Home » Articles on Demand » Nature through Poetry




Nature through Poetry

by Ruth A. Wilson
March/April 2015
Access over 3,000 practical Exchange articles written by the top experts in the field through our online database. Join Today!

Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/nature-through-poetry/5022251/

It was October and the wind was blowing leaves across the street outside the classroom window. Christina, the early childhood teacher, capitalized on the moment by inviting the children to move closer to the window and asked them to look closely at what they could see outside. Many of the children volunteered simple one-word responses: trees, leaves, cars, and sky. Christina encouraged further discussion by asking: What do you notice about the leaves and the trees? What would you hear if we were standing outside? What would you feel? What would it feel like to be a tree when the wind is blowing? How would it feel to be a leaf? The children’s responses to these questions were far more descriptive than their previous answers: I see yellow leaves flying in the air. I see the tree bending over. I would feel the wind pushing me. If I was a leaf, I would feel like a kite.

Christina then invited the children to move like the wind, and they were soon engaged in a wonderfully expressive dance, using their arms and legs, their hands and feet, and their entire bodies to express their ideas about the wind and how it moves. There ...

Want to finish reading Nature through Poetry?

You have access to 5 free articles.
or an account to access full article.