"Nature Happiness" - The Chicago Poetry Center

“Nature Happiness”

In the days returning to school after spring break, Swift 2nd graders had a touch of spring fever! In addition to looking forward to playing in the sun and warm temperatures for recess, they were still thinking about their field trip to a nature museum the previous day. Students were eager to share with me about having seen snakes, butterflies, ducks, turtles, and frogs, and more – both alive and dead! We also talked about the changes from winter to spring and used our senses to generate ideas for things that reminded us of spring’s colors and freshness such as green apples, broccoli, cucumber, corn, bananas, and lemonade. With so much discussion around nature, little time was left for students to write their own poems and so we worked collaboratively to create the following poems. Enjoy!

Ms. Urquiza 2nd Grade

Class

Excited, alive, and free
Why no jackets?
How do leaves grow on trees?
Why does it get warm?

The sun is bright like
Lights, fireflies, lightning
The smell of spring is fresh like flowers, or a sip of purified water,
or mint
And the soft grass is like baby hair and clouds and marshmallows

In spring I want to adopt a duck
Butterflies fly with shapes
you can see squirrels climbing green trees
to build red and blue and green houses in the branches

Ms. Amato 2nd Grade

Class

A butterfly high-fived me
with its wing
On the dead duck, feathers
felt silky soft
Those fascinating feathers

Tons of turtles chilling on a log
In the pond, a baby bird flapping
fast movements trying
to fly

In one of the tanks there was
a big mossy turtle and
lots of little fishes
were waiting for something
to happen. Maybe food.

We felt curious about the
butterfly in the pond
Whose wings were wet
How would it get out?

And big brownish greenish
frogs in jars
and so many orange-ish
and black snakes
How can you tell them apart?

Seeing things in nature makes you feel
adventurous
and wonder what things
are made of

The water smelled fresh
like the air, or fresh
turtle shell, or a fresh blue flower.

Poem Title Ideas