Produced for K-12 educators, Teach This Poem features one poem a week from our online poetry collection, accompanied by interdisciplinary resources and activities designed to help teachers quickly and easily bring poetry into the classroom. The series is written by our Educator in Residence, Dr. Madeleine Fuchs Holzer, and is available for free via email.
Featured Poem
Classroom Activities
- Ask your students to go to http://www.amphibianark.org/education/what-are-amphibians and read about amphibians and their context in the world. Have them keep a record of the important words and phrases they read. Also have them record words they do not understand.
- Ask your students to turn and talk with a partner about what they’ve learned about amphibians and any questions they might have. Ask them to try to figure out the meaning of new words together.
- Project Joseph O.Legaspi’s poem “Amphibians” in front of the classroom. Have your students read the poem silently, using the same process they did for Amphibianarc.
- Ask a student to read the poem out loud to the class, as the listeners repeat the process they used for the written poem. Repeat this again, with a second student reading.
- Ask your students to gather in small groups and discuss what experiences amphibians and immigrants have in common.
- Conduct a whole-class discussion: What point is Joseph O. Legaspi trying to make? Is he making a point about immigrants? About amphibians? Or both? Are amphibians a successful metaphor for immigrants? Make sure your students cite evidence from their notes and discussions.