MyPoWriYe #64 - Monarchs

Yesterday our daughter Hope went to the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls, Canada, on a fifth grade field trip.  Part of the class's adventure was a lecture about butterflies, particularly monarch butterflies and their fascinating migration pattern.  It's still a mystery how monarchs know where to go, how to meet up with so many others, and how to do this year in and year out.  The trip south is made by one butterfly, but the return trip is made by several.

This poem swirled Hope's fascinating Monarch facts with Georgia's comment, "Instinct is so amazing!"  We are lucky adults when we have the opportunity to learn  science and wonder from the children in our lives.

Monarch Watch, an educational organization "dedicated to education, conservation, and research" of monarch butterflies, explains the magic and miracle of monarch migration.  "In all the world, no butterflies migrate like the Monarchs of North America. They travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two way migration every year. Amazingly, they fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. Their migration is more the type we expect from birds or whales. However, unlike birds and whales, individuals only make the round-trip once. It is their children's grandchildren that return south the following fall."  

You can find more great information about this tough yet beautiful butterfly at the United States government website, Monarch Butterfly. 

Teachers and students - writing poetry about content area subjects is an inspiring way to link factual learning to emotion and connection.  When we write a teaching poem, we also must synthesize all we have learned, paring away the unnecessary and holding onto the essential.

Today at Pinehurst Elementary in Lakeview, NY, we talked about this possibility of ending social studies and science units with a day of writing poetry.  This threads poetry through our days and subjects, and it helps us understand what our students carry away, factually and in their souls.

If you try this, writing content area poetry with your students to close a unit, please share here.  I would love to feature such work on an upcoming Poetry Friday.  Even if you think you might experiment with this, please leave a comment about your ideas.  Let's share possibilities for content area poetry.

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