Environmental Poems

Summary

Writing poetry allows students to express their feelings in a creative way. It is also good language practice, as long as the structures are simple enough. Giving students the chance to write environmental poems can help them to get in touch with their appreciation for the earth’s beauty, as well as their concerns over human responsibility towards the earth and our common future.

Levels

Gem Poem: *

Diamond Poem: **

If I could… Poem: ***

Grammar

Nouns, verbs, adjectives

Gem Poem/Diamond Poem

Try this activity as a recycled version of these two easy poems. Instead of allowing students to begin with any noun of their choice, have them start with a noun related to nature or the environment (e.g.: earth, flower, tree, sky, water, pollution). Go over some environment vocabulary at the beginning of class or start off by writing a poem together.

Gem Poem

1. 1 Noun (Meishi)
2. 2 Adjectives (Keioshi)
3. 3 Three Verbs (Doishi)
4. 1 Sentence (Bunsho)
5. 1 Noun (Meishi)

Example

Tree
Beautiful, big
Living, breathing, smiling
I want to be like you
Yes
—Kunio Shiraishi, 3^rd year, Kamo SHS, Kagoshima-ken

Diamond Poem

1. 1 Noun
2. 2 Adjectives
3. 3 Three Verbs
4. 4 Nouns
5. 3 Verbs
6. 2 Adjectives
7. 1 Noun

Example

Nature
Beautiful, clean
Living, growing, flowering
Green, life, trash, destruction
Destroying, polluting, ruining
Ugly, messy
People
—Takahiro Hanarei, 1^st year, Kajiki SHS, Kagoshima-ken

If I could change the world

How can we make the world a better place? What do we need to do to make sure that the Earth and its inhabitants will survive far into the next century? Have students write their ideas down in the form of a poem. Start each line with: "If I could change the world…".

Example

If I could change the world
Animals would never be abused.
If could change the world
The ozone hole would be getting smaller and not bigger.

Variation

Each student writes one sentence to compose a class poem.

Acknowledgments

Contributed by Samantha Berman, Kagoshima-ken ALT.