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Patricia NewmanPatricia Newman
Sibert Honor Children's Book Author & Environmentalist
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weather-photo-rain

LitLinks: How to use STEM and poetry to celebrate weather

May 10, 2023 LitLinks, LitLinks-Grade 3-5, LitLinks-Grade K-2 No Comments
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GUEST BLOGGER LAURA PURDIE SALAS


Two of my 2023 titles, ZAP! CLAP! BOOM! and PUDDLE SONG, celebrate the joy and drama of weather. First, we experience the storm, in ZAP! CLAP! BOOM! THE STORY OF A THUNDERSTORM. Jump forward a bit from the end of this book and you might land in PUDDLE SONG, which a puddle “sings” to the people and objects around it.

Puddle Song_cover
Puddle Song, by Laura Purdie Salas and Monique Felix, published by Creative Company
2023_Salas_zap_clap_zoom
Laura Purdie Salas with Zap! Clap! Boom!, illustrated by Elly MacKay, published by Bloomsbury

We play in weather, complain about weather, and forget about weather. Let’s help students connect more personally to weather!

Laura-Purdie-Salas-and-Fernley-the-hawk
Me and Fernley (tawny eagle) on a drizzly day. Great things still happen in the rain!

Start with weather observations

After reading the books, ask students what the weather was like last week. (Keep a record the week before!) Which days were rainy, snowy, or as hot as an oven?  How did the weather affect students’ activities? Was a ball game canceled? Did they go sledding?

Tell students they’re going to keep a weather journal for a week. You can use this sheet or simply have students use a notebook or journal. Each day, they’ll sum up the weather of the day before and write one sentence about what they did or could not do due to the weather.

Each day, lead a brief discussion around what the students did, wrote, and felt. Some kids might love rain (I always have), while others feel cheated because of canceled plans. Those different reactions are okay!

Make your own weather

The following week, review the water cycle with students using the video below.

As you discuss condensation and precipitation, share this visual model. Ask: What makes rain finally spill from clouds? Eventually, the condensing water droplets weigh too much for the cloud to hold.

Fill a glass jar almost full with water. Fill to the brim with a solid layer of shaving cream. That represents a cloud. Add food coloring, representing water drops. “I wonder what will happen when we fill our cloud with water?”

Build up the drama! Let kids predict and track how many drops it takes to make the cloud “rain.”

visual-model-consensation-precipitation

 Approaching the ode

Next, we’ll get personal. Lead a brainstorming session about how our families and our world depends on water. I have a video about my own family. Explain that they’ll be celebrating rain and water by writing an ode poem.

Share some examples of odes. Two you can likely find online are “Ode to Mi Gato,” by Gary Soto and “Hymn to the Comb-Over,” by Wesley McNair. And here’s a student ode (shared with permission):

Ode-to-Dishsoap
Explore more odes by both students and me

Point out what these odes have in common: no rhyme, rich figurative language, over-the-top praise, and sensory words.

Write a class ode about something ordinary—say a bucket. Lead students in brainstorming what they know/notice about it. Next, write a line for each of the five senses. Ask students what else is as blue as the bucket. Then demonstrate writing an over-the-top line using the comparison: “Oh, bucket, you are as blue as the tropical sky in June!” And then, perhaps, “The sound of my shovel is a tap dance against your sturdy plastic.”

Have fun with it!

Weather odes

Now students will write odes to rain.

Follow the same brainstorming process you used for your group poem. Add in brainstorming about memories, emotions, and what they might call rain: a hero, a savior, a champion, a protector, etc.

Now each student will write a poem draft. Give a suggestion for each line as they write (“the smell of rain…”) and set a short timer, perhaps 90 seconds. Have students write 5 to 10 lines.

Let a day or two pass before returning to the odes. Tell students that in their second draft, they can cross out lines they don’t like

If time permits, guide them through some revision around specific nouns, active verbs, and emotion. Then ask them to check their spelling (with me, with a spell-checker, with a friend, with a dictionary, etc.) before they copy their final draft onto nice paper or in their notebook. I invite students to share, but that’s totally optional.

The calm after the storm

Wrap up with a group discussion. What have students learned about rain and storms? Do they feel differently about rain or puddles now?

We control a lot of things in our world. But we can’t control the weather. So we might as well make our peace with that and focus on appreciating the positive effects of whatever weather we have. Almost every kind of weather does something good for our planet!

Featured image credit: “Rain Study 3” by amandabhslater is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.


Laura with mittens

Former teacher Laura Purdie Salas believes reading small picture books and poems can have a huge impact on your life. She’s written more than 135 books for kids, including Lion of the Sky (Kirkus Best Books and Parents Magazine Best Books of the Year), Snowman-Cold=Puddle (Junior Library Guild selection), and the Can Be… series (Bank Street Best Books, IRA Teachers’ Choice). Laura loves to share inspiration and practical tips with educators about poetry, nonfiction, and more. Visit Laura at laurasalas.com or on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at @LauraPSalas. Find more resources and activity sheets for these books at laurasalas.com , where you can also subscribe to Small Reads, her monthly e-letter for educators.


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Tags: STEM+LiteracySTEM+Literacy Natural Science
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  • Home
  • Books
    • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
    • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • Books for English language-learners
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
    • FAQs
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    • STEM + Literacy Activities
    • Teacher Guides
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    • LitLinks
    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
  • Writer Resources
    • Writing Classes
    • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
    • How I got my start
  • Who is Patricia Newman?
  • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
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