Jointhe poetry of science
Poetry About Water in Our World
Science and Children—March/April 2022 (Volume 59, Issue 4)
By Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
World Water Day
by George Ella Lyon
See it flow: It’s a river.
Stop it cold, and it’s ice.
Watch it wave: It’s the ocean
breaking once, breaking twice.
Water falls.
Water freezes.
Water mists,
and it pleases
oak and shark and butterfly
every thirsty thing that lives.
Next time you take a drink, think:
Life’s the gift that water gives.
Poem © 2015 George Ella Lyon from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong © 2015 Pomelo Books; illustration by Frank Ramspott from The Poetry of Science: The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science for Kids © 2015 Pomelo Books.
Take 5!
- Bring a glass or bottle of water as a prop to set the stage and then read this poem aloud slowly. Consider taking a sip of water after you read the next-to-last line.
- Now use that glass or bottle to cue students to chime in on the word water as you read the poem aloud again.
- Use the poem to talk about the different ways that water appears in the world (river, ice, ocean waves, waterfalls, mist, beverage, and sustenance for plants, animals, and humans).
- Pair this poem with the picture book All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon (see Resources) and consider the additional forms of water presented as you celebrate World Water Day on March 22.
- Link with another poem that features water entitled simply “Water” by Kate Coombs (see Online Resources), and with the picture books Water Rolls, Water Rises / El agua rueda, el agua sube by Pat Mora (Resources) or Water Can Be... by Laura Purdie Salas (Resources).
Reference
Lyon, G.E. 2015. “World Water Day” in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Teacher/Librarian Edition), eds. S. Vardell and J. Wong, 92–93. Princeton, NJ: Pomelo Books
Resources
Lyon, G.E. 2011. All the water in the world. New York: Atheneum.
Mora, P. 2014. Water rolls, water rises/El agua rueda, el agua sube. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Salas, L.P. 2014. Water can be... Brookfield, CT: Millbrook.
Online Resources
George Ella Lyon website: http://www.georgeellalyon.com
“Water” by Kate Coombs: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361625045064359210/
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