My Kindergarten students and I are inspired daily by the natural beauty of the school grounds of our PreK-3rd Grade elementary school and adjacent town conservation trails. Not far along one of the walking trails sits a vernal pool -- the first in a series of them, in fact. We visit this particular spot every 6-8 weeks to observe the changing of the seasons, learn about communities and habitats, and the wildlife that make their home in this truly magical place. Some animals are seen; some leave signs of their presence; others remain elusive throughout the year.
As the year progresses, our knowledge about vernal pools and their inhabitants grows. We use a schema chart with Post-its to record our thinking throughout the year, including our current and new learning, our misconceptions, and questions. Nature’s “cast of characters” inspired us in a new direction this year -- writing poetry about them and painting their portraits in watercolors.
We began our poetry project by adopting a character. Each student researched their vernal pool community inhabitant and made a list of facts they had learned. After individually conferring about these facts, we gently -- ever so gently -- shaped them to take on a different form: poetry. Some Kindergarten poets chose to have their character do the talking, while others preferred to ask them questions. All are a lovely intermingling of science content knowledge and literacy learning. Our writing mentor, poet/author/writing teacher Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, graciously invited us to share our work on her inspiring website, The Poem Farm. (Post dated July 22, 2016, if direct link is lost.)
