SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about deforestation and climate change and respond by writing an ode or an elegy.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson empowers students to understand what deforestation entails and how they can write poems to express their feelings of grief, respect, emotion, and valor in combating deforestation in their community. All materials used in the lesson have been verified and are suitable for teaching. In this light, this lesson is credible and recommended for the classroom.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson can be used as a standalone or as a lesson in a poetry unit.
-Students are given voice and choice.
-Students create their own poetic response to a real-world challenge.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Students should have some basic understanding of poetry.
-Students should have a basic understanding of deforestation and its connection to climate change.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-This lesson is easily adaptable to Advanced Placement or honors level classes by including other literary and language elements in the poems such as juxtaposition, oxymoron, consonance, assonance, enjambment, alliteration, and personification.
-Students can write each stanza in a different meter or rhyme. Examples include iambic pentameter or ABBA rhyme scheme.
-Teachers can split the lesson in two and focus on an ode in the first lesson and an elegy in the second.
-Students can write both an ode and an elegy and compare the differences in writing, tone, and overall effect.
-Social studies, civics, and economics classes can extend this topic to social justice, socioeconomic class, and cultural impacts of deforestation within each specific region.
-Student poems can be shared outside of the classroom in the school newspaper or a community newsletter, on a class or teacher website, on school display boards, or in extracurricular poetry or environmental clubs.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn the five climate zones in New Jersey and interpret facts into a poetic voice from the point of view of nature.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson plan gives students an overview of the five climate zones in New Jersey and relates them to tones or poetry. As a note these are not the traditionally Köppen climate zones but rather zones specific to New Jersey. The link provided is accurate and up to date. Additionally, that website has more information if desired. This lesson helps students think about different climates from a more descriptive and imaginative perspective than just statistics, which can help provide a deeper understanding of the different climates. This resource is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson can be used in any English class.
-Students are given voice and choice in this lesson.
-Students learn to manipulate voice to achieve different outcomes.
-Students will use descriptive and poetic language.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-It may be best to confirm that all five climate zones have been selected by at least one student. Poems may become repetitive if all climate zones are not selected.
-You can read background information and analysis on “There Will Come Soft Rains” on this website.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students’ communication and vocabulary can be as simple or as thorough as you desire.
-Students may use the poem outline at the bottom of the Student Handout if necessary.
-This lesson is easily adaptable to Advanced Placement or Honors level classes through incorporating specific literary and language elements.
-You can require students to add domain-specific vocabulary from the Rutgers website to their poems.

This book has been developed by Erik Wilbur at Mohave Community College to support Poetry Writing courses at rural Arizona community colleges. A PDF version and a Microsoft Doc. version of the book are available for download.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students will analyze Amanda Gorman's poem "Earthrise" and write their own poetry.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The lesson introduces students to basic literary techniques and how to use poetry skills to communicate climate change and solutions to a diverse audience. There is no science to verify, but the resources, accompanying materials, and links in the lesson are credible and ideal for teaching. This lesson has passed our review.

POSITIVES:
-Amanda Gorman is a brilliant poet.
-Students will engage in lively group discussions. This poem is abundant in deep meaning and rhyme.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Before class, share the following with your students:
-Student Slideshow. All students need editing rights, as they will be writing in the same slideshow.
-Full Text of the Poem "Earthrise." Students will need viewing rights.
-Student Document. Each student needs their own copy, as they will be writing their own poem on this document.
-Amanda Gorman is most famous for performing "The Hill We Climb" at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on January 20, 2021.
-Amanda Gorman delivered a TED talk called "Using Your Voice is a Political Choice."

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You can select students of all abilities to read part of the poem after you have watched the video.
-The six stanzas selected for group discussion are of various lengths. They range from 6 lines to 19 lines. You can assign weaker students to the shorter stanzas.
-You can create groups of mixed abilities.
-Students who like to take notes can be scribes in their groups.
-Students may be unfamiliar with some of the vocabulary in “Earthrise.”
-Students should use the two linked dictionaries on the resources slide to find definitions of unfamiliar words.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson features powerful imagery from the climate crisis. Students choose one photograph and write an ekphrastic poem about that photograph.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson introduces students to social-emotional learning and how to use ekphrastic poetry to write about an artwork. It also contains photography depicting impacts of pollution, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis for students to analyze, share their thoughts, and communicate their climate solutions. This lesson has satisfied the science review process, and it is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson features stunning images of the impacts of the climate crisis as well as climate solutions.
-There is a sense of mystery because students will write their poems before knowing the context of their chosen photograph.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Before teaching the lesson, type your students' names into Slide 19 of the Student Slideshow.
-Make sure that all students have viewing access to the Student Slideshow and editing access to the Student Poetry Anthology Slideshow.
-Students may feel anger, anxiety, sadness, despair, fear, hope, or even excitement when viewing these pictures, writing their poems, or hearing their classmates’ poems. These emotions are normal and natural. Make sure students know it is OK to feel and express these emotions when confronted with the realities of the climate crisis.
-The information available for each image is varied. There is a lot of information about some of the photographs, but others do not have that much information.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Be sensitive to the emotions of your students. Some of these photographs may remind them of personal loss or some other specific connection to the climate crisis.
-Students can use the "Ideas For Your Poem" on the slideshow if they have trouble starting.
-Some students may know of other climate-related photos that they'd like to use. Encourage students to use those photographs if they make sense in the context of the lesson.