Children's Book Press - The Magical Cycle of the Seasons Poetry Collection

Poems for Every Season
Students write a series of four poems about the seasons using four different forms of poetry.

two or three 45-minute sessions

individual; pairs

CA English-Language Arts Standard—Writing 2.2: Write descriptions that use concrete sensory details to present and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences.

Paper, pencils, Sensory Words Worksheet, art supplies

Plan

	Review with students different forms of poetry, including simple rhymes, free verse, and structured verse, such as odes, haiku, and limericks. Provide examples of these different forms to help students become familiar with the elements of each form.
	Explain to students that they will be writing a series of four poems, one for each season of the year: winter, spring, summer, and fall.
	Have students brainstorm ideas for their poems by filling out a Sensory Words Worksheet (from the First Time Around: Vocabulary Development Well-Seasoned Words section) for each season, listing words and experiences related to the season that appeal to the senses.

Draft

Ask students to select one poetic form for one season, and then use the ideas on the Sensory Words Worksheet as a reference while they write a poem about that season, using the particular poetic form they chose. Remind them that, just as Francisco X. Alarcón has done in his poetry collection, they can focus on whatever aspect of the season is meaningful to them. Have students repeat this drafting process for each of the remaining seasons.

Revise

Suggest that students review each poem. Ask them to think about how successful they have been at conveying their impressions and feelings about the season. Suggest that they make changes in word choice to enrich the content and sharpen the rhythm as necessary.

Edit

Have students check their poems to correct any errors in spelling and to make sure that each poem’s punctuation and layout matches what they intended. Encourage students to read each poem aloud to check how it sounds.

Publish

Ask students to copy their poems onto clean sheets of paper and to illustrate them with appropriate images. Then host a class poetry reading in which each student has the opportunity to share his or her poetic cycle of the seasons, and display the accompanying artwork.

Other Writing Activities

	Poetry of Common Things: Read with students odes and other poems that celebrate everyday objects, such as those by Francisco X. Alarcón, Pablo Neruda (in Odes to Common Things) and Shel Silverstein (in Falling Up) (You can find information on these titles in the Resources section). Discuss how some common things evoke memories and thoughts; explain to students that these associations are one reason poets write about everyday objects. Work as a class to write an ode to a common object. Then ask students to write their own odes.
	A Poem for My School: Read with students the poem “Ode to Buena Vista Bilingual School / Oda a la Escuela Bilingüe de Buena Vista” (In Iguanas in the Snow / Iguanas en la nieve, p. 7). Work together to identify the images the poet used to describe what makes that school special. Then have pairs or small groups write on a strip of paper a verse or stanza about what makes your school special. Collect the strips and arrange them to make a class poem that students can illustrate and display. Alternately, each student could create a separate poem about the school.
	Golden Poems: Ask students to review their favorite poems in the Alarcón series and select and copy one or two of their favorite verses. Have them read these aloud and explain why they chose them. Then ask students to work together to gather and arrange their favorite lines to create a “golden” poem for all to share and enjoy.
	Family/Community Traditions: Read several poems from Francisco’s books that focus on family or community celebrations and traditions. Then ask students to write a poem about a celebration or tradition that is important in their own community or family.

Our City, Our Community
Students compile a community cultural profile by interviewing family members and friends and gathering information from other primary sources.

two or three 30-minute sessions

individual and small group

CA History-Social Studies Standards 3.3: Students draw from history and community resources to organize the sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land. 3.3.3: Trace why their community was established, how individuals and families contributed to its founding and development, and how the community has changed over time, drawing on maps, photographs, oral histories, letters, newspapers, and other primary sources.

Paper, pencils, cassette recorder, Interview Worksheet, local newspapers and travel books or brochures

Read with students the poems in Iguanas in the Snow / Iguanas en la nieve related to San Francisco:

“City of Bridges / Ciudad de puentes” (p. 7)
“Mission Dolores / Misión de Dolores” (p. 8)
“San Francisco” (p. 10)
“In My Barrio / En mi barrio” (p. 11)
“Dancing in the Streets / Bailando por las calles” (p. 13)

And read poems in Angels Ride Bikes / Los ángeles andan en bicicleta related to Los Angeles:

“Los Angeles / Los Ángeles” (p. 3)
“Earthly Paradise / Paraíso terrenal” (p. 4-5)
“Tasty Michoacán / Sabroso Michoacán” (p. 8-9)
“La Placita” p. 16 & 17
“1. Angels Ride Bikes / 1. Los ángeles andan en bicicleta” and “2. Angels Ride Bikes / 2. Los ángeles andan en bicicleta” (p. 24-27)

Discuss with students how Francisco shares through poetry both information and his feelings about those two cities.

Ask students to collect information about the cultural heritage of their city by interviewing elder relatives or family friends and acquaintances about how their families came to the area and what contributions their home cultures have made to the community at large. Provide them with copies of the Interview Worksheet to give them ideas for questions to ask. Suggest that they record the interviews, if possible, so that they can spend their time listening carefully and attentively to the person’s response.

Provide students with other primary sources, such as local travel brochures and the arts and community calendar sections of local newspapers, so that they can gather more information about celebrations and exhibitions of culture in the local area.

Have students work together in small groups to combine the results of their interviews and the information they have gathered from other sources into a report about their community’s cultural heritage. Have groups take turns presenting their reports to the class. See the Community Mural activity in the Art section of this teacher’s guide for an alternate way to present the information.

Other Social Studies Activities

	California Missions: Fourth grade students in California could incorporate the poem “Mission Dolores / Misión de Dolores” (in Iguanas in the Snow / Iguanas en la nieve p. 8) into their study of the California Mission system.
	Honoring Our Ancestors: Have students read the poem “Day of the Dead / El dia de los muertos” in Angels Ride Bikes / Los Angeles Andan en bicicleta (p. 18). Afterwards, have students write a paragraph or poem to honor an ancestor or other important person who has passed away.
	Seasonal Celebrations: Students can work together to create a list of seasonal celebrations with a description of each event along with information about its history and origins.

