SCIENCE POETRY
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Spectacular Science: A Book of Poems. Illustrated by Virginia Halstead. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1999.
Lee Bennett Hopkins chose fifteen science related poems to complete this anthology, Spectacular Science. With poems on topics ranging from seeds to dinosaur bones to stars, Bennett has included something for everyone. Most of the poems rhyme, but all have a rhythmic quality that makes them fun for children. The sensory images in Lilian Moore’s “Encounter” give readers a first-hand feel for what it would be like to meet up with a deer in the woods. The alliterative onomatopoeias in Lee Bennett Hopkin’s “How?” add to the fun language found in this book of poetry.
These simple poems are just right for opening units of study
on various topics. The terms used in the
poems are accurate and children are able to understand them easily. This adds to their usefulness in the
classroom.
The table of contents lists all the works from well-known
poets, such as Carl Sandburg, Valerie Worth and David McCord, included in this
beautifully illustrated book. Virginia
Halstead has paired the poems with oversized, exaggerated depictions of the
various poems, appealing to children’s sense of fun. Most of the illustrations are spread across
two pages, allowing the large, colorful pictures to jump off the pages of this
book.
“Snowflakes”
by David McCord
Sometime this winter if you go
To walk in soft new-falling snow
When flakes are big and come down slow
To settle on your sleeve as bright
As stars that couldn’t wait for night,
You won’t know what you have in sight –
Another world – unless you bring
A magnifying glass.
This thing
We call a snowflake is the king
Of crystals. Do you
like surprise?
Examine him three times his size:
At first you won’t believe your eyes.
Stars look alike, but flakes do not:
No two are the same in all the lot
That you will get in any spot
You chance to be, for every one
Come spinning through the sky has none
But his own window-wings of sun:
Joints, points, and crosses.
What could make
Such lacework with no crack or break?
In billions, billions, no mistake?
Before reading this poem:
Help students
cut out snowflakes; point out the difference in each one. Hang
around the room to add to the
atmosphere.
Follow-up:
Read: Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Brainstorm words relating to snow
and winter. Allow students to use the
word bank to help them write an expository essay (about winter, their favorite
memory, an adventure, etc.)
Guide students to additional information
at: http://snowflakebentley.com/
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