Background: Many stories about the Sun and Moon (or day and night) involve baskets or boxes, often with a character opening a forbidden container (similar to Pandora's Box). Examples of such stories include The Traveling Sky Baskets (from Moon Was Tired of Walking on Air), How Raven Brought Light to People, and How Night Came From the Sea. Using or making baskets, composing and illustrating poetry, and learning about the Sun and Moon (or day and night) can integrate art, language arts, and science into one of the several activities described below.
Objectives: Students will listen to factual information and stories about the Sun and the Moon (option: day and night). Students will create poetry to relate either factual information or feelings to demonstrate their understanding of the differences between the Sun and Moon (or day and night).
Materials:
poetry samples, books
2 plastic berry baskets
1 sheet (8-1/2x11) oaktag
1 sheet yellow tissue paper
1 sheet white tissue paper (or aluminum foil)
Optional: newsprint or slips of paper for brainstorming; crayons or markers for illustrating the poems
Procedure:
1. If you are teaching a unit on the Sun and Moon, present factual information first. You might want to stress differences between these two bodies (composition, size, self-illumination vs. reflected light, etc.) and/or similarities (both are members of the solar system, relationship to Earth, shape, etc.).
2. Demonstrate different styles of poetry with the students (e.g., cinquain, diamante, name poems, etc.). Read space-related poems (e.g., Space Songs, What Rhymes with Moon?, Star Walk, or On the Road of Stars).
3. Choose a style of poetry. Diamante works well since it uses opposites (see enclosed hand-out, Astronomy Across the Curriculum). Brainstorm words that describe the Sun and Moon (or, day and night). Allow individual students or the entire class to compose a poem.
4. Read The Traveling Sky Baskets to the class. Use two plastic berry baskets, one covered in yellow tissue paper to represent the Sun and one covered in white tissue paper or aluminum foil to represent the Moon. Make a matching cover for each basket from cardboard or oak tag. Ask the students to write their Sun and Moon words on slips of paper, and have them place the slips in the appropriate basket. List the class's suggestions on the board or on newsprint. Ask the students to compose their poems, using the word lists as a starter. For younger students, brainstorm the descriptive words onto the board; have students decide which basket the words belong in. Illustrate the poems, if desired.
5. Option: Read How Raven Brought Light to People. Have the students weave a paper "basket" and enclose their descriptive words in their basket. Compose and illustrate the poems. (See enclosed hand-out).
6. Option: For younger students, read books with descriptions of day and night. Switch on the Night deals with a child's fear of the dark, and has vivid vocabulary describing the sights and sounds of night. (The 1993 version published by Alfred A.Knopf is unavailable from the publisher, but might be available through the library.) Brainstorm words that describe day and night, or feelings about day and night. Compose and illustrate poems.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Belting, N. 1992. The Moon Was Tired of Walking on Air.
Bierhorst, J. 1994. On the Road of Stars.
Bradbury, R. 1993. Switch on the Night.
Dixon, A. 1992. How Raven Brought Light to People.
Gerson, M.-J. 1994. How Night Came from the Sea.
Livingston, M. C.. 1988. Space Songs.
Simon, S. 1995. Star Walk.
Yolen, J. 1993. What Rhymes With Moon?