Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of A Teacher's Guide to Scientific Literacy and Poetic Response presents a unique and effective interdisciplinary approach to teaching science poems and science poetry writing in secondary English and science classrooms. A collaboration between two award-winning teachers, one in English, the other in science, this crossover work demonstrates how scientific literacy, knowledge, and methods can inform and inspire poetic response in the classroom and in the field. Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science illustrates how students can utilize field research, observations, sensory data gathering, poetic writing strategies, and model science poems by poets, scientists, students, and teachers to produce skillful and creative science poetry. The authors explore the commonalities shared by the domains of science and poetry as well as the potentials for intersections and interactions across those two domains. As the science teacher raises scientific questions and suggests technical vocabulary to further language specificity and precision, the poetry teacher demonstrates multiple poetic stances enabling imaginative poetic responses. The active, hands-on, collaborative nature of the classroom atmosphere motivates students to write inspired poems, and students who have never before written poetry can become excited, engaged, and productive. A particular benefit is that science poetry can engage the science-minded and poetically reluctant students to write and appreciate poetry, even as science can inform, engage and enhance more literary-minded students' poetic responses. At the same time, both English and science teachers can take pleasure in writing science poetry with their students and in exploring and sharing the connections and convergence of their domains. Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science is built on original field data gathered by Colfax from expeditions to Iceland and other locations around the world as well as the original poetry and poetry teaching techniques of Gorrell. It illustrates basic science poetry writing exercises useful for students of all levels and abilities, and includes student work as well as commentary and feedback on their science poems in each chapter. It then moves to advanced exercises designed to teach the inspired poems of awe, empathy, outrage, protest, meditation, speculation, and perplexity. In the final section of the work, the authors present sample lesson plans specifically designed for the advanced English language and composition curriculum as well as for advanced science courses in research, ecology, and the environment. This professional resource shows both English and science teachers how to cross-fertilize the knowledge, skills, and methods shared by their disciplines-in particular, the creative, critical, and metaphoric thinking skills used in both poetry writing and scientific research. Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science provides the tool-science poetry-enabling English and science teachers alike to discover the value of their common ground, empowering them to envision, create, and experience an innovative pedagogy for the 21st century.

Gorrell, Nancy; Colfax, Erin

Erin Colfax, Nancy Gorrell

Sheffield ; Oakville: Equinox Pub.

McGill-Queen's University Press

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

Frameworks for writing, Sheffield, 2012

Frameworks for writing, London, 2011

Illustrated, US, 2012

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science: A TeacherOCOs Guide to Scientific Literacy and Poetic Response presents a unique and effective interdisciplinary approach to teaching science poems and science poetry writing in secondary English and science classrooms.

xix, 444 p. : 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. [397]-404) and index

2024-01-26