Module 4: Poetry Across The Curriculum

                                                          Science Poetry

Bibliography

Florian, Douglas. 2007. COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS: SPACE POEMS AND PAINTINGS. Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN 978152053727 

  

Summary

COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS: SPACE POEMS AND PAINTINGS offers the reader twenty easy to read poems about the solar system. Explore the galaxy, in poetic form, with this informative book detailing facts about the planets, moon, sun, stars, and beyond.

Quality and Appeal

Douglas Florian provides the words and illustrations for this delightful and humorous journey through space that won the 2008 Mind the Gap Award. The book begins with a table of contents, which is quite extensive, providing a thorough outline of topics covered for the reader. The initial poem, “Skywatch” encourages the reader to explore space in a fun way. The author then introduces the reader to broader subjects including poems about “The Universe,” “ A Galaxy,” and “ The Solar System.” As the book continues the author introduces the inner and outer planets, sun, comets, constellations, black hole, and that what might lie beyond our galaxy.  Science vocabulary is abundant yet not overwhelming as to make the subject matter unappealing. Included in the vocabulary for this book, are names of Roman gods, famous classical composers, artists, science terminology, and multilingual use for the word, sun.

A galactic glossary is included at the back of the book, which provides additional information about each topic covered. For those interested in pursuing even more information, a selected bibliography and further readings page is included.

In addition to the text, Mr. Florian also created the illustrations. The illustrations were created with gouache, collage, and rubber stamps on primed brown paper bags. Each topic and illustration is given a two-page spread. The illustrations are cleverly detailed with visually appealing features. For example, in the poem “Venus,” there is a thermometer located on the left of the planet with numbers ranging from 100 – 900. A photograph of a sculpture of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, is in the center of the planet illustration with tiny, red hearts dispersed throughout the two-page spread. The illustrations provide just as much information as the text.

Most poems included in this selection are concrete in meaning, including those about the planets. There are some poems that could be defined as abstract including “The Universe,” “A Galaxy,” and “The Great Beyond.”  The addition of the concrete poem, “A Galaxy” spiraling inside its words has a somewhat hypnotic hold on the reader as the poem is read. All poems are short and each has a rhyming pattern that will entice and entertain the reader. The pattern of most poems is an ABAB rhyme scheme, but some differ. The poem, “Neptune,” is composed of couplets, two lines that rhyme and have the same meter. 

The poetic element of sound is heard with the use alliteration in the poems, “Jupiter” with the words “Jupiter’s jumbo,” and “Jupitererrific.” In the poem “Venus, ” alliteration is present with the words “nine,” “nothing,” and “no.” Onomatopoeia is present in the poem “Mercury” as the planet is described as “Speedy, nimble, quick, and fast.” “Jupiter” also offers the element of onomatopoeia with “Gigantic, Immense. So wide.”

Descriptions of figurative language in the form of personification are cleverly written with the depiction of Mercury “always racing, on the run.” The author’s sense of humor comes out in this poem when he adds tiny bare feet to encircle the planet, Mercury. An example of the sense imagery of sight is detailed in “Comet,” described as “A dirty snowball / of space debris. The biggest snowball / That you’ll ever see.”

A reader’s emotional response to the poems within this book will be one of curiosity and intrigue. The element of humor that Mr. Florian adds to this informative book will keep readers turning each page, whether that interest is from the whimsical words or creative illustrations.

Comets, Stars, The Moon, And Mars: Space Poems And Paintings will appeal to elementary age students exploring the solar system. The book is playful in design, but informative enough that it could be used for upper grade levels. The book would be an excellent choice for a unit study on the solar system with the integration of language arts and poetry curriculum as well. To add to the appeal of this book, the author has wittily illustrated himself on the inside book jacket as a green alien with red eyes who “writes poetry, and stargazes in New York City.” Funny!

Spotlight Poem

The Moon

A NEW moon isn’t really new

It’s merely somewhat dark to view.

A CRESCENT moon may seem to smile,

Gladly back after a while.

A HALF moon is half dark, half light.

At sunset look due south to sight.

A FULL moon is a sight to see,

Circular in geometry.

After full, the moon will wane

Night by night, then start again.

Connections:

This would be a great activity to reinforce a lesson on the phases of the moon. After reading the poem and having a class discussion to explain the different phases of the moon. I would distribute the poem to each student. Each student would also receive four Oreo cookies and construction paper. Students will take one Oreo cookie for each phase of the moon and show how that would look like with each Oreo cookie. For example, a new moon is “somewhat dark to view.” Students would eat or scrape off the inside filling and glue the Oreo cookie next to the stanza representing the new moon. Students could either cut their poem into four stanzas strips or keep as one complete piece of paper. I saw this activity conducted at my school with second graders, although the poetry book was not used. I think this a clever way to support a student’s understanding of a science concept as well as promote poetry across curriculum. I am going to pass along this poetry book to the teachers at my school, so that they too can see the benefits of its content.