A Poem for earth

Guiding Question

How does the Earth/Nature make me feel? What life calls a natural place home? 

Goals/Objectives

• To nurture appreciation with the natural world

• To exercise and develop literacy skills such as, vocabulary, sentence structure, visual thinking strategies

• To access and explore self-expression through feelings, language, and creativity

Activity Request

This activity ideally would take place outside (in a park or backyard or garden or even a small green space). If being outside is not accessible, lean heavily on visual thinking and external stimuli. Try National Geographic’s visual tours or a simple Google search of natural areas.

Remember by Joy Harjo

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.