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This month's poetry
selections correlate with Earth Day and related topics. These poetry selections
and teaching suggestions originally appeared in "Thematic Poems, Songs
and Fingerplays: 45 Irresistible Rhymes and Activities to Build Literacy,"
by Meish Goldish (Scholastic Professional Books, 1993).
Our students in grades
K and 1 have greatly enjoyed singing their favorite poetry selections
to familiar music. Much of the poetry in Goldish's books are presented
with a musical tune as an option. Other books which take this same thematic/musical
approach to poetry have been written by Jean Warren of Totline Press ("Piggyback
Songs" series).
GREEN
PLANTS
(sung to "Three Blind Mice")
Three main things, three main things.
Green plants need, green plants need.
For plants to grow, for plants to thrive,
In order to keep green plants alive,
What does it take so they'll survive?
Three main things!
Plants need sun,
plants need sun,
That's number one, plants need sun.
For plants to grow, for plants to thrive,
In order to keep green plants alive,
What does it take so they'll survive?
Plants need sun!
Plants need air,
plants need air,
Be aware, plants need air.
For plants to grow, for plants to thrive,
In order to keep green plants alive,
What does it take so they'll survive?
Plants need air!
Plants need water,
plants need water,
'Specially when it's hotter, plants need water.
For plants to grow, for plants to thrive,
In order to keep green plants alive,
What does it take so they'll survive?
Plants need water!
Suggestions For
Sharing:
- Have children hold
up one, two, and three fingers as they sing about the first, second,
and third needs of green plants. They may also form their arms in a
large circle to represent the sun, wave their hands about to represent
air, and wiggle their fingers in a downward motion to represent water.
- Organize children
into three groups. After everyone sings the first verse together, have
each group sing a subsequent verse. While singing, children may first
crouch down and then slowly rise, to suggest a growing plant.
Thematic Activities:
- To demonstrate
the three needs of green plants, take two green plants. Leave one where
it will get no water, no sunlight, and little air. Give the other plant
all three elements. Let children observe the plants daily and describe
how they begin to differ in appearance over time.
- To demonstrate
how green plants take in water through their roots and into their leaves
add red food coloring to a glass of water. Place a fresh stalk of celery
with leaves attached in the colored water. After a few hours, have children
note how the coloring has made its way to the celery leaves.
ANIMALS
IN DANGER!
CHORUS:
Danger! Danger!
Animals in danger!
Animals in danger!
May not survive.
Help them! Help them!
We want to help them!
We want to help them!
Stay alive!
The Bengal tiger,
The mountain gorilla,
The African elephant,
The whooping crane.
The California condor,
The Asian rhinoceros,
We want to help them
All remain!
CHORUS
What can we do
For animals in danger?
What can we do
So they'll survive?
Never, ever hunt them,
Never take their homes away,
That is the way
They'll stay alive!
Suggestions For
Sharing:
Help children locate
pictures of each animal mentioned in the poem. (Encyclopedias, children's
nature magazines, and nonfiction books on endangered species are all good
sources for animal pictures.) Invite children to draw pictures of the
animals on cards, which they can hold up as they recite the poem. Have
children cover their faces with their hands, as if in distress, during
the first four lines of the chorus. Then have them hold their hands out,
as if offering help, during the last four lines.
Thematic
Activities:
- Talk about the
reasons why animals become extinct (hunting, loss of habitats, difficulty
mating in foreign environments, pollution, etc.). Have children brainstorm
ways they can help protect animals. Record all ideas. Also, write a
class letter to a wildlife conservation group requesting additional
ideas students may implement, and add these to your list. Decide together
on one idea to pursue as a group (reducing trash, conserving water,
collecting money to donate to a preserve, etc.). Decide also on a way
to keep track of your efforts.
- Have children imagine
what two or more endangered animals might say to one another if they
could talk. Let children work with partners to create a conversation
and perform it for classmates.
WORKING
ON TRASH!
(SUNG TO "I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD")
We've been working on recycling
All the trash we can.
We've been working on recycling,
It's a very simple plan.
Separate your glass and paper,
Separate your plastic and tin.
Take the trash that you've recycled
To your recycling bin!
We've been working
on reducing
All the trash we can.
We've been working on reducing,
It's a very simple plan.
Don't go wasting any products,
Use just exactly what you need.
Don't buy things in extra wrapping,
Reduce and you'll succeed!
We've been working
on reusing
All the trash we can.
We've been working on reusing,
It's a very simple plan.
If it's a paper bag you're using,
Don't use it once, use it twice!
Give old clothes and toys to someone,
To reuse them would be nice!
Suggestions For
Sharing:
- Divide the class
into three groups. Have each group perform a different verse of the
song. Children in each group can wear signs that say either Recycling,
Reducing, or Reusing.
- Have children recycle
paper bags into song vests that they may wear while singing this (and
other) song(s). For each vest you will need to cut a straight line down
the middle of the large side of a brown grocery bag, starting at the
top edge and cutting to the bottom. At the bottom, make a circular cut
large enough to fit the child's neck comfortably. Invert the bag and
place the paper bag vest on a child. On each vest, make a spot to cut
armholes. After armholes have been cut, children may use crayons to
decorate the vests (one symbol for each song learned, perhaps!). Children
can also "fringe" vests by making snips along the bottom edges.
Thematic Activities:
- Talk with children
about the current problems we face with our trash, including a shortage
of disposal sites and the pollution of our land, water, and air. Ask
children to suggest possible ways we can cut down on our trash problems.
Then have them design posters that advertise the solutions they came
up with.
- Have the class
keep track of all the paper, plastic, and other trash it creates in
a school week. Have children separate materials in large plastic bags
and weigh them each day to determine how much trash they have made.
See if the class can "lose weight" during the following week.
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