The lovely Irene Latham shared her newest book of poems with me and my students. We had a great time traveling to Antarctica this week. We started in the glossary. Where else would you start? We learned new words like adept, baleen whale, and crèches. My students made notes in their journals.
We read aloud a sampling of poems, such as “When the Sun Shines on Antarctica” and “Beware the Brinicle!” Oh, how they hate brinicles, ever since they learned that “this frozen lightning rod…entombs all it touches.”
In the back of this amazing book there is a listing of websites to visit. We visited Discovering Antarctica. This site is full of videos, amazing images, and fun activities. I asked my students to do three activities. They jumped right in and were riveted.
To culminate the week, we looked back at Irene’s poems and talked about craft moves. There was onomatopoeia in”Gentoo Penguin Jumps In.” I showed how Irene played with the way the word appeared on the page (dive actually dives down the page). We talked about rhyme and short lines, metaphor, simile, and personification.
Then they took a turn at writing their own Antarctic poems. Thanks, Irene, for leading us on this adventurous discovery.
(My kids love disgusting things like a bird that vomits while flying in the air.)
Southern Giant Petrel at the Seashore
Petrel
doesn’t do
sandcastles
or suntans–
he’s more
like a flying
trash can.His belly
is where all
the garbage
goes:
his beak
is the lid
that never
stays closed.Careful,
don’t come
too near–
or Petrel
will spew
a rotten brew
all over you.–Irene Latham (used with permission from the author)
Now for student poems.
Antarctica Poem
Freezing water
cold temperatures
Emperor Penguins
Penguin chicks
The sound of silence
Being broken by soundsGrah!!
Killer Whales eating
Penguins feasting
Petrel barfing
On its predators
Antarctic Galore!by Andrew, 3rd grade
Adelie Penguins
Little gray balls
beaks with all.
Black and white tuxedos,
important yellow shoes,
they’re businessmen.
White and black gowns,
little golden slippers,
stylish as can be.
–Lynzee, 1st grade
Who am I?
Who am I?
Who am I?The killer of krill
I eat thousands, in every meal.My teeth are two plastic plates.
I sing a song to attract my mate.My bestie is the barnacle.
He’s been here since he fledged.You guessed it!
You guessed it!I am the baleen whale.
Now I will end this poem
with the flip of my tail.–Emily, 5th grade
I have been participating in Laura Shovan’s February writing challenge. We are writing to images of found objects. Today, our poems are posted by Matt at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme.
Thank you, Margaret for sharing the Petrel poem and these wonderful poems by students! I love Andrew’s “The sound of silence/ Being broken by sounds/Grah!”
and Lynzee’s tuxedoed, yellow shoed businessmen
and Emily’s “my bestie is the barnacle.” Please invite them to join the Antarctica Explorers Club! http://www.irenelatham.com/AntarcticaExplorersClub/index.html
Appreciate so much you sharing this book with readers. xo
There is so much to love about Irene’s book, Margaret! Thank you for the details of how you shared it with your students, and for giving us a peek at their poems. They always amaze me!
How wonderful to be able to dive into the book and resurface with these treasures!
I love reading student work. The guessing poem about the baleen whale was great. WIll have to look for this book. We have classes that study Antarctica.
Thank you for sharing Irene’s new book and student examples. It was interesting to see how they were able to use her as mentor.
These are just wonderful! I love this project and how you handled it with your students. Obviously they were intrigued. Thanks for sharing about Irene’s book. I’m really looking forward to reading it.
I love the variety and vibrancy of these student poems, Margaret – such fun to see how they took an idea and just ran with it!
It is a wonderful book. Like Wandering Wildebeests, I love the research Irene blends into her beautiful poems. And your students must have been so inspired, Margaret. I love “Grab”, such a marvelous stop, and “little grey balls” and ” my bestie is a barnacle”, just terrific.
Thank you for sharing your journey through Irene’s book! Love that you started with the glossary!
Margaret, as always I love your creative projects with your students. Irene’s book is a wonderful entry into Antarctica and your students’ responses are full of energy, facts, and perspective. Emily’s ending is pure fun: I am the baleen whale./Now I will end this poem/with the flip of my tail.
What a gift to have so many talented young poets under your care.
How lovely that the students are writing poems based on Irene’s book! Poets-in-training. 🙂
[…] recent creations. We were learning about Antarctica and poetry with Irene Latham’s book When the Sun Shines on Antarctica. Madison is in second grade, and this year is her first year in my class. She has jumped right into […]