Shape Poetry
Students write poems about season-related objects, written in such a way that they depict the objects both visually, as a shape, and in the words they choose.

two 45-minute sessions

whole class, small group, and individual

CA Visual Arts Standard 2.4: Create a work of art based on the observation of objects and scenes in daily life, emphasizing value changes.

Paper, pencils, colored markers, tempera paints, brushes

Display and read with students the poems “Flowers / Las flores” (in Laughing Tomatoes / Jitomates risueños, p. 10) and “Air Wheel / Rueda aire” and “Water Wheel / Rueda agua” (in From the Bellybutton of the Moon / Del ombligo de la luna, p. 18-19).

Engage students in a discussion about how the words in the poems have been set in an unusual way: arrayed like the petals of a flower or in a circular shape like a wheel. Have students share how they think the different ways of arranging words contribute to the message of each poem.

Ask students to choose a season they would like to write a poem about. Group together students who have chosen the same season. Ask each group to brainstorm a list of objects related to that season. For example, for winter students might suggest overcoats, rain, snowflakes, sleds, and a snowman.

Have each student select an object and write a poem about it. Then ask them to lightly draw a picture of the object on another piece of paper. Once they have finished the picture, ask them to rewrite the poem, using the outline of the object as a guide for the placement of the words. They can then use markers and paints to complete their shape poems.

Display students’ shape poems together on a wall. Invite other classes to visit the exhibition; have students take turns playing the role of class “docent” to present and read the poems to visitors.

Other Art Activities

	Community Mural/Collage: Have students use the information they gathered in the Our City, Our Community activity in the Social Studies section of this teacher’s guide as the starting point for the creation of a mural or collage to depict the cultural heritage of their city.
	Day of the Dead Altars: Students create Day of the Dead altars to honor ancestors or other important people who have passed away. See the Honoring Our Ancestors activity in the Social Studies section of this teacher’s guide for a companion activity.
	Seasonal Color Palettes: Discuss with students how each season of the year has a color palette or set of colors that are thought to be particularly evident during that season. Then have students create paintings using what they envision as the color palettes for winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Patterns in Poetry
Students examine mathematical patterns in poetry and then recreate them in their own poems.

45 min.

whole class, individual, pairs

CA Mathematical Reasoning Standard 1.1: Analyze problems by identifying relationships, distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information, sequencing and prioritizing information, and observing patterns

Poetry anthologies with rhyming poems and haikus (see Resources), paper, pencils

Write two rhyming poems with different rhyme schemes on the board and read them aloud to students. Read them a second time and use letters at the end of each verse (for example, ab ab ab) to show the rhyme scheme for each. Point out that the rhyme scheme is a pattern that shows which set of lines rhyme in each verse. Then work with students to create poems with rhyme schemes that match those of the displayed poems.

Follow a similar procedure with a sample haiku, showing students how the number of syllables in each verse is the controlling pattern.

Ask students to write poems with patterns of their own invention, either using a rhyme scheme or the number of syllables in each verse.

Have students exchange their poems with a partner. Partners should read the poems and try to figure out what pattern their partner used.

When partners have finished, ask them to share their poems with the class.

Other Math Activities

Fruit Fractions: Use the text and artwork for the poem “Laughing Tomatoes / Jitomates risueños” (in Laughing Tomatoes / Jitomates risueños, p. 12) as the starting point for an activity involving fractions in fruit. For example, you can have students peel oranges and count the number of slices contained in their orange. They can then come up with fractions when they take away some of the slices.

Seasonal Temperature Chart: Students use an almanac or consult the local newspaper’s weather section to develop a chart showing average, record high, and record low temperatures for each month or season in your community, and use this information to discuss mean, median, and mode.

Seasons of the Sun
Students create diagrams showing how the position of the sun changes from season to season.

30–45 minutes

whole class, small group, individual

CA Science Standard 4.3: Students know the position of the sun in the sky changes during the course of the day and from season to season.

Paper, pencil, encyclopedia articles on the seasons, the sun, and the solar system

Engage students in a discussion of the primary characteristics of the different seasons, recording their ideas on the board. Then ask them to share what they know about why these changes occur.

Have students work in small groups. Have each group research how the changing position of the Earth as it revolves around the sun creates the different seasons. Ask students to make sure they understand the meanings of such terms as summer solstice, winter solstice, vernal equinox, autumnal equinox, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, and equator.

Ask group members to work together to create a diagram showing how the Earth’s position relative to the sun changes during the four seasons. Have them include an explanation as to how this contributes to changes in the temperature and amounts of precipitation at various parts of the planet.

Have the groups present their diagram to the class. Ask each group to explain the climatic conditions for a different season in a different part of the world.

Other Science Activities

	Ecosystem Study: Students can conduct a long-term project in which they regularly and periodically observe the ecosystem of a garden throughout the course of the school year and document changes that take place during the different seasons. To begin, students should discuss and catalogue all the elements of the ecosystem at the beginning of the observation period. They should then record changes they observe, and the dates on which they occur.
	Giant Sequoias Report: Have students read the poem “Giant Sequoias / Secoyas gigantes” (in Iguanas in the Snow / Iguanas en la nieve, p. 28 & 29) and then conduct research for a report on these unique giants of the Sierra Nevada.
	Classroom Weather Report: As part of a year-long project, have students take turns recording and then reporting the weekly weather forecast for your area and other places of interest. Discuss different weather phenomena such as thunder, lightning, different types of clouds (i.e. nimbus, cirrus, etc), and drought.