Lesson Plan: Making the Outdoors Come Alive in Poetry

Part I: Introduction

Introduce students to Aldo Leopold with a brief biography of his life.

(Attachment A)

Part II: Outdoors Activity

Take class outdoors to observe nature first hand. Students find a quiet, "special" spot to look at, listen to, smell, and feel their environment. They will record their findings in their journals under the four senses.

Part III: Classroom Activities

Back in the classroom, students will get into groups of 4-5 and share aloud their observations. Each group will be called upon to share some insights aloud with whole class. Then each student will write a poem using the information they gathered. (Attachment B) (below)

 Poem Using the Senses

Line 1: Set the scene.

Line 6: Express an emotion.

Example:

I sat beneath the great oak tree on the playground.
The sky grew light then darkened as clouds passed overhead.
A robin sang its spring chant to a nearby squirrel.
The smell of newly cut grass assaulted my nose with its pungent odor.
I could feel the spring's warm, gentle touch on my skin.
What a great day to be alive!

 Rubric to be used for evaluating poem

Line 1: sets the scene (10)
Line 2: uses the sense of sight (20)
Line 3: uses the sense of sound (20)
Line 4: uses the sense of smell (20)
Line 5: uses the sense of touch (20)
Line 6: concludes with an emotion (10)
Total: 100 points