideshow to share your class poem with the wider world!

Further Reading: 

Sarah Gross is one of the co-organizers of NerdCampNJ. She teaches in central New Jersey and loves spending time outdoors. Follow her on Twitter @thereadingzone