Science in a 17-Syllable Setting

Science, poetry, and short stories. You might not ordinarily put those three together in the same sentence, let alone in the same curriculum. Here is a suggestion that could be used in your language arts or science classroom.


On a recent drive at dusk from North Carolina into Tennessee, I saw beautiful gray clouds that resembled feathers. They reminded me of arrows and as night descended, I began playing with the image, wondering how I could use it in a poem. Since I couldn’t get beyond the clouds themselves, I thought it might make a good haiku. Here is the first result:

Gray feathered clouds

shot from hidden bow. Puncture

blood-red dying sun.

In Teaching the Story I discuss how setting should help create a story’s mood. The same can be applied to poetry. Since I used a metaphor and compared the clouds to an arrow, the verb “puncture” followed which led to the creation of a dramatic, violent setting with an ominous mood.

Could I change that mood? Here is the second haiku:

Gray feathered clouds

line rose-kissed skyscape. Blue

hills embrace twilight.

I started with the same prompt but instead of a setting which reflected war and destruction; I created a soft, romantic mood by using the image “rose-kissed skyscape,” and using personification by suggesting that the hills “embrace” the twilight. The haiku format forced me to choose verbs and adjectives which enhanced each specific mood.

Since I didn’t take a picture of the clouds, when I decided to write this blog I googled “gray clouds + feathers” to search for an illustration. Although I didn’t find a picture of the clouds that streamed over the Smokey Mountains, I discovered that these clouds are called cirrus virtebratus—and were an identifiable subspecies of Cirrus clouds.

Photo by Michael Grossman, taken in Germany

Suddenly, my interest in clouds sky-rocketed (forgive the pun!) and I began wondering about other clouds outside the car window. Science exploration had begun.

You can do the same. Use a visual prompt in your classroom, either from pictures your students bring in or from a website like Google images. Exercise muscle words, play with verbs, and brainstorm moods.

Science, poetry, and short stories. Why not?

technorati tags: writing across the curriculum, haiku, clouds, cirrus virtebratus, Exercise Muscle Words, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8



del.icio.us tags: writing across the curriculum, haiku, clouds, cirrus virtebratus, Exercise Muscle Words, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8


icerocket tags: writing across the curriculum, haiku, clouds, cirrus virtebratus, Exercise Muscle Words, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8


keotag tags: writing across the curriculum, haiku, clouds, cirrus virtebratus, Exercise Muscle Words, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8