Fruity Ag Poetry Kit* or:
• a class set of six fruit cards (cherry, oranges, watermelon, apples, strawberries and bananas).
• 6 brown bags labeled 1-6
• 6 boxes labeled 1-6
• 6 fruit images
• a set of fruit erasers for each student.
• Slips of paper
Categories: Nutrition , Literacy
Explore agriculture as an inspiration for poetry! Students will sharpen their observation, listening and vocabulary skills through writing poetry or formatting sentences featuring fruit.
Teacher Preparation: Display the six brown bags around the room labeled with bag 1- 6. Then, place the corresponding box labeled 1- 6 near each bag. Each box when open should display a photo of the fruit it represents and a class set of erasers in the shape of the fruit. Lastly, place slips of paper or note cards next to each paper bag for each student to write on.
Activity 1: Who am I?
1. Provide each student with one copy of each of the six fruit cards (cherry, oranges, watermelon, apples, strawberries and bananas).
2. Explain to students that each card contains clues about a fruit, they will work their way around the room to each box and bag. Students should open the box, view the photo and take an eraser to match to the card with clues about that fruit.
3. After determining the correct card, students should read through the backside of the card to learn facts about each fruit.
4.Then, students should use the slips of paper next to the box and bag to record their impressions of the product. Each student should write a single word or short phrase describing the item. Encourage them to record whatever stands out about the item – color, shape, smell or texture. Have them use their senses and creativity. Then, students should put the slip of paper in the paper bag.
5. Explain that agriculture has long inspired artists and writers. Writers use their senses to write poetry.
Activity 2: Fruity Agricultural Poetry
1. Once everyone has had a chance to visit all of the boxes and bags, assign each student or group of students one of the fruits to write a poem or sentence about.
2. Explain they will be using the words and phrases listed on the slips of paper their classmates contributed to the bags to create a haiku poem or sentence about their item. Remind students of the haiku format (line 1 has 5 syllables, line 2 has 7 syllables and line 3 has 5 syllables).
3. Challenge them to not mention the item by name in their poem or sentence.
4. Then, have students share their poem with the class and allow the rest of the class to guess the subject of each poem.