Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science: A Teacher's Guide to
Scientific Literacy and Poetic Response presents a unique and effective
interdisciplinary approach to teaching science poems and science poetry
writing in secondary English and science classrooms. A collaboration
between two award-winning teachers, one in English, the other in
science, this crossover work demonstrates how scientific literacy,
knowledge, and methods can inform and inspire poetic response in the
classroom and in the field. Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science
illustrates how students can utilize field research, observations,
sensory data gathering, poetic writing strategies, and model science
poems by poets, scientists, students, and teachers to produce skillful
and creative science poetry.
The authors explore the commonalities shared by the domains of science
and poetry as well as the potentials for intersections and interactions
across those two domains. As the science teacher raises scientific
questions and suggests technical vocabulary to further language
specificity and precision, the poetry teacher demonstrates multiple
poetic stances enabling imaginative poetic responses. The active,
hands-on, collaborative nature of the classroom atmosphere motivates
students to write inspired poems, and students who have never before
written poetry can become excited, engaged, and productive. The
descriptive techniques that are shared by science and poetry allow for
creative, critical, and metaphoric thinking that are of value for
teaching in both areas and that offer new ways of thinking and writing
about the natural world. In addition, the use of poetry in the science
classroom is a novel way to inform, engage, and enhance students'
understanding of abstract and complex scientific concepts, as shown in
research carried out by co-author Erin Colfax at Morristown (New Jersey)
High School, sponsored by Montana State University, on the use of poetry
in the biology curriculum and for summative testing of science
knowledge.
Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science is built on original field
data gathered by Colfax from expeditions to Iceland and other locations
around the world as well as the original poetry and poetry teaching
techniques of Gorrell. This professional resource shows both English and
science teachers how to cross-fertilize the knowledge, skills, and
methods shared by their disciplines--in particular, the creative,
critical, and metaphoric thinking skills used in both poetry writing and
scientific research. Writing Poetry through the Eyes of Science
provides the tool--science poetry--enabling English and science teachers
alike to discover the value of their common ground, empowering them to
envision, create, and experience an innovative pedagogy for the 21st
century.
